An artist gives final touches to a voter awareness mural in Patna. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Election Commission of India (ECI) kickstarted the Bihar Assembly election process on Friday (October 10, 2025) by issuing a notification for Phase 1 polling in 121 constituencies on November 6.
The poll body said that it has not yet recieved any appeals for the addition or deletion of names in the State’s final electoral rolls, published after the recent special intensive revision (SIR) of voter lists.
Bihar Assembly Election updates on October 10, 2025
The process of filing nominations for candidates in the constituencies going to polls in the first phase begins on Friday (October 10), with the last date for withdrawal of nominations set for October 20.
While names can be added to the voter lists till the last date of filing nominations, the ECI will only process applications for new registrations (Form 6) received up to 10 days before the last date for filing nominations, which is now already over for the first phase. Any application received after this cut-off will be processed only after the election is over.
‘No appeals yet’
In a post on X, the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar said that as of October 9, during the recent SIR process, no appeals had been received by District Magistrates in any of the 243 Assembly constituencies regarding the addition or deletion of names in the final electoral roll after the SIR process.
While hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the Bihar SIR on Thursday (October 10), the Supreme Court had asked the Bihar State Legal Service Authority to help those whose names have not made it to the list to file appeals with the ECI.
The ECI has said that 3.66 ineligible electors’ names were removed from the draft list, while 21.53 lakh eligible electors were added to it using Form 6, taking the total number of voters in the State to 7.42 crore.
‘Dignified identification for burqa-clad voters’
The ECI has issued a list of 12 alternative documents which can be furnished as proof for voting in the Bihar Assembly polls in case of unavailability of EPIC cards.
In a statement, the Commission reiterated that to encourage participation of purdanasheen (women in burqas or purdah), “special arrangements” will be made at polling stations for their “dignified identification” in the presence of women polling officers or attendants, while ensuring their privacy.
The districts going to the polls in the first phase are Patna, Darbhanga, Madhepura, Saharsa, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Samastipur, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Munger, Sheikhpura, Nalanda, Buxar, and Bhojpur.
The second and final phase of the poll will take place on November 11 in the remaining 122 Assembly seats. The counting of votes for the election will take place on November 14.
Published – October 10, 2025 01:13 pm IST