PATNA: With the panchayat elections over in Bihar, all eyes are now set on the 24 vacant state legislative council seats from local authorities’ constituencies for which election is likely to be held in February-March.
Sources said the state election office recently sent a recommendation to the Election Commission for holding the polls for the 24 council seats, which have been vacant since July 16, 2021 as the previously elected MLCs completed their six years’ term. The election could not be held on time because of non-completion of the electoral college due to the delay in the panchayat elections. Ideally, election for these 24 seats should have been held before July last year.
The elected members of panchayats, urban local bodies and the cantonment boards cast votes to elect the MLCs from the local authorities’ constituencies.
Sources said as the members of the electoral college have already been finalized following the publication of panchayat poll results, the prospective candidates for the local authorities’ constituencies have already begun campaigning in their respective areas.
Most of those whose six years’ term was completed on July 16, 2021, are trying their best to get candidature from any of the leading political parties, namely BJP, RJD and JD(U), to re-enter the Upper House of the state legislature. Similarly, those who lost the 2015 polls are trying to get the symbol of their respective party to contest the council polls.
“As the state election office has sent its recommendation, the EC may notify the election by the third or fourth week of January and, most probably, the elections will be held in February or March,” an election official told TOI on Saturday.
As per the rules, the elected panchayat representatives like mukhiyas, ward members, panchayat samiti members, district board members, ward members of different urban local bodies like municipal corporation, nagar parishad and nagar panchayat as well as the elected members of the cantonment board cast votes in the council’s local authorities’ constituencies.
In the last election for the 24 seats held in July 2015, there were 1,38,904 electors. The last elections were held at 534 polling stations across the state.
There are 51 MLCs against the total strength of 75 in the Upper House.
