Railways to deploy 1000 coaches to ferry central forces to Bihar for polls
By Arun Kumar Das
New Delhi, Oct 10 (BVI) Gearing up to perform its role in relation to the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, Indian Railways has kept about 1000 coaches ready for the movement of about 1 lakh personnel of Central Armed Police Force to be deployed in the state during the poll process.
The Bihar Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11 and counting of votes is slated for November 14.
These elections are crucial for both ruling NDA and the Opposition and hence the need for ensuring smooth polling with deployment of adequate number of security personnel.
Since majority of the paramilitary forces are coming from Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast, about 70 to 80 trains with 18 coaches each will be pressed into service for the deployment across Bihar.
Equipped with a pantry Car, the 18-coach train will have a composition of AC and non-AC Sleeper facilities.
The IRCTC, the catering arm of the Railways, will be responsible for providing catering service to the paramilitary forces in the train during their journey.
The 2025 Assembly elections are the first in the state after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which produced a final voter list of 7.43 crore electors, including 14 lakh first-time voters.
To counter misinformation, the poll panel announced measures to tackle fake news, particularly on social media, at the district level.
Each of the 243 constituencies will now have a dedicated observer, replacing the previous arrangement where one observer monitored multiple seats.
To improve the voting experience this year, polling booths will serve 1,200 voters instead of 1,500, and the total number of booths will be increased to 90,000 across the state.
Additional deployment of Central Armed Police Forces is being undertaken to ensure security and smooth conduct of the elections. (BVI)
