The Election Commission of India will announce the full schedule for the 2026 Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry today at 4 PM, following fresh voter roll revisions and large-scale security preparations
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a press conference today at 4:00 PM at Vigyan Bhawan to announce the full schedule for Assembly elections in five states and one Union Territory — Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry.
The announcement comes as the terms of these five Assemblies are ending between May 7 and June 15, 2026. Before finalising the schedule, the full Election Commission carried out detailed reviews and preparations on the ground.
Five Assemblies, One Announcement
The current Assemblies in these regions will complete their terms on the following dates:
• West Bengal: May 7, 2026
• Tamil Nadu: May 10, 2026
• Assam: May 20, 2026
• Kerala: May 23, 2026
• Puducherry: June 15, 2026
The Election Commission’s invitation released yesterday confirmed that the 4 PM press conference will reveal the exact polling phases, nomination dates, and the date for counting of votes for all five regions.
Special Intensive Revision of Voter Rolls Completed
For the first time, all five states and the Union Territory have gone through a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission has already published the final voter lists in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry.
In West Bengal, the Commission is still reviewing around 60 lakh cases of doubtful voters. Judicial officers appointed by the Calcutta High Court are examining these cases. Once they complete and approve the review, the authorities will publish supplementary voter lists.
The Election Commission has already appointed returning officers for all 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal.
Commission’s On-Ground Review Completed
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, recently visited West Bengal and the other poll-bound states. During these visits, they reviewed preparations related to security, logistics, and law-and-order arrangements.
The Election Commission has also appointed Central Observers under Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 20B of the the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Their role is to closely monitor the entire election process at the ground level.
Fewer Phases, Record Security Planned
Reports ahead of the announcement suggest that the Election Commission may conduct the elections in fewer phases than in 2021.
• Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry are expected to have single-phase polling.
• West Bengal and Assam are likely to have multiple phases of voting because of their larger size and security needs.
To ensure peaceful and fair elections, the Election Commission will deploy a large number of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). It is expected to station more than 1,500 companies, or around 1.4 lakh personnel, across the polling regions.
Advance movement of these forces has already started in West Bengal and Assam.
High-Stakes Political Battles Ahead
Once the Election Commission announces the election dates and the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect, political parties will intensify their campaigning across all five regions.
The main contests are expected to be:
• West Bengal (294 seats): Trinamool Congress vs BJP
• Assam (126 seats): BJP-led NDA (current government) vs Congress-led alliance
• Kerala (140 seats): LDF vs UDF, with BJP-led NDA contesting around 100 seats
• Tamil Nadu (234 seats): DMK-led alliance vs AIADMK-BJP alliance and Vijay’s TVK
• Puducherry (30 seats): Congress-DMK-CPI alliance vs AIADMK-BJP and other parties
The 4 PM announcement today will officially begin the election process for these states. Once the Election Commission releases the schedule, the Model Code of Conduct will immediately come into force across all five regions.
Officials are expected to share further updates from the press conference later today.
