Bihar Politics & Governance

BPSC announces fifth response option for unattempted questions

1 May 2026

The Bihar Public Service Commission announced that upcoming multiple-choice examinations will use five response options, A to E. Candidates wishing to leave a question unanswered must mark E, meaning “Not Attempted”; leaving all options blank will attract a deduction of one-third of a mark for that question. The announcement did not specify when the revised rule would first take effect.

Notable Points

• Constitutional basis: BPSC is Bihar’s State Public Service Commission, established under Article 315; the new response option was announced for upcoming MCQ examinations.

Bihar begins Census 2027 house-listing phase

2 May 2026

Bihar began the house-listing phase of Census 2027 on 2 May, with the exercise scheduled to run through 31 May. The phase involves listing houses and collecting basic information about them. Census director Ranjita said 4,682,284 families completed online self-enumeration between 17 April and 1 May.

Notable Points

• Data distinction: The May exercise began house-listing and self-enumeration for Census 2027; the online self-enumeration total was not a population count.

Bihar reviews Patna Metro, satellite townships and JP Ganga Path garden

2 May 2026

Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary reviewed the Patna Metro, 11 proposed satellite townships and Phase I of the JP Ganga Path integrated garden project, directing officials to address obstacles and meet project timelines. The garden project is planned along about six kilometres from Digha to Sabhyata Dwar, with parking, gardens, walking and cycling tracks, six sports grounds and a women’s market; its stated completion target is 25 September 2027.

Notable Points

• Planning stage: The review covered proposed satellite townships and an ongoing garden project; a progress meeting did not constitute final township notifications or completion of the garden.

BPSC cancels AEDO examination shifts and blacklists service provider

2 May 2026

The Bihar Public Service Commission cancelled all nine shifts of the Assistant Education Development Officer examination, held from 14 to 21 April, following reported irregularities. It also blacklisted M/S Sai Educare Private Limited and seized the company’s bank guarantee after finding its response to a show-cause notice unsatisfactory.

Notable Points

• Enforcement stage: BPSC said it cancelled the nine April shifts and blacklisted the service provider after an unsatisfactory reply to a show-cause notice; no fresh exam date was given in the May reports.

Bihar announces direct secretariat monitoring of police stations and circle offices

3 May 2026

Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced that the Chief Minister’s Secretariat would directly monitor police stations, blocks and circle offices as part of an anti-corruption initiative. The action plan was due to begin on 29 May 2026.

Notable Points

• Implementation status: The report described an action plan scheduled to start on 29 May; it did not provide measured results from the monitoring system.

Suryakumar Sharma elected unopposed to Bihar Legislative Council

4 May 2026

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Suryakumar Sharma, also known as Arvind Sharma, was elected unopposed to a Bihar Legislative Council seat in a by-election. Returning Officer Chhote Paswan issued him the election certificate.

The vacancy arose after Mangal Pandey, then a Legislative Council member, won election to the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Notable Points

• Constitutional composition: Under Article 171, Legislative Council members come from local-authority, graduate and teacher electorates, MLAs, and gubernatorial nominations; this by-election filled an Assembly-electorate seat.

Vikramshila Setu section collapses, disrupting regional traffic

4 May 2026

A section of Vikramshila Setu near pillar 133 over the Ganga collapsed in early May, disrupting the road link between Bhagalpur and north Bihar; no deaths were reported in the collapse. The administration arranged boat services and detours. By 29 May, the District Magistrate said slab replacement and three Bailey bridges were complete, but a fourth bridge remained under construction and traffic had not resumed; 7 June was a target, not a May reopening.

Separately, an interim IIT Patna audit had identified nine bridges needing urgent attention among 47 reports received out of 85 bridges assigned for inspection. These were preliminary findings, not a final assessment of all 85 bridges.

Notable Points

• Temporary crossing: Bailey bridges were being assembled to provide a restricted interim route; they did not reopen the damaged main bridge in May.
• Audit scope: The nine-bridge finding came from ...