Patna, Sep 22 — The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections to the Legislative Council from Graduate and Teachers’ constituencies in Bihar.
Besides Bihar, the MLC elections for Teachers and graduates’ seats will also be held in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh on the same dates.
The elections are being held as the terms of sitting members from these constituencies are set to expire.
According to the Commission's schedule, eight seats will fall vacant in Bihar, four in Karnataka, five in Maharashtra and 11 in Uttar Pradesh.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect in the constituencies concerned.
According to the EC notification, the formal election notification will be issued on September 29, 2026, and the last date for filing nominations is October 6. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on October 7, and the last date for withdrawal is October 9.
The polling will be held on October 23, from 8 am to 4 pm, followed by the counting of votes on October 27 and the completion of the election process on October 31.
In Bihar, the terms of four Graduate and four Teachers’ constituency members are expiring on November 16, 2026.
The sitting members are Neeraj Kumar (Patna Graduate constituency), Sarvesh Kumar (Darbhanga Graduate), Banshidhar Brajvasi (Tirhut Graduate), Dr N.K. Yadav (Kosi Graduate), Naval Kishore Yadav (Patna Teachers), Dr Madan Mohan Jha (Darbhanga Teachers), Sanjay Kumar Singh (Tirhut Teachers), and Afaque Ahmad (Saran Teachers).
The Model Code of Conduct has been implemented in the respective constituencies since the announcement of the election schedule.
Political parties, candidates and other stakeholders will be required to follow the Commission's election-related guidelines during the period.
The ECI stated that its instructions and guidelines related to elections are available through its official channels and are required to be followed by all concerned.