Campaign for First Phase of Bihar Elections Ends; Polling for 121 Seats on Nov 6

PTI, PATNA, NOV 4, 2025 :  The campaign for the first phase of the Bihar elections concluded on Tuesday evening, with intense political activity across the state as parties made their final push to connect with voters. The campaigning officially ended at 6 pm, with both ruling and opposition parties sparing no effort to reach out to the electorate in the last hours.

Prominent political leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President JP Nadda, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, were all active on the campaign trail. Shah addressed three rallies, while Singh held five public meetings. Nadda led a roadshow after speaking at a rally, and Gandhi addressed three meetings during the final day of campaigning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also engaged virtually with BJP’s female workers in the state, while Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav held several rallies. Other notable figures who campaigned on the last day included Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, and former Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Key constituencies in the first phase, set for November 6, include Raghopur, where Tejashwi Yadav is contesting, Mahua, from where Tejashwi’s brother Tej Pratap Yadav is running with a new political party, and Tarapur, where Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary is seeking re-election. The phase will also see intense competition in other important constituencies like Alinagar, where singer Maithili Thakur is contesting on a BJP ticket, and Mokama, where strongman Anant Singh, who is facing charges in a murder case, is a JD(U) candidate.

Additionally, Lakhisarai, represented by Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha, and Raghunathpur, where the late gangster-turned-politician Md Shahabuddin's son, Osama Shahab, is running for the RJD, are also in the spotlight.

Polling for the remaining 122 seats in Bihar’s 243-member legislative assembly will take place on November 11. The counting of votes will be held on November 10.

With the political intensity rising ahead of the first phase, the Bihar elections are expected to be a key test for all major parties as they battle for dominance in the state’s assembly.