Assembly polls in 4 states, Puducherry announced

New Delhi, Mar 4, 2016, PTI:

Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam and union territory of Puducherry, with a lot of stakes for Congress and BJP in at least two of them each, will be held between April 4 and May 16, spread over 43 days.

It will be a single-day polling in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry on May 16 while it will be in six phases in West Bengal and two in Assam. Counting of votes in all the states will be held on May 19, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced today unveiling the poll schedule.

Congress is in power in  Assam and Kerala while the BJP fancies itself as being a top contender in Assam in alliance with AGP and some small outfits. The BJP is seeking to emerge as a  major player in West Bengal, where there are possibilities of Congress and Left joining hands directly or indirectly to take on Trinamool Congress.

Like in 2011, West Bengal will have polls spread over six phases. The first phase to be held in Left wing extremism affected areas will have two polling dates--April 4 and April 11.  The other phases will be held on April  17, 21, 25, 30 and May 5. Assam will go to polls in two phases on April 4 and 11.

Zaidi said two dates in the first phase of polling in West Bengal have been decided keeping in mind the sensitive nature of the area and the availability of security personnel as they would also be deployed in Assam which is also considered sensitive. He maintained that West Bengal will have polls in "overall" six phases.