The assembly election in Bihar will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and 7 and the results will be announced on November 10, the Election Commission said today.
This is the first major election to be held in the middle of the worldwide coronavirus crisis. Bihar has to elect a new 243-member assembly by November 29.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora called it a "historic election" and the world's biggest in the time of the coronavirus. There will be an extra voting hour, separate voting for Covid patients, suspects and those in quarantine, and no physical contact during the campaign, he announced.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who leads a coalition with the BJP, will fight for a fourth term in these polls, with the opposition RJD of jailed former Chief Minister Lalu Yadav and the Congress challenging him.
