From 6 phases in 2010 to just 2 now – how Bihar Election duration has shrunk over the years

Bihar will vote in two phases – on November 6 and 11 – to elect a new government, the Election Commission announced on 6 October. The result will be announced on 14 November, the poll panel said.

The voting will decide the fate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which is being challenged by the INDIA bloc comprising the RJD, Congress, and other parties.

The first phase will see polling in 121 Assembly constituencies in central Bihar on 6 November. The second phase will cover 122 seats, in the north, east and south on 11 November, as per the election schedule.

Three phases in 2020

The 2020 assembly elections were held in three phases. Political parties had demanded one or two-phase polling at this time.

Assembly elections in Bihar began in 1951. The November election will be the 18th assembly election in Bihar.

Shorter elections over the years

Bihar has seen a reduction in the number of voting phases in elections over the last three decades. In 2005, for example, two assembly elections were held in Bihar. There was a fractured verdict in the February polls, which were held in three phases. Another election was held in October and November in four phases.

In the 2010 Bihar assembly election, voting was held in six phases in October and November. In 2015, the voting was held in five phases, while in 2020, it was a three-phase election in Bihar.

Nitish Kumar enters

The Bihar Assembly election in 2000 was held in three phases in February.

In March 2000, Nitish Kumar was elected Chief Minister of Bihar for the first time, at the behest of the AB Vajpayee government at the centre. The then NDA and its allies had 151 MLAs, whereas Lalu Prasad Yadav had 159 MLAs in the 324-member house (comprising Bihar and Jharkhand at the time). Both alliances fell short of the majority mark, which is 163. Nitish resigned before he could prove his numbers in the house. He lasted 7 days in the post.

Lalu Yadav's wife Rabri Devi was sworn in as the chief minister again.

Single-phase voting in undivided Bihar

Before 2000, elections were held in undivided Bihar in a single phase. Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar on 15 November 2000.

The Bihar Assembly election in 1995 was held in a single phase — on 2 March 1995. All 324 constituencies of undivided Bihar (including present-day Jharkhand) voted on the same day. In 1990, too, the elections in undivided Bihar were held in a single phase.

CEC explains shorter poll duration

The term of the incumbent 243-seat Bihar Assembly comes to an end on 22 November.

Voting will be held at 90,712 polling stations. Bihar has 7.43 crore voters, including 3.92 crore men and 3.50 crore women. As many as 1,725 individuals identify as belonging to the ‘third gender’.

The poll dates were announced after a delegation of the Election Commission visited Bihar on October 4 and 5 to review the preparations. Political parties during the visit requested the poll panel that voting be held after the Chhath festival, which lasts from 25 October to 28, and also suggested reducing the number of polling phases, according to reports.

The poll panel is also said to have taken the decision considering the prolonged 2024 Lok Sabha elections – held over seven phases, making them the longest since the 1951-52 elections. The Lok Sabha elections in 2024 saw a dip in voter turnout.

The then CEC Rajiv Kumar had said then that elections should have been completed a month earlier. Last year, the assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir were three phases – the shortest duration in three decades.

“Voter awareness, availability of CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces), the assessment of law and order and the enhancement in the capacity of the EC and its officials – looking at all these factors, it was felt appropriate to conduct the elections in two phases,” said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, explaining the reduced number of phases.

(With agency inputs)