Assembly polls in five states likely in April, EC schedule expected mid-March

New Delhi: Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry are likely to be held on different dates in April, with the Election Commission expected to announce the full schedule in the middle of March, officials said on Tuesday.

According to officials, the poll authority plans to declare the dates for all five states together “sometime in middle of March,” even though voting may be staggered across multiple days in April. The timing is linked to the end of the current terms of the assemblies, which fall across May and June. Puducherry’s five-year term concludes on June 15, while the assemblies of Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and West Bengal complete their terms on May 10, May 20, May 23 and May 7 respectively.

The Election Commission has already begun reviewing preparedness in the poll-bound states and is currently in Assam as part of its advance assessment. In the previous Assembly elections, West Bengal voted in eight phases, the highest among the states. Assam went to polls in two phases, while Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry each held elections in a single phase.

Work on updating electoral rolls is also nearing completion. Puducherry became the first of the five states to publish its final electoral roll on February 14 under the special intensive revision exercise. Assam, where a special revision was conducted instead of SIR, released its final roll on February 10. Tamil Nadu published its post-SIR final roll on Tuesday, Kerala is scheduled to do so on February 21, and West Bengal will publish its final voters’ list on February 28.

Meanwhile, in Guwahati, political parties in Assam urged the Election Commission to conduct the Assembly elections in either one phase or no more than two phases. The request was made during a visit by the full bench of the commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, who is overseeing preparations in the northeastern state. Parties also asked the commission to consider the Bihu festival, which falls on April 14, while finalising the poll dates.