The Election Commission has announced the dates for the Assembly elections to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam.
Elections for the 234 seats in Tamil Nadu; 140 in Kerala and 30 in Puducherry will be held on April 6 in a single phase.
For West Bengal elections to the 294 seats will be held in eight phases with polling starting on March 27 and the final phase on April 29. Assam elections for 126 seats will be in three phases starting April 1 and ending April 16.
Counting of votes for all the the four states and one Union territory will be on May 2, Sunil Arora, Chief Election Commissioner announced on Friday.
The CEC also announced that by-elections to some Parliamentary seats including Kanyakumari, Tirupati and Belgaum will also be held along with the Assembly polls but the schedule will be announced later, he said.
Over 18.68 crore electors are eligible to cast their ballot in the upcoming State polls Arora, said.
More polling stations
He added that all polling stations will be on the ground floor and there has been a increase in polling stations in all four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
While Tamil Nadu will see a 34.73 per cent increase with 88,936 polling stations, Kerala sees a jump of 89.65 per cent with 1,11,916 and Puducherry a 63 per cent increase with 1,559 polling stations.
Arora said that work for holding the Assembly elections started when Bihar elections were being planned as meetings were held with para-military forces and the Railways among others whose help will be required for the smooth conduct of these elections. Bihar went to polls late last year.
Expenditure cap
The maximum money that each candidate can spend in the election campaign has been fixed at ₹22 lakh for each constituency in Puducherry while it is ₹38 lakh for the other four State Assemblies.
The current term of the Tamil Nadu Assembly is to expire on May 24, the Assam Assembly on May 31 and the West Bengal Assembly on May 30. The term of the current Kerala Assembly is till June 1 and of Puducherry it is till June 8.
Code of conduct
With the announcement of the poll schedule the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into immediate effect. The MCC is an EC document that lays down the minimum standards of behaviour for political parties and their candidates contesting elections, by defining their dos and don’ts in the electoral battle.
The MCC lays down good behavioural norms covering eight areas of electioneering, including general conduct of candidates and also their meetings/processions, appointment of observers, maintenance of polling booths on voting day, and what should go into political parties’ election manifestos.
West Bengal elections will be eight phases starting March 27 going up to April 29; Assam elections will be in three phases starting April 1 and ending April 16.