New Delhi: The Election Commission of India is likely to announce dates of the high-voltage Bihar Assembly polls today.
Reports say that polling may be held in five phases starting in the second week of October and ending in the first week of November.
It is also likely that results will be declared before Diwali, which falls on November 11.
The Election Commission officials will me meeting today and it is likely to discuss the dates and availability of security personnel.
On Friday, the Election Commission had a detailed meeting with top Home Ministry officials on deployment of security forces during the polls.
Around 50,000 paramilitary personnel will be deployed for each phase to ensure peaceful balloting. Apart from the central forces, state police will also be deployed extensively during the elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and an alliance of the Janata Dal-United and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) that has the backing of the Congress will be the main contenders in the polls.
The BJP, which had almost swept the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP, is hoping to repeat its performance.
On the other hand, after ruling the state for 10 years, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is seeking a third term. He walked out of NDA in 2013 snapping 17-year-old ties with the BJP.
The term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly comes to an end on November 29.
