As ECI caps voter numbers per booth, 20,000 new polling stations likely in Bihar

SENIOR OFFICIALS IN THE ELECTION DEPARTMENT SAID THE ECI HAD NOT YET ISSUED DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR RAISING THE POLLING BOOTHS BUT IT WOULD COME IN NEXT FEW WEEKS

- Anirban Guha Roy

PATNA: The number of polling stations in Bihar is expected to go up to 20,000 more in the forthcoming Assembly polls scheduled later this year as per the recent Election Commission of India (ECI)'s decision to cap the number of voters per polling station to 1,200 instead of 1,500.

The new ECI decision, to be implemented nationwide, would be first put in practice in the forthcoming Assembly polls and the state election department has already started gearing up for setting up the infrastructure and identification of buildings, officials in the know of the matter said.

The present strength of polling stations in Bihar stands around 78,000. If there is addition of 20,000 more polling stations as per the new cap, the total number of polling stations in the state across 243 assembly segments would be 98,000.