THE Election Commission of India (ECI) Friday announced the poll schedule for four states – Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry to be held in between March and April. Counting of all the seats will be done on May 2.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the UT of Puducherry will witness single-phase polls on April 6.
The state of Assam will go to the polls in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6.
The state of West Bengal will see an eight-phase poll on March 27, April 1,6, 10, 17, 22, 26 and 29.
Bye-elections to Kanyakumari in TN and Malappuram in Kerala will also take place alongside the polls.
The terms of the assemblies come to an end either in May or June this year. The terms of the assemblies will be over on May 31 for Assam, June 1 for Kerala, May 24 for Tamil Nadu, June 8 for Puducherry and May 30 for West Bengal.
President's Rule has been imposed in Puducherry and the assembly kept under suspended animation after the V. Narayanasamy-led Congress government resigned earlier this week ahead of a vote of confidence.
With the announcement of the poll dates, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into effect in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry.