The Election Commission on Sunday announced polling dates for five assemblies: Assam, Keralam and Puducherry will vote on April 9; Tamil Nadu on April 23; and West Bengal in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting for all polls scheduled on May 4. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said 17.4 crore voters are eligible across 824 constituencies. The model code of conduct came into effect immediately.
Kumar, flanked by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, reiterated the EC’s demand for violence-free elections and warned of strict action against any inducement or violations. “Voting for all seats in Assam will be held on April 9. Voting in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29,” he said, also confirming that Keralam and Puducherry will vote on April 9 and Tamil Nadu on April 23.
Compared with eight polling days over nearly a month in 2021, this schedule compresses voting into three days across a 20-day window. The elections will test the BJP’s hold in Assam while pitting it against incumbent parties in West Bengal, Keralam and Tamil Nadu; Puducherry is governed by NDA ally All India N R Congress.
The EC set nomination schedules: notifications for Assam, Keralam and Puducherry will be issued on March 16, with last dates to file nominations on March 23, scrutiny on March 24 and withdrawals by March 26. For Tamil Nadu, notifications are due March 30, nominations close April 6, scrutiny is April 7 and withdrawals April 9. West Bengal’s first-phase notification is March 30 and second-phase on April 2; filing deadlines are April 6 (first phase) and April 9 (second), with scrutiny on April 7 and April 10, and withdrawal deadlines April 9 and April 13 respectively. West Bengal will hold polls in 152 constituencies in phase one and 142 in phase two.
The EC said presiding officers will upload voter-turnout figures every two hours and immediately after polling ends to improve transparency in turnout reporting-a point raised by opposition parties after recent state elections. Kumar added that enforcement agencies have been asked to ensure impartiality and a violence-free exercise, and that the EC will enhance transparency in counting and result announcements.
Current governments: the DMK under M.K. Stalin governs Tamil Nadu’s 234 seats; Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress leads West Bengal’s 294 seats; the Left Democratic Front under Pinarayi Vijayan rules Keralam’s 140 seats; the BJP has led Assam’s 126 seats since 2016 with Himanta Biswa Sarma as chief minister; and N. Rangasamy heads Puducherry’s administration across 30 seats. Assembly terms end on May 7 in West Bengal, May 10 in Tamil Nadu, May 20 in Assam, May 23 in Keralam and June 15 in Puducherry.
The electorate breakdown is: 6.4 crore in West Bengal, 5.67 crore in Tamil Nadu, 2.7 crore in Keralam, 2.5 crore in Assam and 9.44 lakh in Puducherry. There will be 218,807 polling stations-31,486 in Assam, 30,471 in Keralam, 75,032 in Tamil Nadu, 80,719 in West Bengal and 1,099 in Puducherry. The EC will deploy about 25 lakh officials: roughly 15 lakh polling personnel, 8.5 lakh security staff, 49,000 micro-observers for polling, 1,444 observers, 40,000 counting officials, 21,000 sector officers and 15,000 micro-observers for counting.
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/03/16/ec-announces-election-schedule-for-four-states-puducherry/
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Publish Date: 2026-03-16 05:38:00
