Elections to the Bihar Legislative Assembly are expected to take place in the first or second week of November this year, according to sources in the Election Commission (EC). The Commission is planning to hold polling in three phases, keeping in mind major festivals like Diwali and Chhath, so that voting does not clash with them.

The current Assembly’s term ends on November 22, 2025, so the EC must finish the election process before that date. Bihar has a history of multi-phase elections. In the 2020 Assembly elections, polling was held in three phases: 71 seats on October 28, 94 seats on November 3, and 78 seats on November 7. Results were declared on November 10. In 2015, voting was spread over five phases.

This year, the political contest is expected to be between the ruling NDA alliance and the Opposition INDIA bloc. The NDA includes the BJP, JD(U), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas), and is aiming to retain power under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. On the other hand, the Opposition, led by RJD along with the Congress and Left parties, is hoping to remove the NDA from power.

Currently, in the 243-member Assembly, the NDA has a majority with 131 seats (BJP 80, JD(U) 45, HAM-S 4, plus 2 Independents). The INDIA bloc has 111 members (RJD 77, Congress 19, CPI(ML) 11, CPI(M) 2, CPI 2).
Meanwhile, political tensions have risen over the EC’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. 

The Opposition has accused the EC of deleting genuine voters. On September 31, Congress claimed that its Booth Level Agents flagged 89 lakh irregularities during the revision drive, but all were dismissed without proper review. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that the EC’s actions raised doubts about its intentions and demanded that the revision process be conducted again.

However, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer denied these allegations, saying that no valid claims or objections in the prescribed format were received from Congress’s authorised agents. The EC is expected to announce the final election dates in the coming weeks.