Schedule for Assembly elections announced

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The Election Commission on Sunday announced the schedule of assembly elections for four states and one UT under which polling will be held on a single day in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on April 9, in two-phases in West Bengal on April 23 and 29, and in Tamil Nadu on April 23. Addressing a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the counting of votes for all 824 seats across four states and one Union Territory will be held on May 4.

"Voting for all seats in Assam will be held on April 9. Voting in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29. "The voting for all seats in Kerala and Puducherry will take place on April 9 while all Tamil Nadu seats will go to polls on April 23," said Kumar, who was flanked by the two Election Commissioners -- Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Kumar said the elections must be free of violence or inducement and the EC will take strong action against any violation. The model code of conduct has come into effect immediately with the announcement of the poll schedule. Tamil Nadu has a total of 234 assembly seats where DMK leader M K Stalin has been the chief minister since May 7, 2021. West Bengal has a total 294 assembly seats where TMC leader Mamata Banerjee has been serving as been in power since 2011.

Kerala has a total assembly seats of 140 where Left leader Pinarayi Vijayan has been the chief minister since 2016, leading the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. In Assam, there are 126 assembly seats and the BJP has been in power in the Northeastern state since 2016 and Himanta Biswa Sarma has been the chief minister since 2021. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy has been in power since 2021. The UT has a total of 33 seats. This includes three members nominated by the Centre.

Senior Congress leader voices concern over free voting in Bengal

Senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya on Sunday welcomed EC's decision to hold a two-phase election in West Bengal, but expressed concern over whether voters would be able to exercise their franchise freely and without intimidation. The former West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief also said he had raised the issue of voter intimidation during his interaction with the full bench of the Election Commission (EC) during its recent visit to the state.

"I welcome the Election Commission's move to hold the polls in West Bengal in two phases. But my only concern is that the electors can cast their votes freely and without any fear," said Bhattacharya to PTI.

He alleged that in past elections, voters could not cast their ballots despite polls being conducted in multiple phases. "I have seen many elections when voters could not cast their votes even when there were six or seven phases of elections," he added. The poll body on Sunday announced that assembly elections to the 294 seats in Bengal will be held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29, with the counting scheduled on May 4.