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Kanpur, Nov 2 (IANS) A day after the arrest of a JD-U candidate in the murder case of a rival party supporter, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday assured peaceful and transparent assembly elections in Bihar, and reaffirmed “zero tolerance towards violence”.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event, the CEC said: “ECI has zero tolerance towards violence. Elections in Bihar will be conducted peacefully, legally and with complete transparency, ensuring that every voter gets the opportunity to express his/her wishes and participate in this democratic festival…”
CEC Gyanesh Kumar said, “It is expected that all the voters of Bihar will exercise their franchise.”
The first phase of Bihar elections is on 6 November, the second phase is on 11 November and counting of votes is on 14 November.
Earlier, while addressing an event organized by Mathura Vaishya Samaj, Kanpur, he described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar Voter List as the world’s largest exercise for purification of voter list.
“The day the voter list containing names of 51 crore voters in 12 states is purified, it will be historic and something that has never been attempted before,” he said.
The CEC said that once the SIR is completed across the country, “you will feel equally proud of your ECI and your CEC”.
CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s assurance about not allowing any violence in the Bihar elections came within hours of the state police arresting JD-U candidate Ananth Singh from Mokama in connection with the murder of Jan Suraj activist Dularchand Yadav in a late-night operation.
The arrest, confirmed by Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Karthikeya Sharma, came just days before the first phase of Bihar assembly elections scheduled for November 6, sending shockwaves through political circles in the state.
According to officials, this violent incident took place on Thursday, October 30, near Khushal Chak in Mokama. Jan Suraj Party candidate Piyush Priyadarshi, also known as Lallu Mukhiya, was campaigning with his supporters, along with local strongman and former RJD leader Dularchand Yadav, 75.
Around the same time, Anant Singh and his supporters were reportedly passing through the same route. The argument between the two groups soon turned into a violent confrontation that included stone pelting and physical clashes. In this chaos, Dularchand Yadav suffered serious injuries and after some time he was declared dead.
Following his death, the area was engulfed in tension, with heavy police deployment ordered to prevent further advances.
–IANS
RCH/VD