The Election Commission today sounded the poll bugle for elections in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. At a press conference held in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced assembly elections 2021 dates. The terms of the legislative assemblies of four states – West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala – will come to an end either in May or in June this year. Puducherry is currently under the President’s Rule after the V Narayanasamy-led Congress-DMK government lost the majority.
“A total of 824 assembly constituencies shall be going for polls during these elections. 18.68 crore electors will cast vote at 2.7 lakh polling stations in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, “CEC Sunil Arora said.
Details of assembly election dates
West Bengal: 294 seats
The state will go to the polls in eight phases.
1st phase of polling- 27 March
2nd phase of polling- 1 April
3rd phase of polling- 6 April
4th phase of polling- 10 April
5th phase of polling – 17 April
6th phase of polling – 22 April
7th phase of polling – 26 April
8th phase of polling – 29 April
Tamil Nadu: 234 seats
Tamil Nadu assembly elections to be held in a single phase on 6 April.
Kerala: 140 seats
Kerala also goes to the polls on 6 April.
Assam: 126 seats
Assam assembly elections to be held in 3 phases- 1st phase of polling- 27 March, 2nd phase of polling- 1 April and third phase of polling- 6 April.
Puducherry: 30 seats
Puducherry elections to be held on 6 April.
Counting of votes
Counting of all votes will be held on 2 May.
Photo Electoral Rolls and Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) will be used during the General Election of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry,
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Guidelines for Covid-safe election
– Every person shall wear a face mask during every election-related activity.
– At the entry of hall/ room/ premises used for election purposes: (a) Thermal Scanning of all persons shall be carried out; (b) Sanitizer shall be made available at all locations.
– Hand gloves shall be provided to the voter, for signing on the voter register and pressing the button of EVM for voting.
– Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant COVID-19 guidelines of the State Govt. and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
– As far as practicable, large halls should be identified and utilized to ensure social distancing norms.
– Wherever possible, Booth App shall be used at the polling station
– Help Desk for distribution of token to the voters on a first come first basis so that they do not wait in the queue.
– Marker to demonstrate social distancing for the queue.
– Earmarking circle for 15-20 persons of 6 feet distance for voters standing in the queue depending on the availability of space.
– There shall be three queues each, for male, female, and PwD/ Senior citizen voters.
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