Assembly Elections 2026: The stage is set for the Election Commission of India to announce the dates for assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry at 4 PM today, 15 March.
The poll panel, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, will address a press conference in this regard at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital, officials said.
The terms of the Assemblies in all these states/Union Territory ends between May and June. The West Bengal Assembly’s term gets over on 7 May, Tamil Nadu’s on 10 May, Assam’s on 20 May, Kerala’s on 23 May, and Puducherry’s on 15 June.
As the end dates of assemblies neared, speculation was rife about the poll date announcements.
The elections are crucial for both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition’s INDIA bloc. Of the states/UT going to the polls. The NDA is in power in Assam and Puducherry, while the TMC rules West Bengal. The Left is in power in Kerala, and the India bloc’s DMK-Congress alliance is in power in Tamil Nadu.
The Commission has already visited poll-bound West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Puducherry to review election preparedness.
When will EC announce West Bengal election dates?
The Election Commission usually announces dates of elections a day or two after its visit to review preparedness in poll-bound states. West Bengal was the last election-bound state the poll panel visited earlier this week. The poll panel returned from Bengal on 10 March.
Prime Minister Modi was in West Bengal’s Kolkata on Saturday, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple connectivity projects worth around. ₹18,680 crores. Earlier, he was in Assam on Friday and Saturday and visited Kerala and Tamil Nadu on 11 March.
West Bengal may vote in two phases
Sources told LiveMint that, unlike the last election, the poll panel may hold voting in West Bengal in two phases beginning next month.
During the poll panel’s meeting with political parties on 9 March, the state’s Opposition parties reportedly demanded fewer than three phases for the upcoming West Bengal elections. West Bengal has 294 seats.
The BJP delegation demanded that the assembly election be held in a single phase or at most two phases, rather than the long-drawn-out seven to eight phases spanning over six weeks.
The saffron party also called on the poll panel to ensure ‘violence-free’ polls in the state. The party also submitted a 16-point charter to the EC, highlighting security concerns, among others.
The CPI(M) demanded a single-phase election, arguing that holding elections in multiple phases allows “movement of anti-social elements” to move across constituencies, potentially affecting the fairness of the electoral process.
Since 2011, Assembly elections in West Bengal have been held over at least five phases. In 2021, the poll panel held elections in eight phases.
The West Bengal election is being seen as a fight between the ruling TMC and the BJP. The TMC, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been in power in West Bengal since 2011.
What happened in the 2021 West Bengal Elections?
The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election was held in eight phases between 27 March to 29 April to elect all 294 members of the Legislative Assembly.
The incumbent Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee won the election by a landslide, despite opinion polls generally predicting a close race against the Bharatiya Janata Partywhich became the official opposition with 77 seats. For the first time in the history of Bengal, no members from the Congress and the Communist Party were elected.
