In the first Assembly elections to be held in Bihar amidst the Corona epidemic, Nitish government is likely to spend an estimated amount of Rs 625 crore, which is double the amount spent in the last state elections in 2015 and one-fifth of funds for Covid-19 preparations.

The state government will have to spend one-fifth of the total amount in the election of the bar to ensure security at booths for voters and polling personnel.

Talking about the last election, around Rs 270 crore was spent on the election at that time and instead of this, Rs 131.48% will be spent on the expenses of this year’s elections. The biggest reason for this is the corona epidemic. This time, in addition to purchasing PPE kits for six lakh polling personnel, security measures like gloves and masks will cost more.

At the same time, the Election Commission (ECI) is also considering the safety of the voters, including making a ballot outside the booth, where voters will be asked to stand far away while doing social distancing before casting their votes. At the same time, the need for buses, trucks, SUVs, and other vehicles will be much higher than in previous elections, in which the expenditure will be high.

The officer related to the election said that “This time the counting centers will be very large so that polling agents and polling personnel can maintain proper social distance during the counting process.”

According to sources, in order to maintain the safety norms during the elections, to increase the number of voters in each booth to 1000 or less, in addition to 72,727 booths, 33,797 auxiliary booths have been increased by 45%. Explain that there are a total of 243 assembly constituencies in Bihar. The state government will have to spend a lot of other expenses in such preparations.