In the same vein, the CPI central secretariat said, "Two of the dates are in October when the Muslims will be observing Ramzan and Hindus will have Dussehra and Navratra religious functions" and added polls should be held throughout the state on two days in November.

Asserting that his party was "battle ready", Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, however, said it would have been better if due consideration was given to the holy month of Ramazan before announcing the poll dates.

Congress general secretary Ambika Soni also expressed reservations over the schedule stretching over a month-long period and said it would affect administrative decisions as also the development process.

The political parties would also find it difficult to sustain the campaign and candidates would have to make lot of expenditure, Soni said adding, Ramzan and other religious functions should also have been considered.

Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Arun Jaitley said the four-phase poll would cause "fatigue", but it would be good if it could lead to effective movement of security force personnel and their deployment at every booth.

Senior Janata Dal-U leader and National Democratic Alliance's chief ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar termed the schedule as "appropriate" and said "even though it will require a lot of energy, we welcome the dates announced by the EC".