India News : The Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 14. The announcement was made by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday during a press conference at Vigyan Bhawan.
As per the Election Commission, polling in the first phase will take place on 121 seats on November 6, and in the second phase on 122 seats on November 11. The total number of seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly is 243, including 38 reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 2 for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Bihar has a total of 7.43 crore registered voters, including 3.92 crore male, 3.50 crore female, and 1,725 transgender voters. Among them are 7.2 lakh differently-abled voters, 4.04 lakh voters aged above 85, and 14,000 centenarians. Additionally, there are 1.63 lakh service voters.
The state also has a significant young voter base with 14.01 lakh voters aged 18–19, and 1.63 crore voters aged 20–29. Nearly 14 lakh new voters will be casting their vote for the first time. New voter ID cards will be issued within 15 days.
A total of 90,712 polling stations will be set up across Bihar, with 76,801 in rural areas and 13,911 in urban areas. On average, each polling booth will serve 818 voters. The Commission will also set up 292 differently-abled-friendly, 38 youth-managed, 1,044 women-run, and 1,350 model polling booths. Webcasting will be available at all polling stations to ensure transparency.
Gyanesh Kumar said Bihar has set an example in voter list purification, carried out under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) program. After the publication of the draft list, political parties and citizens were invited to submit claims and objections. The final electoral roll was published on September 30.
Voter enrollment will remain open until 10 days before the nomination deadline, but no new names will be added after the final list is released. The current Bihar Assembly term ends on November 22, 2025.
Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi were also present at the briefing.
