2 Or 3 Phases, Space For Diwali And Chhath: Sources On Bihar Election Dates

The 2025 Bihar Assembly Election may be held over two or three phases, Election Commission sources told NDTV Monday. The schedule will be decided keeping Diwali and Chhath Puja in mind, the sources also said. Diwali this year will be on October 20 and Chhath on October 28.

The Bihar Assembly term ends on November 22, so the election process (including counting and declaration of results) must be finished before that. Sources said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will visit the state sometime this month to oversee preparations.

Meanwhile, the poll panel is training to BLO, or booth level operators to ensure a fair election, and avoid allegations related to voter lists like those made by the Congress and other opposition parties after the 2024 Maharashtra and Haryana elections and the Delhi election in February.

The Bharatiya Janata Party romped to victories in all three.

In Delhi it thumped the Aam Aadmi Party to claim power in the national capital for the first time in nearly three decades, and in Haryana it overcame a strong start by the Congress to retain power for a third consecutive term in the heartland state. In Maharashtra voter list fraud was alleged after the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi failed to perform like in the Lok Sabha election a few months earlier.

The Election Commission had strongly refused all such claims.

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And now, as part of a renewed effort to counter such allegations, the poll panel will provide all BLOs with identity cards, sources said. This will allow them to go door-to-door for verification.

Also, a campaign will be held to update the voter list, so people turning 18 can be added. This will also, sources said, eliminate the problem of duplicate voter ID numbers.

The Election Commission is also prepared to deal with challenges posed by AI, sources said.

2020 Bihar Election

The 2020 Bihar election was held in three phases; voting was on October 28, November 3, and November 7, with results announced on November 10. The result was an overwhelming victory for the BJP and Janata Dal (United)-led alliance, but there was much drama that followed.

JDU boss and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lived up to his 'paltu Kumar' sobriquet in just two years later, in August 2022, declaring "I would rather die than go with the BJP (anymore)".

He re-aligned with Tejashwi Yadav and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, but then flipped again. Amid confusion and controversy, in January 2024 he dumped the RJD and returned to the BJP's side.

The 2025 election will be keenly watched, as much for what Nitish Kumar does next as for the BJP building up steam ahead of a critical round of state polls next year, when Bengal and Assam will vote. Both polls will likely be dominated by fierce debates over issues like immigration.

In 2026 Tamil Nadu and Kerala will also vote. Both states have historically rejected the BJP and its brand of muscular nationalism, with the former giving the DMK and Congress alliance big wins in the past three major polls - the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections.

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