Patna, Oct 20 – On the final day for nomination withdrawals, 61 of the 1,690 candidates who filed to contest the first phase of Bihar’s assembly elections pulled out, the Election Commission said. After the paperwork had been scrutineered, 315 nominations were invalidated, leaving 1,375 valid contenders. Once the 61 withdrawals were counted, 1,314 candidates will stand in the first phase.
The biggest drop‑outs came from Patna with nine candidates, followed by Darbhanga (8), Begusarai (7) and Gopalganj (6). Vaishali had five, Muzaffarpur four, and Siwan, Samastipur, Nalanda and Buxar each saw three. A few other districts had two or one withdrawals. The nomination window for the first phase ran from Oct 10 to Oct 17, and the voting will take place on Nov 6.
The second phase, covering 122 seats in the same 18 districts, closed at 5 p.m. today. Candidates can still withdraw until Oct 23. Voting for that phase is scheduled for Nov 11, with results due on Nov 14.
The main battle in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections is shaping up between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan). The NDA’s seat‑sharing plan is already set: the Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party will contest 101 seats each, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will fight 29. The Hindustani Awam Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Morcha will each contest six seats.
Source: ianslive
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