New Delhi 15 MARCH (RNS).
The Election Commission of India has announced the election schedule for five states and union territories including West Bengal and Assam. According to the schedule, West Bengal will go to polls in two phases, while voting in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry and Kerala will be conducted in a single phase. The results for all five states will be announced on May 4.
As per the programme, polling in West Bengal will take place in two phases — April 23 and April 29. Meanwhile, voting for all seats in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will be held on April 9, while all assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu will go to polls on April 23.
A total of 17.4 crore voters will exercise their franchise across these five states, covering 824 Assembly seats. To ensure smooth conduct of the elections, the Commission will deploy nearly 2.5 million personnel across polling stations. Earlier this month, the Commission visited these states and union territory to review election preparedness. During the visit, discussions were held with political parties, security agencies and administrative officials to assess arrangements for the polls. Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was joined by Election Commissioners S. S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. Gyanesh Kumar said the Commission is ready to welcome every voter at polling stations. He especially appealed to first-time and young voters to exercise their franchise with enthusiasm, self-respect and responsibility, thereby strengthening democracy.
174 Million Voters to Cast Ballots
According to the Chief Election Commissioner, 2.19 lakh polling booths will be set up across the five states. The average number of voters per booth will range between 750 and 900.
State-wise voter figures are as follows:
Assam: about 22.5 million voters
Kerala: around 27 million voters
Puducherry: about 944,000 voters
Tamil Nadu: nearly 56.7 million voters
West Bengal: around 64.4 million voters (as per the final list issued on February 28)
He added that any supplementary voter lists issued following court orders will also be incorporated into the final figures.
