The Election Commission of India on Wednesday announced the dates for Bihar Assembly elections.
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi declared that the elections will be conducted in five phases, starting from 12 October and ending on 5 November.
Notification regarding the election will be released on 16 September.
| Phases | Dates |
| Phase I | 12 October |
| Phase II | 16 October |
| Phase III | 28 October |
| Phase IV | 1 November |
| Phase V | 5 November |
Counting of votes will be done on 8 November. All the election procedures have to be completed by 12 November as the term of present legislative assembly expires on 29 November.
The exit polls have been prohibited from the first day of the polling till the voting gets over, ANI quoted Zaidi as saying.
Central paramilitary forces will be deployed at polling stations across 243 assembly constituencies to prevent anti-social activities.
"Commission has made more than adequate arrangements of central paramilitary forces which will man all polling stations," Zaidi said.
Zaidi had met Election Commisioners AK Jyoti and Om Prakash Rawat on Tuesday to finalise the dates for Bihar Assembly polls, Zee News reported.
This year's election seems to be a three-cornered contest as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Parivar, the BJP-led NDA alliance and the newly formed alliance of six major Left parties are fighting against each other in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls.
The Left parties that have joined hands are Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI(M), CPI(ML), Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI)(Communist), All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).
In the present House, JD(U), RJD and INC have 112 seats together, while BJP-led NDA has 94 seats.
