The Election Commission has implemented strict rules for Bihar Assembly elections 2025. Candidates with criminal background will have to make their records public. The election expenditure limit for each candidate has been fixed at Rs 40 lakh.
Patna: Bihar Assembly elections 2025 have now gained momentum. This time the Election Commission has announced to keep a strict vigil on the election expenditure and campaigning of the candidates. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal held a meeting with representatives of all recognized political parties and shared detailed guidelines. The main objective of the meeting was to ensure that the elections are conducted with transparency, fairness and discipline.
The CEO said in the meeting that now candidates with criminal background will be in front of the public with their records. Information related to the FIR registered against them, penalty or punishment will reach the public through media and public forums. This step is a big step towards ensuring transparency and voters’ rights in democracy.
Strict control on candidates’ expenses
The main topic in the meeting was to decide the limit on election expenditure. The Election Commission clarified that each candidate can spend only a maximum of Rs 40 lakh in the elections. This includes rallies, posters, banners, vehicles and media advertisements. The CEO warned that distributing money, liquor or other inducements in the electoral process would be considered a crime and would attract a jail sentence.
Political parties were also told that it would be mandatory to submit the list of star campaigners to the Election Commission within seven days of the issue of election notification. There will be facility of 40 star campaigners for recognized parties and 20 star campaigners for other parties. The permit for this will be issued from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer.
Election advertising and media monitoring
Media Certification and Monitoring Committee has been formed at the state and district level. Its job will be to pre-approve all newspaper, TV and social media advertisements. This will ensure that no inappropriate material or false information reaches the public in the election campaign.
General conduct and rules of candidates
The CEO also shared information like general conduct of the candidates, meetings and processions, behavior on polling day, entry into booths and appointment of observers. All political parties were instructed to train their candidates to follow these rules.
Preparations of political parties
Representatives of RJD, Congress, BJP, JDU, CPI-ML and other parties were present in the meeting. Everyone asked their questions on this occasion and the Election Commission gave satisfactory solutions to them. Experts say that this step can prove to be a milestone in increasing electoral transparency and accountability in Bihar.