The Election Commission will announce the poll dates for assembly elections in West Bengal, Puducherry, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam at 4.30 pm today, Friday.
Leaders from different political parties including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have already started election campaigning in the four states and one Union Territory (Puducherry).
The terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states are coming to an end in May-June. After the Bihar assembly elections, which were held in November 2020, elections to these states will also be held amid the coronavirus pandemic. The poll body is expected to implement a similar protocol for voting.
Polls are to be held for 294 seats in West Bengal, 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, 140 seats in Kerala, 126 seats in Assam, and 30 seats in Puducherry.
In Puducherry, President’s Rule has been imposed and the assembly kept under suspended animation after the V Narayanasamy-led Congress government resigned earlier this week ahead of a vote of confidence.
In Bengal, companies of central security forces began arriving this week. It was reported that by February 25, at least 125 companies will arrive in the state to maintain law and order during the election campaign.
According to Election Commission (EC) officials, there will be 60 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 30 companies of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), 25 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF), and five companies each of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Surjitt Sahani
