Voting in Kerala, Assam, Puducherry on April 9, in Tamil Nadu on April 23, in W Bengal on April 23 and 29, all results on this day
The Election Commission announced the assembly elections for Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal on Sunday. In Tamil Nadu, voting will take place in a single phase on April 23. Meanwhile, in Bengal, voting will be held in two phases—on April 23 and April 29. In the three states of Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry, voting will be conducted in a single phase on April 9. The results will be declared on May 4.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated that these five states and the Union Territory collectively comprise 17.4 crore voters and 824 seats. The Chief Election Commissioner further noted that, over the past 12 months, the Election Commission has implemented several new initiatives to enhance transparency. The first of these was 'SIR,' a measure designed to ensure that no ineligible individual remains on the voter list. The second initiative mandates that mobile phones must be deposited outside the polling station; voters may retrieve them after casting their vote.
Model Code of Conduct comes into immediate effect
With this announcement, the Model Code of Conduct comes into immediate effect across these five states. In 2021, the elections for all five of these states were announced on February 26. On that occasion, elections in Bengal were held over eight phases, while Assam voted in three phases; Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry conducted their voting in a single phase. The terms of all five legislative assemblies are set to expire in May.