The Supreme Court will be hearing a group of petitions that question the legality of Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, carried out before the 2025 Assembly elections. Earlier, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi had postponed the case after the ECI requested more time, saying the issue should be heard only after the final voter list was released. Now that the ECI has finished the revision process, the final list includes 7.43 crore registered voters, with about 14 lakh people voting for the first time.
Bihar poll dates out but coalition partners mum over seat sharing
The Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 will be held in two phases in November. In the first phase, voting will take place in 121 constituencies on November 6, followed by polling in 122 constituencies on November 11. The counting of votes is scheduled for November 14, according to the Election Commission of India.
Even as the Election Commission released the poll schedule, both major alliances, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition’s Mahagathbandhan, are still working on their seat-sharing formulas. Parties in both camps are trying to find a balance between individual ambitions and the chances of winning. Since the last election in 2020, the composition of both alliances has changed, with new parties now seeking their share among the 243 Assembly seats.
Seat-Sharing talks ongoing
According to media reports, within the NDA, the Janata Dal (United) may contest around 107 seats and the BJP about 105. The remaining 31 seats are likely to be shared among Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Union Minister Jitan Ram Majhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP).
The JD(U) has reportedly left it to the BJP to work out the details with its smaller allies. Party spokesperson KC Tyagi had said that the JD(U) remains the main partner in the alliance and should get the biggest share of seats, while the BJP can negotiate with other allies such as LJP (RV), HAM, and RLSP.
Follow this space for our live coverage on Bihar Elections 2025:
Bihar Assembly Election 2025 LIVE Updates: SC Hearing on Bihar Voter List Revision, Bihar SIR Row LIVE Updates
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: Opposition slams hearing ahead of SC hearing on Bihar SIR
Congress' General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh took to X today and wrote, "Much was made of the need of the SIR exercise to remove non-citizens from the electoral roll. The EC has not had the integrity or the courage to enlighten the country on how many such non-citizens in Bihar were removed from the electoral roll. If it had done so, it would have been even more exposed than it already is."
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: Who is Maithili Thakur?
Maithili Thakur is a renowned folk singer from Bihar who is likely to contest the upcoming Bihar Elections 2025 on BJP's ticket. SHe had recently met BJP election in-charge Vinod Tawde and Union Minister Nityanand Rai which led to the rumours of her standing in the state assembly elections.
Read More Here: Bihar Election 2025: Who is Maithili Thakur? Folk singer likely to contest from Alinagar on BJP's ticket
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: 'EC has no integrity to reveal number of non-citizens in Bihar that were removed from electoral rolls,' says Jairam Ramesh
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday yet again slammed the Election Commission, saying it lacked the "courage and integrity" to inform the country about how many foreigners were actually removed from Bihar’s voter list, even though the Commission had emphasised the need for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to clean up the electoral rolls. He pointed out that a lot of focus had been placed on removing non-citizens from the voter list, but the EC did not provide details on how many were actually removed. Ramesh added that if the EC had shared this information, it would have faced even more scrutiny than it does now.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: 'INDIA bloc will form goverment in Bihar,' Ashok Gehlot says ahead of campaigning
Congress’ senior observer for the Bihar Assembly elections, Ashok Gehlot, on Tuesday expressed confidence that the INDIA bloc will win, ahead of his visit to the state. Gehlot is scheduled to visit Bihar on Wednesday to start campaigning for the upcoming elections. He said he will focus on election activities and is confident that the INDIA bloc will form the government in the state.
According to a press release by the All India Congress Committee, senior Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have been appointed as senior observers for the Bihar elections.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: 'Tejashwi Yadav has drawn the biggest line,' says RJD MP Manoj Jha
RJD MP Manoj Jha said that Tejashwi Yadav has set a clear and strong agenda, and there are attempts by others to imitate it. "Tejashwi Yadav has drawn the biggest line and there are attempts to copy and paste it," he said. Jha added that the election results, expected in a month, will surprise those who believed they had complete control over institutions. He also called on the Election Commission to act impartially and take action against hate speech.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: 32 constituencies identified as high-expenditure areas
32 constituencies in Bihar have been identified as high-expenditure areas, which means large amount of cash was seized from these areas in the past elections.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: Voter slips to be handed over 4 days before polling
Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer, Vinod Singh Guniyal, on Monday said that the voters will be handed over their voter slips four days before the polling takes place.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: When are the Bihar polls being held?
The Election Commission of India announced the poll dates on Monday for all 243 Assembly seats in Bihar, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 14. The voting will be held in two phases on November 6 and on November 11.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi expresses confidence post poll dates announcement
Regarding the Bihar election dates, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said that people in Bihar and across the country are noticing the positive changes under Prime Minister Modi at the Centre and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the state. He expressed confidence that the voters will give a strong and decisive mandate in favor of the BJP-NDA alliance.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: Jitan Ram Manjhi welcomes EC's decision to hold Bihar polls in 2 phases
Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi welcomed the Election Commission’s decision to conduct the Bihar Assembly elections in just two phases, saying that a shorter schedule would help ensure a fairer poll. He explained that fewer phases would limit chances for illegal activities at polling stations. Manjhi noted that longer, multi-phase elections give more opportunities for booth-level manipulation, whereas a shorter, two-phase schedule reduces such risks and encourages neutral voting. He also expressed confidence that the elections would be carried out with full transparency.
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: 'Chhah or gyarah, NDA nau do gyarah,' Lalu's cheeky dig after poll dates announcement
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday mocked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), saying the alliance will face defeat in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. After the Election Commission announced that voting will take place in two phases on November 6 and November 11, Lalu Yadav posted on X, "Chhah or gyarah, NDA nau do gyarah."
Bihar Election 2025 LIVE Updates: SC set to hear final arguments on Bihar SIR today
The Supreme Court is set to hear the final arguments on Bihar's final voter list revision which was conducted by the ECI as part of Special intensive Revision. The hearing is being held today, right after the ECI announced the poll dates on Monday.