India, Sept. 22 -- The Election Commission is likely to visit Bihar early next month, ahead of the Assembly elections due in October-November, fueling speculation that polling dates may be announced soon.

Usually, the election commission visits a poll-bound state shortly before announcing the election schedule and announces the dates within a day or two of the visit.

While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Nitish Kumar.

In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131, with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, wi...