Bihar Elections 2025 Date: Polls to take place in 2 phases, counting of votes on November 14

The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections 2025 on Monday. The incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is set to face an uphill challenge from the opposition Mahagathbandhan, comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

At the press conference in Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said that the polls will take place in 2 phases on November 6, 2025 and November 11, 2025. The counting of votes will take place on November 14, 2025. The term of the 243-member Legislative Assembly ends on November 22, 2025.

Political parties had requested the EC to conduct the polls immediately after the Chhath Pooja to ensure greater voter participation, as a large number of people working outside Bihar return home for the celebrations. This year, Chhath Pooja will be celebrated at the end of October. 

Bihar assembly elections 2025: Check full schedule here

Bihar assembly seats, voters, and polling stations

Of the total 243 assembly seats, 203 are unreserved, whereas 2 are reserved for STs and 38 for SCs. As per the poll body, a total of around 7.43 crore voters will exercise their right to franchise in the assembly polls. Of the total 7.43 crore voters, around 3.92 crore are male, 3.5 crore are female, and 14 lakh are first-time voters.

Furthermore, he commented on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise conducted in Bihar. He added that the exercise was undertaken after political parties pointed out flaws in the voter rolls. 

Kumar said, "Bihar is set to hold elections after five years. The process began with updating the voter list and will culminate in the polls. The voter list revision started on June 24, 2025, and the draft was published on August 1. Citizens were given time to file claims or objections until September 1. The final voter list was released on September 30. Appeals for any remaining errors can still be filed with the District Magistrate."

Kumar added that no polling booth would have more than 1,200 voters to ensure a smoother process of casting votes, as the state has a total of 90,712 polling stations. Arrangements have also been made to provide facilities such as poll volunteers, a help desk, ramps, toilets, drinking water, signage, sufficient lighting, and a voter facilitation centre at every polling station.

What happened in 2020?

In 2020, the Bihar assembly polls were held in 3 phases for 243 assembly seats between October to November. In this election, the ruling NDA won 125 seats. The opposition Mahagathbandhan gave a tough fight and bagged 110 seats. Other minor parties and coalitions won 7 seats, and one newly elected MLA was an independent.