3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 15, 2026 06:45 PM IST
Assembly Elections 2026 Dates Announced: The Election Commission has announced polling dates for four states and one Union Territory.
State Assembly Election will be held in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on April 9, Tamil Nadu on April 23 and West Bengal in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes will be held on May 4.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the elections will cover 17.4 crore electors across 824 constituencies at 2.18 lakh polling stations.
The high-stakes elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Assam as terms of the Houses are set to expire in May and June.
Total 17,4 crore voters eligible in four states and 1 UT
Around 17.4 crore voters are eligible to participate in the upcoming elections in four states — Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and one Union Territory, Puducherry, to elect 824 MLAs, CEC Kumar said. Voting will be held at 2.19 lakh polling stations across the four states and UT while 25 lakh election officials will be on duty to ensure free and fair elections, Kumar added.
“A total of 17.4 crore voters are eligible to vote in elections to five assemblies with 824 constituencies,” he said, flanked by two Election Commissioners — Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. Further, Kumar said the number of total voters of the four states and UT is equivalent to the population of Australia, France, South Africa, Germany and Canada.
SIRs held in poll-bound states except Assam
The much-awaited elections come after the EC conducted the SIR in 11 states and three UTs, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. The exercise witnessed the creation of the electoral rolls from from scratch, with all registered electors required to submit enumeration forms and some categories of electors required to submit additional documents and appear for hearings to prove their eligibility, including citizenship. Assam was left out of the national exercise as the National Register of Citizens in the state was yet to be published.
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As per the EC data, the SIR exercise has led to the reduction of number of voters by 18.98 across Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Kerala, as per EC data.
