New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections, which will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11. The counting of votes and declaration of results will take place on November 14.

Announcing the poll dates, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that, for the first time, the Commission will appoint one general observer for each of the state’s 243 Assembly constituencies. He added that this move aims to strengthen monitoring and ensure the smooth and transparent conduct of the elections.

Additionally, one police observer will be deployed in each of the state’s 38 districts to ensure free, fair, and peaceful conduct of the upcoming polls.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, polling in Bihar was conducted in three phases.

The CEC asserted that the Bihar elections will be conducted in a transparent and peaceful manner.

"There are a total of 7.42 crore voters in Bihar, of which 3.92 crore are males and 3.5 crore are women. There are 14 lakh first-time voters and 4 lakh senior citizen voters," Kumar said at a press conference.

At least 14,000 voters in the state are aged above 100 years.

A total of 90,712 polling stations are being set up in Bihar, he said.

The CEC said strict directives have been given to the administration "for zero tolerance to any violence and there is no scope for any threat to voters or candidates".

On Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated that elections in Bihar will be held before November 22, when the term of the State Assembly ends.

"Bihar has 243 assembly constituencies, 2 for STs and 38 for SCs. The term of the Bihar Legislative Assembly ends on November 22, 2025, and elections will be held before that time... The Election Commission trained booth-level officers for the first time... SIR was launched on June 24, 2025, and completed by the deadline," Kumar said.

He added that "no polling station will have more than 1,200 voters" to ensure a smoother voting process.

Currently, the NDA holds 131 seats (BJP 80, JD(U) 45, HAM(S) 4, and 2 Independents), while the Mahagathbandhan controls 111 seats (RJD 77, Congress 19, CPI(ML) 11, CPM 2, CPI 2).

The upcoming elections are expected to witness a direct contest between the ruling NDA led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Mahagathbandhan spearheaded by the RJD.