The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday said it had relaxed the requirement of the 30-day public notice period for new political parties seeking registration to seven days due to the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
New parties would be allowed to publish a notice in two national and local daily newspapers each seven days prior to the proposed registration before the EC. The relaxation would be in place till October 20, the last date for nominations in the third phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, an EC statement said.
“The Commission has announced the General Elections for the Legislative Assembly of Bihar, 2020 on September 25, 2020. It has been brought to the notice of the Commission that in view of prevailing restrictions on account of COVID-19, there was dislocation and delay in moving applications for registration, which in turn led to delay in registration as a political party,” the statement said.
The notice period of seven days would be given to all those parties who publish their public notice on or before October 7, it said.