EC announces election schedule for 4 states; 2-phase polls for West Bengal

The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry, with polling beginning on 9 April and counting of votes scheduled for 4 May.

Polling in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will be held in a single phase on 9 April, while Tamil Nadu will vote on 23 April. West Bengal will witness a two-phase election, with polling scheduled for 23 April and 29 April.

The poll schedule was announced at a press conference addressed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

According to the Election Commission, the elections will cover about 17.4 crore voters across 824 Assembly constituencies and will be conducted at around 2.18 lakh polling stations.

The Assembly elections are being held as the terms of the legislative assemblies in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal are scheduled to expire in May and June.

West Bengal will see a reduced number of phases compared with the previous Assembly election in 2021, when polling was conducted in eight phases.

Campaign begins

The announcement of the poll calendar came a day after Narendra Modi addressed a political rally in Kolkata, marking the start of the election campaign.

During the rally, Modi accused the ruling All India Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal of attempting to protect “infiltrators” during the recently concluded SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls.

At the same time, opposition parties led by the Trinamool Congress have moved a motion in Parliament seeking the impeachment of the Chief Election Commissioner, alleging bias during the electoral roll revision process.

Electoral roll revision exercise

The Election Commission has conducted the SIR exercise in 11 states and three Union Territories since June 2025, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

The process involved preparing electoral rolls afresh, requiring registered voters to submit enumeration forms and, in certain cases, additional documents to establish eligibility, including citizenship.

Assam was excluded from the exercise as the state’s National Register of Citizens is yet to be finalised.

According to EC data, the revision exercise has so far reduced the electorate by about 18.98 crore across states and Union Territories including Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Kerala.

The revision exercise is ongoing in Uttar Pradesh, where the final electoral roll is expected to be published on 10 April. The commission is planning to extend the exercise to remaining states and Union Territories from April.

Background of revision

The last nationwide intensive revision of electoral rolls was carried out in the early 2000s.

Since then, electoral rolls have typically been updated annually and ahead of elections.

Announcing the exercise in June 2025, the Election Commission said rapid urbanisation, migration and the possibility of voters being registered in multiple locations had made the revision necessary.

However, opposition parties have criticised the process, alleging it amounts to a citizenship verification exercise through indirect means. Several petitions challenging the Election Commission’s powers to conduct the revision are currently pending before the Supreme Court of India.