The Election Commission is set to announce the schedule for the Bihar legislative assembly polls on Monday. The poll authority has convened a press conference at 4 pm.
The term of the 243-member state assembly ends on November 22.
Political parties have urged the Election Commission to hold the polls immediately after the Chhath festival, which will be celebrated at the end of October.
The request has been put forth to ensure greater voter participation as a large number of people employed outside return home for the festivities.
The 2020 assembly polls in the state were held in three phases under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Sunday, the BJP election committee for the Bihar assembly polls met in Patna for the second consecutive day to give final touches to its preparations for the high-stakes elections in the state.
The meeting was chaired by Union Minister and in-charge for the upcoming elections, Dharmendra Pradhan, who was joined by cabinet colleague and co-in-charge for the polls, CR Paatil, besides BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde.
On Saturday, state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal had told reporters that the state election committee had held discussions on 60 of its “sitting seats" in the 243-strong assembly.
In the 2020 polls, the party had won 75 seats out of 110 that it had contested, and its strength rose over the years on account of defections from other parties, as well as victories in bypolls.
The NDA in Bihar, which is contesting the polls under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), also includes Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha headed by Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha.
Speculations are rife that Kushwaha is not happy with the BJP’s decision to re-induct Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh, who had contributed to his humiliating loss in Karakat Lok Sabha seat by entering the fray as an Independent candidate, news agency PTI reported.
Although Kushwaha was rehabilitated by the BJP, which got him elected to the Rajya Sabha, the leader is said to have been upset that, despite having served in the first Narendra Modi ministry, he has not been considered this time.
