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EC announces election schedule, phases shrink for polls to 5 assemblies
Elections for five states and union territories are scheduled from April 9 to May 4. This condensed timeline reduces the overall election duration significantly. Voters in Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry will cast ballots on April 9. Tamil Nadu votes on April 23. West Bengal will have polling in two phases on April 23 and April 29.
New Delhi: Assembly polls in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry will be held in a single phase on April 9, in Tamil Nadu on April 23 and in two phases in West Bengal on April 23 and 29.
This effectively folds the overall election span of 2026 to just 26 days (April 9 to May 4) from 37 days in 2021 and 46 days in 2016. But it also means that April 9 voters will have to wait nearly a month for results on May 4.
Results for all five states/UTs besides the eight bypolls will be declared on May 4, the Election Commission announced on Sunday.
Over 17.4 crore voters will vote across 824 seats and determine the electoral and political fortunes of key incumbents across both NDA and non-NDA camps. ECI's latest calendar marks significant departures from previous poll cycles for this set of states/UTs which could impact political calculations as both West Bengal and Assam.
The shift in West Bengal is dramatic as elections in the state have been held in more than three phases since 2001, increasing to eight phases in 2021 and six before that in 2016 and 2011.'Detailed deliberations' found that it was 'necessary to reduce the number of phases in Bengal and bring it down to an extent where it is convenient for everybody', CEC Gyanesh Kumar said. CEC Kumar also underlined that polls in all states should be 'violence free and inducement free'.
Also read: Election dates 2026: EC announces poll dates for five assemblies; West Bengal in two phases
Much of the new schedule has to do with the ready availability of security forces, sources indicated. It is gathered that an assurance of adequate security cover from the home ministry - nearly a 1,000 CAPF companies for West Bengal - are key to its decision.
The twinning of TN and West Bengal polls along with the latter wrapping its final phase on April 29 will allow greater elbow room for ECI to focus heavily on West Bengal's security. Sensitive areas such as Medinipur-24 Parganas belt, besides SIR impacted areas as well as South Bengal seats will go to poll in the second phase.
West Bengal apart, it is Assam that is witnessing a similar shift in 2026.Also Read: West Bengal election date 2026: Bengal to vote in two phases on April 23, 29; counting on May 4
In the early decades of independence Assam voted in a single phase. The trend was broken amid the movement in 1983 when a three-phase poll was necessitated due to social unrest. Thereafter, Assam largely saw two-phase polls, which increased to three phases in 2021.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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