Election schedule for 4 states, 1 UT likely in mid-March; voting in April: Sources
The Election Commission is expected to declare the poll dates by mid-March as electoral rolls are finalised and preparedness reviews across poll-bound states gather pace
New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry could be held on various dates in April for which the schedule is likely to be announced in the middle of March, officials said on Tuesday.
They said the Election Commission would announce the dates of the assembly polls together "sometime in middle of March" and elections could take place on different dates in April.
The terms of the five assemblies end on different dates in May and June.
While the five-year term of Puducherry ends on June 15, the terms of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal end on May 20, 23, 10 and seven respectively.
The poll authority has already started touring the poll-bound states and is already in Assam to assess poll preparedness.
Last time, assembly polls in West Bengal were held in eight phases -- by far the maximum. In Assam, elections were held in two phases, and in a singular phase in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
Of the poll-bound assemblies, Puducherry was the first one to publish its final electoral roll on February 14 as part of the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
Tamil Nadu will publish its post-SIR final poll roll on Tuesday, while Kerala will do so on February 21.
West Bengal's final voters' list will be published on February 28.
In Assam, where a 'special revision' of electoral rolls took place in place of SIR, the final list was published on February 10. PTI