Elections to the State Assembly will be conducted in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherrry

The Election Commission of India has announced dates for polling in five states for the 2021 State Assembly Elections.

While West Bengal will see elections in eight phases from March 27 to April 29,
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherrry will vote for all the assembly seats on April 6, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said today.

Announcing the schedule for the elections, the CEC said Assam will see a three-phase election between beginning March 27.

Results for all the 2021 State Assembly Elections will be announced on May 2.

West Bengal will see eight phases of polling for 294 Assembly seats on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29.

Elections for the 126 seats in Assam will be held on March 27, April 1, and April 6.

Tamil Nadu will see voting in 234 constituencies while Kerala has 140 Assembly seats.

In Puducherrry, elections will be held for 30 seats. It is under President's Rule with the Assembly being placed in suspended animation after the V Narainsamy-led Congress failed to prove its majority earlier this week.

Polling will be conducted under strict COVID-19 protocols and the poll duration will be extended by an hour to avoid overcrowding.

Elections to the Bihar Assembly were held in three phases in October and November last year in what was described as one of the biggest such exercises in the world during the pandemic.