Patna, Oct. 24 -- A total of 2,677 candidates are in the fray for the upcoming two-phase Bihar assembly elections scheduled for November 6 and 11, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Thursday. According to the poll body, a total of 1,375 candidates are contesting, including 1,248 men and 127 women, in the first phase of elections that covers 121 seats. For the second phase, a total of 1,302 candidates are in the fray across 122 constituencies. The poll body said that 70 candidates withdrew their nominations, while 389 papers were rejected during scrutiny out of 1,372 nominations filed. The counting for the elections would be held on November 14. Till late on Thursday, four Mahagathbandhan candidates, including three from the Congress and one from the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), withdrew their nominations in favour of their ally, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Congress candidate Satish Kumar from the Warisaliganj constituency withdrew his nomination for RJD's Anita, while Aditya Kumar from the Lalganj constituency did for Rashtriya Janata Dal's Shivani Shukla. Congress candidate Tauquir Alam from Pranpur also withdrew his nomination in favour of RJD's IshratParween....