West Bengal, Assam to go to polls in April; Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in May

The fate of governments in four states and one union territory will be known on 19 May, when counting for assembly elections will be conducted. The Election Commission on Friday announced the dates for five assembly polls to be held in different parts of the country.

While elections for Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will be held in a single phase on 16 May, elections for West Bengal and Assam will be held in six phases and two phases respectively, Chief Election Commissioner of India Nasim Zaidi announced in a media conference. The model code of conduct comes into existence with immediate effect for all five states. The election process will be completed by 21 May, the commission said.

West Bengal

The first phase, to be held on 4 and 11 April, in West Bengal will include areas which are affected by left-wing extremism. The remaining phases will be held on 17, 21, 25, 30 April, and on 5 May. The last phase will include the Cooch Behar district, which has several enclaves which have newly become a part of India after the border agreement with Bangladesh.

Assam

The Assam elections will be held in two phases. These will be on 4 and 11 April.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry

All these three elections will be held in one phase on 16 May.

The Election Commission appears to be making a special effort to allow women voters to cast their ballot, and has announced that all women polling stations will be set at different places during all five assembly polls.

Among other measures to ensure smooth organisation of elections include displaying of candidates’ photographs to prevent confusion over namesakes, a symbol for the NOTA (none of the above) option and deployment of central paramilitary forces.

The number of voters who will go to polls during this series of elections is 1.98 crores in Assam, 2.56 crores in Kerala, 5.8 crore in Tamil Nadu, 6.55 crore in West Bengal and 9.27 lakh in Puducherry.