Voting in West Bengal in Two Phases, Single Phase in Four Other States

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Sunday announced the dates for the assembly elections in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Voting will be held in a single phase on April 9 in Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry, in two phases on April 23 and 29 in West Bengal, and on April 23 in Tamil Nadu.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar also announced that the counting of votes for a total of 824 constituencies in the four states and one Union Territory will take place on May 4. The Model Code of Conduct came into effect in all five states after the election dates were announced.

DMK leader Stalin has been the Chief Minister of the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly since May 7, 2021. TMC leader Mamata Banerjee has been in power in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly since 2011. In the 140-member Kerala Legislative Assembly, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, led by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan, has been in power since 2016. The BJP has been in power in the 126-member Assam Legislative Assembly since 2016, with Himanta Biswa Sarma serving as Chief Minister since 2021. Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy has been in power since 2021. The Union Territory of Puducherry has a total of 33 members in its Legislative Assembly, including three members nominated by the Centre.