As Bihar readies itself for polls – on November 6 and 11– take a look at the Assembly sessions held between Nov 2020 and July 2025, the period of the 17th Assembly term. Between these years, data sourced by PRS Legislative Research shows that the Assembly met for a total of 146 days, the lowest of all its five-year terms. The Election Commission (EC) announced the much-awaited schedule on Oct 6, continuing its recent practice of shorter polling durations. The Assembly election next month will be the shortest in 20 years for the state. The 17th term of the Assembly met for an average of 29 days a year, and on the days the House met, it functioned for an average of three hours. In 2024, Assemblies across all states had met for an average of five hours on sitting days. In the above chart, FS refers to First Session, BS is Budget Session, MS is Monsoon Session and WS is Winter Session. The most time spent was during the Budget session of 2023, where the house convened for 4.1 hours. During this session, education and rural development department got top priority as Bihar Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary presented Rs 2,61,855.40 crore Budget for financial year 2023-2024. Of the total proposed budget expenditure of Rs 2.6 lakh crore, Rs 1 lakh crore has been earmarked for the ongoing and new schemes of various departments. Presenting the Budget in the State Assembly, the finance minister had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “emulating several Bihar schemes”, including ones on tap water and electricity. Three of the five major dips in session timings occurred during monsoon sessions. The 17th Assembly passed 78 Bills, all on the same day as their introduction, and none were referred to committees for further deliberation. What did these Bills focus on? Data shows that a majority of the Bills related to education, followed by finance and taxation, and administration (see chart). Key examples include the the Bihar Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, the Bihar Control of Crimes Bill, 2024, and the Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration, Safety and Welfare) Bill, 2025. Polling schedule Over the past few Assembly elections, Bihar's polling schedule has gradually become shorter. In 2005, voting took place over four phases, which increased to six phases in 2010. However, this was followed by a reduction to five phases in 2015 and then to just three phases in 2020. Whatever the results, it will be the end of an era for Bihar as the elections are widely expected to be the last for Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) supremo who has been the state’s Chief Minister for over 19 years now. Nitish’s RJD counterpart Lalu Prasad has already handed over the reins of his party to son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who will be hoping to improve on the party’s surprise 2020 performance and win the CM chair for himself. (Data source: PRS Legislative Research via Daily Bulletins, Resume of Work, Statistical Statements on Sitting Days and Bills, Bihar Legislative Assembly)
