New Delhi, October 9: With the Bihar Assembly Elections slated to begin at the end of this month, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced that it has now doubled the broadcast/telecast time allotted to national and state parties on Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR). The Election Commission said that the decision has been taken in view of enhanced relevance of non-contact based campaigning due to COVID-19 pandemic. Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: Here's A Look at 2015 Poll Results And Current Strength of JD(U), RJD, BJP and Congress.

The voting for the much-awaited Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7. The Bihar polls is touted to be as one of the biggest elections globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. The counting of votes and results will be held on November 10, the Election Commission announced. In the outgoing assembly, the RJD has 80 members while the JD (U) has 69. The BJP has 54 seats, Congress has 25, while the remaining seats in the 243-member assembly are held by other parties. Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: JD(U) Allotted 122 Seats, BJP to Fight on 121, Says CM Nitish Kumar.

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The voting will begin as usual at 7 am but the period will be extended by one hour until 6 pm, except in the Left Wing Extremism affected areas, so that COVID-19 patients can vote in the last hour of the day. The ruling NDA in the politically-crucial state will face a challenge from the RJD-Congress alliance. The BJP-JD(U) alliance and the Congress-RJD combine are firmly in place. The NDA has already announced that JD(U) president and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be its face for the top job in the state, which has an estimated 7.29 crore voters.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 09, 2020 07:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).