Bihar: 224 civic bodies gear up for October polls

Patna, Sep 10: Civic polls in Bihar will be held in two phases on October 10 and 20, the State Election Commission announced.

The elections will be held for 224 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the state, it said.

The counting of the votes will be held on October 12 for the first phase, while for the second phase, it will be held on October 22.

All the 17 municipal corporations, including that in Patna, will go to the polls in the second phase on October 20, according to the notification issued by the SEC on Friday.

The voting will be held from 7 am to 5 pm in both phases.

Nomination forms for the first phase could be submitted by September 21, and the last date for withdrawal is September 24. For the second phase, the nominations can be filed till September 26, and the last date for withdrawal is September 29.

"Symbols will be allotted to the candidates on September 25 for the October 10 elections, whereas the same will be allotted on September 30 for the second phase. Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used in the election of the urban local bodies," said the notification.

Among the civic bodies going to the polls are 44 nagar parishads and 95 nagar panchayats. Altogether 1,14,52,759 voters -- 60,17,882 males and 54,34,455 females -- are eligible to exercise their franchise.