The Electoral Commission announced today the dates of the elections for 5 states (Representative)
New Delhi:
Elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry will take place from March 27 and the results will be announced on May 2, the Election Commission said today.
Bengal will vote in eight phases, March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala will vote in a single round on April 6. Puducherry will also vote the same day.
Assam will vote on March 27, April 1 and April 6.
The model code of conduct is already in effect in all states. More than 18 million rupees are eligible to vote in these elections, said Chief Elections Commissioner Sunil Arora.
This is the first major set of elections to be held amid the coronavirus pandemic after the Bihar elections.
Election officials will be vaccinated as frontline workers, the Election Commissioner said, adding that the new rules for digital sites will apply on social media.
Elections will be held for 294 seats in West Bengal, 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, 140 seats in Kerala, 126 seats in Assam and 30 seats in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The Electoral Commission cited fear of violence while defending eight rounds and said: “We had an assessment of public order on various factors. Last time it was seven phases, so eight is not a big deal.”
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the Center for the longest vote in history, saying: “Why does one district (24 Paraganas) vote in three rounds? Was this done at the urging of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah? The daughter of Bengal has one thing to say. I will defeat all her conspiracies, “he said.
Bengal is rushing into the riskiest battle of all, with the two-time Chief Minister facing a tough challenge from the BJP. Its Trinamool Congress has been losing leaders, including its most trusted strategists, to the BJP and the bleeding has not stopped. He also accuses the BJP of using central agencies to harass his party’s men with multiple investigations.
“Khela Hobe (Game On)” is Trinamool’s motto, with the BJP calling for “poriborton (change)”.
In Tamil Nadu, the ruling AIADMK will face his first state election since the death of his charismatic and powerful leader J Jayalalithaa. The opposition DMK-Congress swept the 2019 national elections and hopes to continue its good streak.
The BJP, which was never a big player in Tamil Nadu, has more expectations of neighboring Puducherry, which was placed under the government of the president after the collapse of the congressional government.
In the last round of elections in 2016, Congress was only able to win Puducherry, but the party lost power this week in the Union Territory after multiple resignations, a trend seen in other states such as Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, where Congressional governments collapsed due to defections.
Two of the five MLAs who resigned from Congress, putting it below the majority mark, have joined the BJP and more may follow.
The BJP is also aggressively campaigning to retain power in Assam, where it first won in 2016, beating Congress.
In Kerala, it is an intense battle for the ruling front led by the left and the opposition coalition led by Congress. Voters alternated between the two in past state elections. The CPM hopes to continue its achievements in the only state it governs after a victory in recent local body elections.
Congress, stunned by its defeat of Puducherry, seeks to repeat its success in the 2019 national elections, when it won 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP has so far been a minor player, but its recruitment drive this time shows that the party is preparing to challenge the ruling left-led coalition in a big way. The party has linked “Metro Man” E Sreedharan and other high-profile faces in the coastal state. About 100 left-wing workers joined the BJP yesterday.
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