Bihar assembly election dates announcement today: Will Chhath Puja become a deciding factor?

The Election Commission of India will hold a press conference at 4 pm today and announce the poll dates for Bihar Assembly elections 2025, according to several media reports that cite EC officials. This comes after Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, held several meetings in state capital Patna over the weekend.

The poll body also met leaders from national and state political parties including the BJP, JD(U), RJD and Congress for their suggestions on the election schedule. They reportedly urged the EC to conduct the polls after Chhath Puja for larger voter turnout.

Notably there have been requests from party leaders to hold Bihar assembly elections in one or two phases so that migrant voters, who have come to their native places to celebrate the Chatth Puja can cast their vote and return to their work immediately.

The previous Assembly elections in 2020 were held in three phases.