Assembly election dates announced in five states, know when, where and in how many phases voting will take place? –

Tezzbuzz Desk- The Election Commission on Sunday announced the dates of assembly elections to be held in five states and one union territory. Under this, voting will be conducted in different phases in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. According to the Election Commission, counting of votes in all these states and union territories will take place simultaneously on May 4.

17.4 crore voters will vote

Announcing the election schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that there are a total of 17.4 crore voters in these states. He also said that the work of Special Revision (SIR) of the voter list has been successfully completed. Elections will be held on a total of 824 assembly seats in these five areas. The Election Commission has already published the final voter list.

Voting in two phases in West Bengal

Voting will be held in two phases for 294 assembly seats of West Bengal.

• First Step: 23 April – Voting on 152 seats
• Second step: 29 April – Voting on 142 seats

The main contest in the state is believed to be between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party has been in power in the state since 2011.

Voting in Assam on 9 April

Elections will be held in one phase for 126 assembly seats of Assam.

• Voting: 9 April
• Counting: 4th May

The contest here is mainly believed to be between the BJP led NDA government and the Congress.

Elections in Kerala also on 9 April

Voting for 140 assembly seats in Kerala will also be held in a single phase on April 9. The main contest in the state is between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF). The BJP-led NDA alliance is also in the election fray and is hoping for a better performance.

Voting in Tamil Nadu on 23 April

Voting will be held in a single phase on 234 assembly seats of Tamil Nadu on April 23. Political parties have intensified campaigning for the elections in the state and the seat distribution under the alliance is being finalized.

Elections on 30 seats in Puducherry

Voting for 30 assembly seats in the Union Territory of Puducherry will also be held on April 9. Here Congress, DMK and CPI are contesting the elections in alliance. In the opposition, the alliance of All India NR Congress, BJP and AIADMK is in the fray.

By-elections will also be held in many states

Along with these assembly elections, by-elections will also be held on some assembly seats in Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Tripura.

• 9 April: Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura
• 23 April:Maharashtra and Gujarat

Emphasis on free and fair elections

The Election Commission had recently visited all these states and reviewed the election preparations. The Commission has appointed central observers under Article 324 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act 1951, so that the election process can be conducted in a free and fair manner.