Patna: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, on Sunday, made a series of major announcements regarding the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections during a press conference in Patna after a two-day consecutive meetings with top state officials.

Starting his address in Bhojpuri and Maithili, the CEC urged voters to treat elections like a festival.

"Just as we celebrate Chhath with devotion and enthusiasm, we must celebrate this great festival of democracy. Ensure your participation, fulfill your responsibility, and vote," Kumar said.

Highlighting the achievements of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, he added that for the first time in India, booth-level officers (BLOs) worked directly with voters to purify the rolls.

"Just as Vaishali gave the country a republic, Bihar's BLOs have now set a record in SIR," he remarked, adding that other states will draw inspiration from Bihar's example.

CEC Kumar announced that voters will now receive their voter ID cards within 15 days of application, ending long-standing delays.

"Any mismatch between EVM and VVPAT during counting will result in a complete count of all VVPATs in that constituency. The counting of postal ballots must be completed before the last two rounds of EVM counting, and the maximum number of voters per booth will be capped at 1,200," he said.

He added that Bihar will have a total of 90,000 polling booths, and all booths in Bihar will have real-time webcasting to ensure transparency.

He also said that candidates must deploy polling agents at booths, who will verify mock poll votes and check Form 17C totals before polling begins.

CEC Kumar appreciated the role of BLOs in the SIR exercise.

He said that they will now receive enhanced allowances and identity cards.

The CEC also revealed that training for police officers was conducted in Delhi this time, instead of Bihar, as part of strengthening security preparedness.

With these measures, the Election Commission has signalled its intent to conduct a fair, transparent and efficient election in Bihar, which is set to see a high-stakes political contest later this year.

As the issue of infiltrators and foreign nationals has been raised by the top leaders of the country but CEC Kumar did not give a clear answer about their exact numbers after the final voter list publications.

(IANS)