Bihar Municipal Election 2022: Date, time, results; all you need to know

Bihar State Election Commission has recently announced the new dates for its municipal polls. The elections for urban local bodies in India’s 2nd largest state by population will be held in two phases - on December 18 and 20, 2022.

According to the Election Commission, the schedule for Bihar Municipal Elections will be held for 224 municipal seats. As per the announcements, the counting of votes will be held on December 28, 2022. The elections won't allow any party symbols as in previous municipal polls.

Around 1,14,52,759 electors are likely to exercise their rights to elect their representatives in 17 municipal corporations, 70 nagar parishads and 137 nagar panchayats in the state.

The Election Commission, in a letter to all the District Magistrates, said that the fixed duration of polling and the time of counting of votes will remain the same. The voting for the Bihar municipal polls would be held through EVM and the EC said the instructions, already given regarding the election, will also remain effective.

Mukesh Kumar Sinha, secretary of the Election Commission, while giving details to the polls, said the elections will be held based on candidates nominated in the first and second phases. No new nomination will be taken. Sinha also said that the model code of conduct will automatically end as soon as the results are announced after the counting of votes in the municipalities.

Earlier, municipal polls in Bihar were to be held in October but got delayed following a Patna High Court order. The revised schedule was drawn upon receipt of the report, by the urban development department, of a "Dedicated Commission" set up following the high court order dated October 4, said SEC.

The court had, in its order, held that quotas for the Extremely Backward Classes in the state's municipal polls were "illegal" since these were not based on the report of a Dedicated Commission. Furthermore, the court stated that the SEC could go ahead with the elections after "re-notifying" all such reserved seats as belonging to the general category