Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], October 7 : Congress' senior observer for the Assembly elections in Bihar, Ashok Gehlot, on Tuesday expressed confidence in the INDIA bloc's victory ahead of his visit to the poll-bound state.
The Congress leader will visit Bihar on Wednesday, where he will begin campaigning for the upcoming polls.
He said, "I am going to Bihar tomorrow and will get busy with the campaigning. We will head to the election arena together. I am confident that the INDIA bloc will form the Government there."
Senior Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were appointed as senior observers for the Bihar elections, a press release by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) said.
Earlier on Monday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the Assembly Elections in Bihar. The 243 Assembly seats will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with counting of votes to be held on November 14.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, also informed that the ECI has decided to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists throughout the country, following the announcement of the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections.
Addressing the press conferences, the Chief Election Commissioner said, "ECI has already taken a decision to conduct SIR throughout the country."
The Opposition questioned the credibility of the poll body following the announcement.
Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that the Election Commission has not provided satisfactory answers on the issue of voter list revisions, claiming that an unnecessary narrative was created around "infiltration."
"The Election Commission has not answered some very critical questions. They created an atmosphere as though Bihar is infiltrated by people from Bangladesh and Nepal. But when they delete names, they don't come up with a single name of any so-called infiltrator. Why did you create a political narrative around infiltrations? Where are the infiltrators? Now they say they have removed the people who were dead. Did these dead people vote for Modi in the Lok Sabha elections in 2025? The credibility of the Election Commission comes under a dark cloud every day," Khera said in Delhi.
Echoing similar concerns, Congress leader Rashid Alvi said he has "no confidence" that the poll body would conduct free and fair elections.
"EC cannot be trusted.I am confident that EC won't conduct fair elections in Bihar. If fair elections are held in Bihar, the BJP-Nitish Kumar government will never come to power," Alvi remarked.