In Bihar, the voter turnout may be lower due to the fear of Covid-19 and partly due to low voter enthusiasm
Patna siyasat.net
Whether Covid-19 cases and the consequent death toll are rising is no longer an issue as the Election Commission announced a three-phased poll in Bihar starting October 28. It will be the country’s first, and the world’s biggest, election during the pandemic. South Korea and Taiwan held their national elections a few months back. Bihar is different from both South Korea and Taiwan in terms of numbers. It has 72 million voters, including 230,000 migrant voters, and 243 constituencies.
The state has 174,000 Covid-19 cases. Although the number of recovered cases is also very high— 160,000 -the fear of the virus infecting a larger number of people will always be there. Aware of the risk involved the Election Commission has put certain precautions in place. To begin with, more than 700,000 units of hand sanitisers, 44.6 million masks, 600,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) suits, 760,000 face shields, and 2.3 million gloves have been arranged for the polling staff.
For the electorate, there will be 7.2 million single-use gloves to facilitate the casting of votes. The problem of social distancing has also been addressed. Against the earlier figure of 1500, only 1000 voters will be allowed at a polling station. The voting time too has been increased by an hour. Voters will be provided with soaps, water, and hand sanitisers at the entry points and they will have to stand at least six feet apart, which will be a rare sight as the crowding of polling booths is not unusual. When South Korea went to poll in April it was keenly watched as it was happening after the disruption of all political activities by the pandemic.
It had set up 17,000 disinfected polling centres where 30 million voters cast their votes, including over 2,500 Covid-19 patients who voted at special booths set up for them or by mail. Taiwan also successfully held elections during the pandemic. South Korea shared its success story at a webinar which was presided over by the Chief Commissioner of India. The webinar was attended by 45 countries and the experiences and ideas shared by them provided ideas for the Bihar electoral process.
For instance, those infected would be allowed to vote in the closing hour of polling day under the watch of health officials. Those above 80 have been provided with the facility of postal ballots. Bihar may offer an experience that will be hugely different from that of South Korea. In Korea, the 62 percent voter turnout was the highest since 1992.
In Bihar, the voter turnout may be lower than 58 percent in 2015 partly due to the fear of Covid-19 and partly due to low voter enthusiasm. With restrictions on the number of vehicles and persons during campaigning and rallies, these will be elections with a difference. Provided people do not violate protocols.
The BJP’s arts and culture wing on Saturday released masks and stickers bearing photographs of the late actor along with the hashtag ‘JusticeforSushantSinghRajput’ and a new emotive slogan in Hindi: “Na bhule hai, na bhulne denge (Neither have we forgotten, nor will we let it be forgotten).” Over 25,000 such stickers and 30,000 masks will be distributed among the public. According to the convener of the cell, Varun Kumar Singh, the distribution of these masks and stickers has been going on for some time but they have only been noticed now.
A video on Sushant’s ‘life and struggles’ has also been produced which will soon be released by the BJP IT Cell on social media.
Varun Kumar Singh says that he has been a part of the campaign demanding justice for Rajput since its inception. He had convinced BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Ram Kripal Yadav to meet the actor’s family. According to Singh, the matter of the actor’s death is not political but emotional for him.
Calling it an expression of sentiment, Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand tweeted, “I welcome the move of Bihar BJP’s Arts and Culture Cell to commemorate Sushant Singh through a variety of programs. We have our own way of expressing the sentiments towards Sushant. To give it a political colour is absolutely wrong.”
While Nitish Kumar’s party has brought up the name only now, the BJP’s bid to keep Rajput’s name in the public eye began in earnest almost immediately after the actor died. Pro-BJP social media pages and influencers joined in and emotionally charged videos of the actor were circulated on social media every other day. The campaign was then gradually linked to Bihari pride.
After Sushant’s father, K.K. Singh, lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at a police station in Patna, the director general of police Gupteshwar Pandey despatched a team to Mumbai instead of following the procedure and handing over the case to the Mumbai police. A tussle between the police forces of the two states ensued, in view of which the Bihar government demanded a CBI probe in the matter. The Center swiftly approved the transfer of the case to the CBI without considering the merits of the case.
The CBI is currently investigating Sushant’s death while the Enforcement Directorate is probing the money-laundering angle. Recently, the National Narcotics Control Bureau was also roped in for a drugs probe in connection with the actor’s death. All three investigation agencies are controlled by the Centre. With the BJP ruling both the Centre and the state the question is – who is the Bihar BJP seeking justice from by trending the hashtag “Justice for Sushant Singh Rajput”.
Around 56% population of Bihar belongs to other backward classes. Amongst them, 16% are Yadav OBC and the rest 40% are considered to be Non-Yadav OBC. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, as the name suggests has a very loyal vote bank of the 16% Yadav OBCs of Bihar. Whereas the Non-Yadav votes are distributed between Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (United), who are currently holding the Bihar Government.
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