The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the Assembly election schedule for four states—Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala—along with the Union Territory of Puducherry. Polling in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will be held on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will vote on April 23. Elections in West Bengal will take place in two phases, scheduled for April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes for all the states and the Union Territory will be carried out on May 4.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the elections will cover a total of 824 Assembly constituencies. Tamil Nadu has 234 seats, West Bengal 294, Kerala 140, Assam 126 and Puducherry 30 seats. Around 17.4 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in the upcoming polls.
The Election Commission will set up about 2.19 lakh polling stations across the poll-bound regions to ensure smooth conduct of voting. Nearly 25 lakh election personnel will be deployed for the electoral process, officials said.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into immediate effect in all the states and the Union Territory going to the polls. The tenure of the existing Assemblies is set to end on different dates in May and June, and the commission has already conducted a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and reviewed ground-level preparations during recent visits to the respective states.