Election Commission of India (ECI) is going to hold a press conference at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi today at 4 pm. There is every possibility of declaring the complete schedule of elections of five states and union territories – West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi will be present in this press conference.
Election Commission visited election states
In the last few weeks, the Election Commission team had visited all these states. Preparations were reviewed in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in February, Kerala on 6-7 March and West Bengal on 9-10 March. During these tours, meetings were held with political parties, police, administration and security agencies. The Commission placed special focus on stopping violence, improving voter list, checking of EVM-VVPAT and CAPF deployment. According to media reports and sources, this announcement will be made today itself because the last date for appeal against the voter list in West Bengal is March 15 (today) and in other states this deadline has already ended.
When does the tenure of the states end?
- West Bengal: 7 May 2026
- Tamil Nadu: 10 May 2026
- Assam: 20 May 2026
- Kerala: 23 May 2026
- Puducherry: 15 June 2026
What was the situation in the last elections in these states?
- Talking about the previous elections, voting was held in three phases in Assam in 2021 and BJP formed the government for the second consecutive time.
- Elections were held in eight phases in West Bengal and Mamata Banerjee again became the Chief Minister by winning 215 seats from TMC.
- At one stage in Tamil Nadu, DMK won majority and MK Stalin became the Chief Minister.
- In Kerala too, at one stage LDF won 99 seats and Pinarayi Vijayan again became the Chief Minister.
- In Puducherry, NDA won 16 seats and N. Rangaswami became the Chief Minister.
According to reports, this time the number of phases may be reduced in West Bengal and Assam, so that elections can be held quickly and safely. In the press conference, information about the nomination dates, voting stages, counting dates and implementation of the Model Code of Conduct will be given. After this announcement, all the parties will officially start campaigning. The Election Commission has repeatedly said that conducting fair, peaceful and violence-free elections is their priority.
