EC likely to announce Bihar Assembly election dates today

Election Commission of India is likely to announce Bihar poll dates on Monday. The number of phases for polling will be decided on the basis of availability of central forces.While the Janata Dal(United)-Rastriya Janata Dal-Congress alliance is fighting the elections with Nitish Kumar as CM candidate The Bhartiya Janata Party and allies are yet to announce a Chief Ministerial candidate, and are banking on Prime Minister Modi to win the election for them.

Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party had walked out of the Janata Parivar in Bihar following differences over the number of seats that its leadership wanted to contest in the state Assembly elections.

Samajwadi Party, which has a negligible presence in Bihar, had been given five seats by the Janata Dal United-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress alliance. Intially the Mulayam led party was not given any seat by the JDU-RJD-Congress alliance and only after Samajwadi party's Bihar unit raised a hue and cry, it was allotted five seats - two from the RJD quota and three given to the Nationalist Congress Party which has also decided to contest alone.