Elections in the state of Bihar, India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Bihar creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India.

Elections to the Lok Sabha, also termed as General Elections, are typically held every 5 years after the central government has completed its term. It may also be held before the completion of term if parliament is dissolved early. Similarly, elections to Legislative Assembly are conducted every five years. Last Lok Sabha election was held in 2019 and Legislative Assembly election was held in 2020. Elections to the Rajya Sabha are held at regular interval with one third of the members retiring in a staggered manner. Members of Legislative Assembly elect the state's representative to Rajya Sabha.

Bihar electoral system

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The elections to the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly are conducted along similar lines with the major difference being size of constituencies. At present each Lok Sabha constituency consists of 6 Legislative Assembly constituency. Each constituency elects a single member to represent them via a First Past the Post System, where a candidate with plurality of total votes cast is elected.

Currently the major parties in the state are Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party. The state was dominated by Indian National Congress until the decade of 1970s with parties like BJP and Janata Dal gaining prominence. For the purpose of elections every party is assigned a symbol to help voters in recognizing the candidate they support.

National level representation

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Lok Sabha delegation

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Currently, the state of Bihar sends 40 representatives to the Lok Sabha, elected through a first past the post system. The Indian general election, 2009 in Bihar were held for 40 seats with the state going to polls in the first four phases of the general elections. The major contenders in the state were the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Indian National Congress and the Fourth Front. NDA consisted of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) whereas the fourth front was constituted of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Rajya Sabha delegation

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Both the houses of the state legislature jointly nominate Members of Parliament to the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership of Rajya Sabha is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of 250 members, and current laws have provision for 245 members. Most of the members of the House are indirectly elected by state and territorial legislatures using single transferable votes, while the President of India can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Members sit for staggered six-year terms, with one third of the members retiring every two years.

State level representation

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Legislative assembly

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Bihar legislature assembly has 243 seats. For the election of its members, the state is divided into 243 Assembly Constituencies in which the candidate securing the largest number of votes is declared elected. In the 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, the National Democratic Alliance formed the state government having secured a simple majority of 206 seats.[1] Bihar Legislative Assembly came into existence in 1937. The Assembly had a strength of 152 members. According to the provisions of the Constitution of India, the first General Elections in the state were held in 1952. The total strength of membership in the Assembly was 331, including one nominated member. Dr Sri Krishna Singh became the first Leader of the house and the Chief Minister and Dr Anurag Narayan Sinha was elected the first deputy leader of the assembly and became state's first Deputy Chief Minister. It was reduced to 318 during the second General Elections. In 1977, the total number of elected members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly was further raised from 318 to 324. With the creation of a separate State of Jharkhand, by an Act of Parliament titled the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, the strength of the Bihar Legislative Assembly was reduced from 325 to 243 members. The current Nitish Kumar government is a minority, powered by the BJP and LJP to majority status

Legislative Council

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The upper house known as the Legislative Council has lesser powers than the Assembly and several of its members are nominated by the Assembly. Others are elected from various sections of the society like Graduates and Teachers. Currently the Legislative Council consists of 95 members. A new Province of Bihar and Orissa was created by the British Government on 12 December 1911. The Legislative Council with a total of 43 members belonging to different categories was formed in 1912. The first sitting of the council was convened on 20 January 1913. In 1936, Bihar attained its separate Statehood. Under the Government of India Act, 1919, the unicameral legislature got converted into bicameral one, i.e. the Bihar Legislative Council and the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Under the Government of India Act, 1935, the Bihar Legislative Council consisted of 29 members. After the first General Elections 1952, the number of members was increased up to 72 and by 1958 the number was raised to 96. With the creation of Jharkhand, as a result of the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 passed by the Parliament, the strength of the Bihar Legislative Council has been reduced from 96 to 75 members

History of elections in Bihar

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Assembly election

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Year Election Party-wise Details Chief Minister Party
1952 First Assembly Total: 276. INC: 239, JP: 32, SPI:23 Shri Krishna Sinha
INC
1957 Second Assembly Total: 318. INC: 210, PSP: 31, JP: 31 Shri Krishna Sinha (Till 1961)
Deep Narayan Singh
Binodanand Jha
INC
1962 Third Assembly Total: 264. INC: 185, SWA: 50, PSP 29, JP: 20, CPI: 12, SPI: 7, BJS: 3 Binodanand Jha
Krishna Ballabh Sahay
INC
1967 Fourth Assembly Total: 318. INC: 128, SSP: 68, BJS: 26 Mahamaya Prasad Sinha
Satish Prasad Singh
B. P. Mandal
Bhola Paswan Shashtri
INC
BJS
INC(O)
1969 Fifth Assembly Total: 318. SSP: 53, BJS: 34 President's rule
Harihar Singh
Bhola Paswan Shashtri
Daroga Prasad Rai
Karpuri Thakur
None
1972 Sixth Assembly Total: 318. INC: 167, CPI: 35, SP: 34 Kedar Pandey
Abdul Gafoor
Jagannath Mishra
INC
1977 Seventh Assembly Total: 318. JP: 214, INC: 57, CPI: 21, Independent: 25 Karpuri Thakur
Ram Sunder Das
JP
1980 Eighth Assembly Total: 324. INC: 169, JP: 42, CPI: 23 Jagannath Mishra
Chandrashekhar Singh
INC
1985 Ninth Assembly Total: 324. INC: 196, LK: 46, BJP: 16, JP: 13, CPI: 12, JMM: 9, CPI(M): 1, IC(S): 1, SUCI(C): 1, Independent: 29 Bindeshwari Dubey
Bhagwat Jha Azad
Satyendra Narayan Singh
Jagannath Mishra
INC
1990 Tenth Assembly Total: 324. JD: 122, INC: 71, BJP: 39 Lalu Prasad Yadav JD
1995 Eleventh Assembly Total: 324. JD: 167, BJP: 41, INC: 29 Lalu Prasad Yadav
Rabri Devi
JD
2000 Twelfth Assembly Total: 243. JD: 103, BJP: 39, SP: 28 Rabri Devi JD
February 2005 Thirteenth Assembly Total: 243. NDA: (JD(U):55 + BJP:37), RJD: 75 + INC: 10 President's rule None
October 2005 Fourteenth Assembly Total: 243. NDA: (JD(U):88 + BJP:55), RJD: 54 + INC: 10, LJP: 10 Nitish Kumar JD(U)
2010 Fifteenth Assembly Total: 243. NDA: (JD(U):115 + BJP:91), RJD: 22 + LJP: 3, INC: 4 Nitish Kumar
Jitan Ram Manjhi
JD(U)
2015 Sixteenth Assembly Total: 243. JD(U): 71, BJP:53, LJP: 2, UPA: (RJD:80 + INC:27) Nitish Kumar JD(U)
2020 Seventeenth Assembly Total: 243. NDA: (BJP:74 + JD(U):45 + VIP:4 + HAM:4), MGB: (RJD:75 + INC:19 + CPI-ML(L):12 + CPI:2 + CPI(M):2) GDSF: (AIMIM:5 + BSP:1), LJP: 1, Independent: 1 Nitish Kumar JD(U)

Lok Sabha Elections

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Araria  · Arrah  · Aurangabad  · Banka  · Begusarai  · Bhagalpur  · Buxar  · Darbhanga  · Gaya  · Gopalganj  · Hajipur  · Jahanabad  · Jamui  · Jhanjharpur  · Karakat  · Katihar  · Khagaria  · Kishanganj  · Madhepura  · Madhubani  · Maharajganj  · Munger  · Muzaffarpur  · Nalanda  · Nawada  · Paschim Champaran  · Pataliputra  · Patna Sahib  · Purnia  · Purvi Champaran  · Samastipur  · Saran  · Sasaram  · Sheohar  · Sitamarhi  · Siwan  · Supaul  · Ujiarpur  · Vaishali  · Valmiki Nagar

  • 1951-1984
Election Year # Total Seats Congress (INC) Others PM elect PM's Party
1951–52 1st Lok Sabha 55 45[2]
Party Name Seats won
SP 3
IND 1
Others 6
Jawaharlal Nehru INC
1957 2nd Lok Sabha 53 41[3]
Party name Seats won
PSP 2
JKP 6
IND 1
Others 3
1962 3rd Lok Sabha 53[4] 39
Party name Seats won
SWA 7
JP 3
Others 4
1967 4th Lok Sabha 53 34
Party name Seats won
SSP 7
CPI 5
IND 4
Others 3
Indira Gandhi INC
1971 5th Lok Sabha 54 39
Party name Seats won
CPI 5
INC(O) 3
IND 1
Others 5
1977 6th Lok Sabha 54 -
Party name Seats won
JP 52
Others 2
Morarji Desai JP
1980 7th Lok Sabha 54 30
Party name Seats won
JNP 8
JNP(S) 5
INC(U) 4
CPI 4
Others 3
Indira Gandhi INC
1984 8th Lok Sabha 54 48
Party name Seats won
CPI 2
Others 4
Rajiv Gandhi

1989-1999

Total Seats- 54

Election Year Lok Sabha 1st Party 2nd Party 3rd Party 4th Party Others Prime Minister PM's Party
1989 9th Lok Sabha JD 32 BJP 8 INC 4 CPI 4 JMM 4 JD
1991 10th Lok Sabha JD 31 CPI 8 JMM 6 BJP 5 INC 1, CPI(M) 1 P. V. Narasimha Rao INC
1996 11th Lok Sabha JD 22 BJP 18 SMP 6 CPI 3 INC 2, SP 1, JMM 1, Ind 1 JD
1998 12th Lok Sabha BJP 19 RJD 17 SMP 10 INC 4 Atal Bihari Vajpayee BJP
1999 13th Lok Sabha BJP 23 JD(U) 18 RJD 7 INC 4 CPI(M) 1, Ind 1

After 2000

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Total Seats- 40

Election Year Lok Sabha 1st Party 2nd Party 3rd Party 4th Party Others Prime Minister PM's Party
2004 14th Lok Sabha RJD 22 JD(U) 6 BJP 5 LJP 4 INC 3 Manmohan Singh INC
2009 15th Lok Sabha JD(U) 20 BJP 12 RJD 4 INC 2 Ind 2
2014 16th Lok Sabha BJP 22 LJP 6 RJD 4 RLSP 3 JD(U) 2, INC 2, NCP 1 Narendra Modi BJP
2019 17th Lok Sabha BJP 17 JD(U) 16 LJP 6 INC 1
2024 18th Lok Sabha BJP 12 JD(U) 12 LJP(RV) 5 RJD 4 INC 3, CPI(ML)L 2, Ind 1

History of politics

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Electoral process

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Pre elections

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The Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct enters into force as soon as the notification for polls is issued. This places restrictions on the campaigning by political parties as well as prohibits certain government actions that would unduly influence the election.

Voting day

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The electoral process is the same as in the rest of India with Electronic Voting Machines being used for all Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.

Post elections

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After the election day, the EVMs are stood stored in a strong room under heavy security. After the different phases of the elections are complete, a day is set to count the votes. The votes are tallied and typically, the verdict is known within hours. The candidate who has mustered the most votes is declared the winner of the constituency.

The party or coalition that has won the most seats is invited by the Governor to form the new government. The coalition or party must prove its majority in the floor of the house (Legislative Assembly) in a vote of confidence by obtaining a simple majority (minimum 50%) of the votes in the House.

Voter registration

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For few cities in Bihar, the voter registration forms can be generated online and submitted to the nearest electoral office.

Absentee voting

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As of now, India does not have an absentee ballot system. Section 19 of The Representation of the People Act (RPA)-1950[5] allows a person to register to vote if he or she is above 18 years of age and is an ‘ordinary resident’ of the residing constituency i.e. living at the current address for 6 months or longer. Section 20 of the above Act disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents an NRI from casting his/her vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures.

The Representation of the People (Amendment) 2006 Bill was introduced in the Parliament by Shri Hanraj Bharadwaj, Minister of Law and Justice during February 2006 with an objective to amend Section 20 of the RPA-1950 to enable NRIs to vote. Despite the report submitted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee two years ago, the Government has so far failed to act on the recommendations. The Bill was reintroduced in the 2008 budget session of the Parliament to the Lok Sabha. But no action taken once again.

Several civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system.[6][7]

Further reading

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  • Subrata K. Mitra and V.B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 81-7036-809-X (India HB) ISBN 0-7619-9344-4 (U.S. HB).
  • Subrata K. Mitra, Mike Enskat, Clemens Spiess (eds.). 2004. Political Parties in South Asia. Greenwood: Praeger.
  • Subrata K. Mitra/Mike Enskat/V.B. Singh. 2001. India, in: Nohlen, Dieter (Ed.). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook. Vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press

See also

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References

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