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Just days before Bihar heads to the polls in the first phase of the assembly elections on Thursday, November 6, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said the Election Commission has a zero-tolerance policy toward violence. He further urged the people of Bihar to participate in the election process and said that the poll body is ready to make sure that the electors can peacefully vote. “I want to appeal to everyone to come and participate in the election process, and everyone come to exercise their right to vote. On the topic of violence, Election Commission wants to make it clear that the Election Commission has zero tolerance towards violence. No incident of violence will be tolerated. The Election Commission is ready to make sure that the electors can peacefully vote. Our 243 returning officers, that many observers, every zilla’s collectors, zilla adhikari, SP, SSP, police observers, everyone is ready,” Kumar said while speaking to reporters in Kanpur on Sunday. Gyanesh Kumar visited the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur on Sunday, where he was conferred with the Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA). His comments come just hours after Janata Dal (United) candidate from Mokama constituency was arrested in Bihar in a late night operation in connection with the murder of Dularchand Yadav, a campaigner for Jan Suraaj candidate Piyush Priyadarshi. The poll panel directed the transfer of several key officials posted in the Mokama Assembly constituency following the murder and sought a detailed report on the incident from the Bihar Director General of Police (DGP). He further emphasised that for the Election Commission, both opposition and the ruling side are the same. “In Bihar elections, every political party, in their own way, are asking for electors to vote for them. I want to say it once again that for Election Commission no one is in ruling, or opposition side, everyone is neutral,” he said. Exuding confidence that Bihar assembly polls will be held transparently, Kumar said, “The hope is that the Bihar polls will happen not only transparently, competently, with ease and not only be an example for the country but for the world.” Bihar will vote in two phases for the upcoming assembly polls — on November 6 and November 11 — and the counting will held on November 14.
