Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Election Commission of India will announce dates for Legislative Assembly elections to be held in four states and one Union Territory today. The country’s chief poll panel will announce the schedule for the much-anticipated Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry in a press conference to be held in New Delhi at 4 pm today.
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With this, the Model Code of Conduct will come into effect in all the poll-bound states.
The dates for notification, nomination filing for candidates, nomination withdrawals, voting and election results will be declared by the Election Commission panel led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and also comprising Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, and Dr Vivek Joshi.
The terms of these legislative assemblies expire on different dates in May and June.
Notably, the final electoral rolls for four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry have been published following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list.
All eyes will be on West Bengal, which is likely to go to the polls in not more than three phases, with most of the political parties reaching a consensus on the matter.
The direct fight will be between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress, which has been in power in the state since 2011 with Mamata Banerjee being at the helm. A fierce poll battle is expected between the arch-rivals.
Moreover, the BJP is learnt to have told the Election Commission that conducting elections in seven or eight phases, like in 2021, may be neither appropriate nor practical.
The term of the current 17th West Bengal Legislative Assembly, a 294-member House, is set to end on May 7, 2026.
For this reason, the new Assembly elections are likely to be conducted later in March or early April, so that the new Assembly can be formed before May 7.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
