The full Election Commission is likely to visit Bihar soon, with sources telling CNN-News18 that the trip could happen ahead of the announcement of polling dates, expected in the first week of October.
“It is a norm for the full Commission to visit a poll-bound state to apprise itself about preparedness before announcing the election schedule,” an EC official told CNN-News18.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two Election Commissioners are expected to lead the visit, which may coincide with the publication of the final voter list on September 30. The list is being prepared under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which also ends on the same day.
Officials in Bihar indicated that the Commission’s visit could overlap with the completion of the voter roll exercise.
The visit also comes days before the Supreme Court hears final arguments on the validity of the SIR exercise on October 7. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi has already said it presumes the EC, as a constitutional authority, is following the law, though it warned the revision would be set aside if found illegal.
The term of the current Bihar Legislative Assembly ends on November 22, meaning a new House must be elected and sworn in before then.
The 2025 Bihar election is shaping up as a contest between the BJP and its ally JD(U) on one side, and the Mahagathbandhan led by the Congress and RJD on the other. Nitish Kumar began his seventh term with the BJP, later switched to the Opposition and helped launch the INDIA bloc, before returning to the saffron party-led alliance.
The Bihar polls will also set the tone for a busy electoral cycle, with Assam, Bengal and Tamil Nadu voting in 2026, followed by Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other key states in 2027, ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha election.
