Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: Amid COVID-19 pandemic and floods, political parties urge EC to postpone polls

In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing floods in Bihar, the Election Commission had asked for suggestions from political parties in the state about holding the Assembly elections. Reportedly, seven national and 43 regional parties have replied to EC and have asked to postpone the polls.

All the major parties, except Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Janata Dal (United), have asked for postponing the state polls, reported Hindustan Times' sister publication Hindustan.

BJP's ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) also has told the EC that elections should not be held in the state in the current situation. LJP leader Chirag Paswan wrote a letter to EC and asked for the same. "The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a formidable form. Experts believe by October-November, its effect in Bihar will be worse. At this time, our priority should be to save people's lives, not to conduct elections...A big chunk of Bihar is hit by floods. Conducting elections as per the ICMR's guidelines will be extremely difficult," Paswan wrote.

With elections expected to take place in October-November, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have already asked for postponing the polls. Meanwhile, BJP and JD(U) said that they are prepared and have left it on the EC to decide, the report added.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 death toll in Bihar shot up by 14 on Saturday, the sharpest rise seen so far, even as the tally grew by more than 3,000, with over 2,500 cases reported in the last 24 hours alone, the state Health Department said.

According to the bulletin issued by the department, the death toll now stood at 312 while the total number of cases was 54,508, out of which 18,723 were active. The previous day's tally stood at 50,987.

(With PTI inputs)