Bihar elections: What is BJP’s demand on burqa-clad women voters?
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday requested the Election Commission to ensure that the faces of women appearing in burqas to cast their votes in the Bihar Assembly elections were tallied with their voter cards.The party also urged the Commission to conduct the elections in one or two phases.
The demands were placed when a BJP delegation led by the party’s state president Dilip Jaiswal met the EC team headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Patna. The Commission is on a visit to the state to review the poll preparedness and is likely to announce the election schedule in a few days.
"We have urged the EC to conduct the elections in one or two phases. The election process does not need to be staggered. Also, tallying of faces of voters, especially burqa-clad women, must be ensured with respective EPIC cards so that only genuine voters get to exercise their franchise," Jaiswal told reporters.
#WATCH | Patna | Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal says, "The Election Commission has requested political parties to ensure that their polling agents surely collect Form 17C when voting ends in the evening... Some political parties' polling agents leave early, and then the blame… https://t.co/vqWUvoCdDb pic.twitter.com/z7qN5LhrBe
— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2025
The BJP also demanded that paramilitary forces be deployed in villages with a heavy population of weaker sections like extremely backward classes, a few days in advance and a flag march-like exercise be conducted to instil confidence among the voters.
The party also urged the poll panel to ensure deployment of enough security personnel in riverine areas, which have had a history of booth capturing.
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"As regards dates, we told the EC that, as per rules, polls can be held after a gap of at least 28 days from the date of announcement. If, for example, elections are announced in a few days from now, then the polls can be held by November 3-4," Jaiswal said.
The BJP state chief also informed about the panel’s suggestion for political parties.
“It (EC) said that upon completion of voting, polling agents must obtain Form 17C from the presiding officer. Many times, the agents leave their assigned booths without doing so, leaving the scope for unnecessary disputes later," he said.
The EC team included Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi, along with Bihar's Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Gunjyal and senior officials.
They met representatives of all recognised national and state political parties, including the BJP, JD(U), RJD, Congress, and others, to discuss election-related issues and gather feedback.
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