The dates for polling are: October 12, October 16, October 28, November 1 and November 5. Bihar has 243 assembly constituencies and 6.68 crore voters.

The elections will end before the big festival of Diwali on November 11. For Durga Puja, the poll panel has ensured a big gap between the second and third phase of polling.

While most parties have said they are happy with the poll schedule, Bihar's ruling Janata Dal United is divided with party president Sharad Yadav saying he would have preferred a single-phase election. But Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "We have had many such elections before, we are totally prepared."

Nitish Kumar hopes to win a third straight term in office. He is leading an anti-BJP alliance that includes Lalu Yadav's RJD and the Congress. "Now our full concentration will be on the Assembly polls," Mr Kumar said today.

These elections are also being seen as the ruling BJP's most crucial test since it won the national election last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held four big rallies in Bihar with huge attendance. His party is trying to win with a promise of economic development in a region where caste allegiances are traditionally dominant.

The BJP, which suffered a shattering defeat in the last Assembly election it fought - Delhi - must win Bihar to consolidate power in parliament, where PM Modi's reform agenda is being blocked because his government is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha.

Seats in the Rajya Sabha are distributed based on the strength of parties in state Assemblies and the BJP needs to win most state elections in the next four years to gain control of the upper house.

Mulayam Singh Yadav waked out of the Nitish Kumar-led "Grand Alliance" miffed at being given just five seats to contest. The Samajwadi Party does not have a significant presence in Bihar, but could affect Lalu Yadav's voter base.