On the last day for withdrawal of nominations, sixty-one candidates stepped out of the contest for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, according to data released by the Election Commission on Monday.
Official figures show that a total of 1,690 candidates had filed their nomination papers for the first phase, which spans 121 constituencies across 18 districts.
Following the scrutiny of documents, 315 nominations were rejected due to various inconsistencies, leaving 1,375 valid contenders in the race.
After Monday’s withdrawals, the final count of candidates for the first phase stands at 1,314.
A district-wise review indicates that Patna witnessed the highest number of withdrawals (9), followed by Darbhanga (8), Begusarai (7), and Gopalganj (6).
Vaishali recorded 5 withdrawals, Muzaffarpur 4, while Siwan, Samastipur, Nalanda, and Buxar each had 3 candidates pull out.
Madhepura, Khagaria, and Munger saw 2 withdrawals each, and Saharsa, Saran, Sheikhpura, and Bhojpur reported one withdrawal apiece.
The nomination process for the first phase commenced on 10 October and concluded on 17 October. Voting for this phase is scheduled for 6 November.
Meanwhile, nominations for the second phase, covering 122 seats across 18 districts, closed at 05:00 PM on Monday.
Candidates for this round may withdraw their nominations until 23 October.
Polling will be held on 11 November, with the results to be announced on 14 November.
The 2025 Bihar Assembly election is set for a key contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan).
Within the NDA, seat-sharing arrangements have been finalised:
- The Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party will each contest 101 seats,
- Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will field candidates on 29 seats, and
- Both the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will contest 6 seats apiece
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