Voting for the 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam will be held in a single phase on April 9, while counting of votes will take place on May 4, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced on Sunday.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday declared the election schedule for four states—Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal—along with the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Across these regions, a total of 17.4 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots in 824 Assembly constituencies. These include 126 seats in Assam, 140 in Kerala, 30 in Puducherry, 234 in Tamil Nadu and 294 in West Bengal.
To facilitate the election process, about 2.19 lakh polling stations will be set up and nearly 25 lakh election officials will be deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of polling.
In Assam, of the 126 Assembly constituencies, 98 are general seats, nine are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), and 19 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). Candidates can file their nomination papers until March 23, with scrutiny scheduled for March 24. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 26, the CEC said.
Polling in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will take place simultaneously in a single phase on April 9. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu will go to the polls in one phase on April 23, while voting in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes for all four states and the Union Territory will be held on May 4.
Addressing a press conference, CEC Gyanesh Kumar said, “Pure electoral rolls are the bedrock of any democracy. With this objective, the special intensive revision is being conducted as per Article 326 of the Constitution to ensure that no eligible elector is left out, while no ineligible person is included in the electoral rolls. I congratulate all the booth-level officers, assistant electoral registration officers, electoral registration officers, district election officers, and all election officials who were involved in this work for ensuring its smooth conduct and completion.”
Following the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)—a set of guidelines for political parties and candidates to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections—has come into immediate effect.
