EC to announce schedule for elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry today

EC to announce schedule for elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry today

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has called an important press conference on Friday at 4:30 pm. It is likely the commission will announce the dates for elections in West Bengal. Apart from that, dates for polls in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry may also be announced.

The ECI said it will hold a press conference at 4.30 p.m. in Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan.

The West Bengal Assembly has a total of 294 seats and the term of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government comes to an end on May 30. Apart from West Bengal, the tenure of the state governments in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry is ending in May and June. In Puducherry, the President's rule has been imposed after the Congress-led government fell following Chief Minister V Narayanasamy's resignation before the vote of confidence.

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.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, elections will be held simultaneously in several states for the first time. Given the state of the pandemic, the number of polling stations in these states is likely to increase. Earlier, the Election Commission organized the assembly elections in Bihar in October-November last year, where the number of polling stations was increased to ensure social distancing.