EC announces dates for upcoming Assembly polls

18:37 February 26

EC Sunil Arora giving details of the Puducherry Assembly elections.

18:32 February 26

Graphical representation of Puducherry Assembly elections

The elections to the 30 seats of the Puducherry Assembly will be conducted in a single phase. 

• Date of Notification: March 12
• Number of Phases: 1
• Last date of nominations: March 19
• Last day of withdrawal: March 22
• Polling Date: April 6
• Date of results: May 2

18:30 February 26

EC Sunil Arora giving details of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

18:26 February 26

Graphical representation of West Bengal Assembly elections

The elections to the 294 seats of theWest Bengal Assembly will be conducted in a total of eight phases.  

• First phase: March 27

5 districts (30 seats )  

• Second phase: April 1

4 districts (30 seats)

• Third phase: April 6 

3 districts (31 seats)

• Fourth phase: April 10 

5 districts ( 44 seats)

• Fifth phase: April 17  

6 districts (45 seats)

• Sixth phase: April 22  

4 districts (43 seats)

• Seventh phase: April 26  

5 districts (36 seats)

• Eighth phase: April 29  

4 districts (35 seats)

• Date of counting: May 2

18:24 February 26

EC Sunil Arora giving details of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

18:19 February 26

Graphical representation of Tamil Nadu Assembly elections

The elections to the 234 seats of theTamil Nadu Assembly will be conducted in a single phase. 

• Date of Notification: March 12
• Number of Phases: 1
• Last date of nominations: March 19
• Last day of withdrawal: March 22
• Polling Date: April 6
• Date of Counting: May 2

18:18 February 26

Election Commission of India Sunil Arora giving details of the Kerala Assembly elections.

18:08 February 26

Graphical representation of Kerala Assembly elections

The elections to the 140 seats of the Kerala Assembly will be conducted in a single phase. 

• Date of Notification: March 12
• Number of Phases: 1
• Last date of nominations: March 19
• Last day of withdrawal: March 22
• Polling Dates: April 6
• Date of Counting: May 2

18:04 February 26

Election Commission of India Sunil Arora giving details of the Assam Assembly elections in a press conference. 

18:00 February 26

Graphical representation of Assam Assembly elections

The elections to the 126 seats of the Assam Assembly will be conducted in a total of 3 phases. 

• First Phase: March 27
• Second Phase: April 1
• Third Phase: April 6
• Date of Counting: May 2

15:58 February 26

Polls are to be held in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the assembly elections in four states -  West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry on Friday.

Voting for five assembly elections will begin on March 27, with West Bengal conducting the maximum eight phases continuing till April 29, and votes for the polls in the four states and one Union Territory will be counted on May 2,       

During the pressure, EC Sunil Arora said As many as 18.68 crore voters will be eligible to cast their votes at 2.7 lakh polling stations for 824 assembly seats across four states and one Union Territory.

Postal Ballot has been extended to voters above the age of 80, people with disabilities and people involved in essential services. Polling time has been increased by one hour, he added. 

The Election Commission will appoint two special observers for West Bengal and a third can also be sent if required, Arora said in response to queries on whether enough arrangements are in place for the polls in the state, where many have been raising questions about political violence.

Arora also said that the commission would ensure free, fair, inducement-free and COVID-19-safe elections. 

It is worth mentioning here that the terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry are coming to an end in May and June. 

He said door-to-door campaigning will be restricted to five persons, including the candidate, while roadshows will be allowed with a maximum of five vehicles.

According to Arora, the nationwide vaccination drive has made the situation more conducive for conducting elections and the Health Ministry has declared everyone on poll duty as frontline workers for vaccination purposes.

All poll officials will be vaccinated before the elections, Arora said.

Arora, who will demit office on April 13, also said all must be congratulated for the successful conduct of elections in Bihar last year despite the COVID-19 challenges and he is confident of success once again.

(With PTI inputs)