EC Sets April Poll Calendar for Five Regions; Bengal Votes in Two Rounds

New Delhi: India’s next round of state elections formally began Sunday after the Election Commission of India unveiled the polling schedule for assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, setting the stage for a major electoral contest involving more than 17 crore voters.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced the timetable during a press conference at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, alongside Election Commissioners S. S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. 

The poll authority said voting across the five regions will take place through April, with counting scheduled for May 4.

Elections will be conducted across 824 assembly constituencies, covering roughly 17.4 crore eligible voters and more than 2.18 lakh polling stations. With the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has come into immediate effect in all five regions.

The schedule places three states on the same polling day. Voters in Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry will cast their ballots in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will vote in one phase on April 23.

West Bengal, however, will hold polling in two phases on April 23 and April 29, a significant reduction from the eight-phase election conducted in 2021. The commission said improvements in security deployment and administrative coordination allowed for a more compact schedule this time.

The election calendar sets up several high-stakes contests. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, the All India Trinamool Congress, will seek another term while facing a renewed challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In Tamil Nadu, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is expected to confront the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and allied formations, while Kerala’s contest is likely to continue the state’s traditional rivalry between the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front.

Assam will see the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government face opposition from the Indian National Congress and regional challengers, while Puducherry’s contest will involve alliances centered around the All India N.R. Congress.

Election officials said security planning, voter facilitation measures, and technological systems will be deployed extensively to ensure smooth voting across the five regions.

With the schedule now set, political parties are expected to intensify campaign activity across southern and eastern India, turning the coming weeks into one of the most consequential electoral stretches in the country’s political calendar.