The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for biennial elections to eight seats in the Bihar Legislative Council. Polling for the eight seats will be held on October 23, 2026, while counting of votes is scheduled for October 27.
The election will cover eight constituencies representing Graduates and Teachers. Four of the seats are Graduates constituencies, while the remaining four are Teachers constituencies. The elections are being conducted as the terms of the existing members are due to expire on November 16, 2026.
The four Graduates constituencies going to the polls are Patna Graduates, Darbhanga Graduates, Tirhut Graduates and Kosi Graduates. The four Teachers constituencies are Patna Teachers, Darbhanga Teachers, Tirhut Teachers and Saran Teachers.
The Election Commission has fixed September 29 as the date for issuing the formal election notification. Candidates will be able to submit their nomination papers until October 6. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on October 7.
Candidates who wish to withdraw their nominations will have time until October 9. After the withdrawal deadline, the final list of candidates will be prepared for the constituencies where contests remain.
Polling will be conducted on October 23 from 8 am to 4 pm. Counting of votes will take place on October 27. The Election Commission has stated that the entire election process is scheduled to be completed by October 31.
The eight seats are part of the regular biennial election process for the Bihar Legislative Council. The terms of the current members representing these constituencies are scheduled to end on November 16.
According to the election schedule, the members whose terms are ending include Neeraj Kumar from the Patna Graduates constituency, Sarvesh Kumar from the Darbhanga Graduates constituency, Bansi Dhar Brajwasi from the Tirhut Graduates constituency and N K Yadav from the Kosi Graduates constituency.
Among the Teachers constituencies, the members whose terms are due to expire include Naval Kishore Yadav from Patna Teachers, Madan Mohan Jha from Darbhanga Teachers, Sanjay Kumar Singh from Tirhut Teachers and Afaque Ahmad from Saran Teachers.
The election process is different from direct elections to the Lok Sabha or state Legislative Assembly. Graduates and Teachers constituencies are special electoral constituencies within the Legislative Council system. Eligible voters registered in the respective constituencies participate in electing representatives.
The election schedule provides candidates and political parties with a defined timetable for completing the nomination process. The notification on September 29 will formally begin the process. Candidates must submit their nomination papers before the October 6 deadline. The scrutiny stage on October 7 will determine whether the nomination papers meet the applicable requirements.
The withdrawal period will continue until October 9. Once this stage is completed, the Election Commission will have the final list of candidates contesting the eight seats.
The voting process will then take place on October 23. Polling stations will remain open from 8 am to 4 pm. The votes will subsequently be counted on October 27.
The election is part of a wider round of Legislative Council elections announced by the Election Commission. Along with Bihar, elections have also been scheduled for Legislative Council seats in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Across the four states, a total of 28 seats from Graduates and Teachers constituencies will be contested. Bihar accounts for eight of those seats.
The Bihar election therefore forms one part of a broader electoral schedule announced by the Election Commission for the four states. In Bihar, all eight seats are being contested through the Graduates and Teachers constituencies.
The election will determine the new members who will represent these eight constituencies in the Bihar Legislative Council after the present terms end. The results will depend on the nominations filed, the candidates who remain after the withdrawal deadline and the votes cast by eligible electors.
The Election Commission has also specified that the election process should be completed by October 31. This provides a clear timeline from the publication of the notification through nominations, scrutiny, withdrawal, polling and counting.
For voters registered in the concerned Graduates and Teachers constituencies, the announcement establishes the important dates for the upcoming election. Eligible electors will need to follow the official electoral roll and polling information issued by the Election Commission and the relevant state election authorities.
With polling scheduled for October 23 and counting on October 27, the Bihar Legislative Council election will fill eight seats whose existing terms are approaching their scheduled conclusion. The election authorities will oversee the process according to the applicable constitutional and electoral provisions.