New Delhi: The Election Commission has announced the schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Voting in these five regions will begin on April 9, while the results will be declared on May 4.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that elections will be conducted largely in a single phase across the states.
Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will vote in a single phase on April 9. Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. West Bengal will have a two-phase election, with voting scheduled for April 23 and April 29. Counting of votes for all the states will take place on May 4.
The elections will cover a total of 824 Assembly constituencies across the five states and the Union Territory. According to the Election Commission, about 17.4 crore voters are eligible to participate in the electoral process.
The terms of all five assemblies are ending in May, and with the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect in the poll-bound states.
The Chief Election Commissioner said the Commission had held consultations with political parties, state officials and Chief Electoral Officers during its visits to the states. He described the elections as a “festival of democracy” in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, and urged citizens to participate actively in the voting process.
“I urge every voter to take part in the electoral process and cast their vote with pride,” he said.
The number of voters in each state is as follows:
Assam: 2.50 crore
Kerala: 2.70 crore
Puducherry: 9.44 lakh
Tamil Nadu: 5.67 crore
West Bengal: 6.44 crore
Across the five states, a total of about 2.19 lakh polling stations will be set up, with webcasting facilities available at each booth. West Bengal alone will have more than 80,000 polling stations.
To conduct the elections, around 2.5 million personnel will be deployed. This includes about 1.5 million polling officials and nearly 850,000 security personnel.
Before announcing the poll schedule, the Chief Election Commissioner congratulated Election Commission staff for completing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the poll-bound states.
He also appealed to young voters and first-time voters to participate actively. “I appeal to the youth and first-time voters to take up this important responsibility and exercise their right to vote,” he said.
Political Situation in the Five States
In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party face a strong challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party. If the Trinamool Congress wins again, Banerjee will become Chief Minister for a fourth consecutive term.
In Assam, the BJP has been in power for the past decade and is preparing for a third consecutive term. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the state several times in recent months as the party targets more than 100 seats in the 126-member Assembly. Key issues in the state include border security, illegal immigration and Assamese identity.
Tamil Nadu remains dominated by regional parties. Neither the BJP nor the Indian National Congress has formed a government in the state for nearly six decades. The BJP is expected to explore an alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the party founded by J. Jayalalithaa. Actor Vijay has also entered the electoral arena with his party TVK.
Kerala continues to be the only state where the Left remains in power. In 2021, the Left Democratic Front broke the state’s tradition of alternating governments and retained power for a second consecutive term. The Congress-led opposition is hoping to capitalise on anti-incumbency in the coming election. The BJP has yet to win an Assembly seat in the state, though it secured the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat in the last parliamentary elections and won the Thiruvananthapuram municipal corporation in December 2025.
In Puducherry, the government is currently led by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy after the All India N.R. Congress–BJP alliance came to power in 2021 following the fall of the Congress government. The Congress is now attempting to rebuild alliances, including with the DMK, in an effort to regain power.
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