The Election Commission of India has officially unveiled the timetable for the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, confirming that the polls will be held in two phases -- on November 6 and November 11. Out of the 243 assembly seats, 121 will be contested in the first phase, while the remaining 122 will go to the polls in the second. The current Assembly’s tenure is set to expire on November 22, 2025. In contrast to the 2020 elections, which took place in three phases, political parties this time preferred a shorter process, either in one or two phases, owing to the festive season.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar highlighted key arrangements, saying, “The final voter’s list after SIR has been given to all political parties. Post the date of nomination filing, the voters’ list, which is to be released, will be final.” A total of 2,616 candidates will contest across both phases, and polling will occur at 90,712 booths, with an average of 818 voters per booth. Kumar also announced that every polling booth will be webcast, and voters will be required to leave their smartphones outside the polling room. Additionally, “there will be 243 observers -- one each for every assembly constituency,” he said.
Full Schedule of Phase 1 Voting
-- The first phase begins with the issue of the Gazette Notification on October 10, 2025.
-- Candidates must file nominations by October 17, and the scrutiny of nominations will be done on October 18.
-- The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is October 20.
-- Voting will take place on November 6.
-- The entire process for Phase 1 will conclude by November 16, 2025.
Full Schedule of Phase 2 Voting
-- For the second phase, the Gazette Notification will be issued on October 13, 2025.
-- Nominations will close on October 20, with scrutiny scheduled for October 21.
-- Candidates may withdraw until October 23
-- Voting will take place on November 11.
-- The election process for this phase will also be completed by November 16.
Result Day and Other Details
The counting of votes for all 243 constituencies has been scheduled for November 14. Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an additional hour for those already in the queue.
Bihar’s final electoral roll includes 7.42 crore voters -- 3.92 crore men and 3.5 crore women -- finalized after a special revision. To ensure security, more than 500 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been earmarked for deployment. The arrangement includes 121 CRPF companies and about 400 from the BSF, supplemented by ITBP, CISF, and SSB personnel. It was reported last month that 99 companies of the BSF already reached Bihar, and the movement of other CAPF contingents was underway.
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