Assembly Election 2026 Live: There is very little time left for the elections to be held in four states and one union territory. Voting is taking place in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry on 9th April, whereas in Tamil Nadu, voting will be held in a single phase on 23rd April. West Bengal Assembly elections are being discussed the most across the country. Voting will be held in Bengal in two phases on 23rd and 29th. Voting will be held on 152 seats in the first phase and 142 seats in the second phase.

Main contest in Bengal between TMC and BJP

The main contest in West Bengal is between TMC and BJP. Everyone is waiting to know whether Mamata Banerjee’s government will once again return to the state or BJP will oust TMC from power and gain the throne. Congress and Left parties are also searching for their lost land.

Congress announced candidates for the remaining 10 assembly seats of West Bengal on Wednesday.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Wednesday announced candidates for the remaining 10 assembly seats of West Bengal. This announcement has been made before the two-phase assembly elections to be held later this month. Earlier, on March 29, the AICC had announced candidates for 284 of the total 294 assembly seats in the state.

With this latest list, the party has now finalized the names of candidates for all 294 seats. The names of the 10 seats announced on Wednesday are Alipurduar, Islampur, Gazole, Farakka, Sagardighi, Beldanga, Baduria, Ashoknagar, Shrirampur and Pataspur.

No big political name is included in this latest list of candidates. The Congress has decided to contest alone on all 294 assembly seats, breaking its previous electoral alliance with the CPI(M)-led Left Front in the state.

Congress and the Left Front had contested the elections together under the seat-sharing arrangement since the 2016 assembly elections, which continued till the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2021 assembly elections, neither the Congress nor the Left Front got any seats in the state. Assembly elections to be held in two phases in West Bengal are scheduled on April 23 and April 29. Voting will be held on 152 seats in the first phase and 142 seats in the second phase.

The electoral contest in the state is expected to be mainly a four-way affair, involving the Trinamool Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress. In some minority-dominated seats, the alliance between All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Humayun Kabir’s Aam Aadmi Unnayan Party (AAUP) may also impact the electoral contest.

Earlier on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Congress of not responding to her appeal, both in the state and across the country, to support the Trinamool Congress’s agitation against the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) of electoral lists.

The meeting of the Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party was held on 18 March 2026. This meeting was presided over by Nitin Nabin. Other big leaders of the party including PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah were also present in the meeting. In this meeting, names of 9 candidates have been decided for Puducherry Assembly elections.

A from Mannadipet seat of Puducherry. Namasivayam has been made the candidate. E. Theppanathan has been given ticket from Ossudu (SC) seat. PML from Kalapet seat. Kalyanasundaram has been made the candidate. VP from Raj Bhawan seat. Ramalingam has got a chance. Similarly, A. from Mudaliarpet seat. John Kumar has been declared the candidate. Emblem R from Manaveli seat. Selvam has been given the ticket. GNS from Thirunallar seat. Rajasekaran has been made the candidate.

BJP’s preparation for Puducherry assembly elections
Neeravi-TR TKSM Meenakshisundaram has been made the candidate from Pattinam seat, while A. Dinesh has got the ticket. In this way BJP has further strengthened its preparations for the Puducherry Assembly elections. After the names of the candidates are revealed, the activities related to the elections are likely to intensify further. The election campaign here is going to intensify in the coming days. Voting for the assembly elections in Puducherry will be held on April 9 and the votes will be counted on May 4. Apart from this, assembly elections are also going to be held in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the date of which has been fixed. In this regard, different parties have released the names of candidates.

Puducherry Elections BJP released the list of 9 candidates for the upcoming elections in UT.

Puducherry Home Minister A. Namassivayam will contest from Mannadipet. pic.twitter.com/amOaUEXCaS

— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) March 21, 2026

Also read: US Iran War: Did America ask for military help from India? Foreign Ministry checked the facts and told the whole truth

The officers of Uttarakhand have been entrusted with a big responsibility for the assembly elections to be held in four important states of the country, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala. A total of 14 officers of the state have been put on duty in these elections, which include 11 IAS and three IPS officers.

According to the information received from the government, IAS officers have been appointed as observers in different states. IAS Rajendra Kumar, Sridhar Babu Addanki and Ranjit Sinha have been given the responsibility in the Kerala Assembly elections. Whereas in Tamil Nadu, IAS Saurabh Gaharwar and couple Kishore Pant have been made observers.

IAS Meharban Singh Bisht, V. Shanmugam, Vineet Kumar and Vineet Tomar have been deployed for election duty in West Bengal. Apart from this, IAS Himanshu Khurana and Vandana have been given the role of observers in the Assam Assembly elections.

Rajesh Kumar and Abhishek Ruhela – kept in reserved category for now

Talking about IPS officers, Prahlad Narayan Meena and Anant Shankar Takwale have been sent as police supervisors to West Bengal, while Sunil Kumar Meena has been given this responsibility in Tamil Nadu.

Apart from this, two IAS officers-Dr. R. Rajesh Kumar and Abhishek Ruhela – are currently kept in the reserved category, who can be put on election duty if required.

In view of these elections to be held in four states, extensive preparations are being made at the administrative level. This responsibility given to the officials of Uttarakhand is being considered as a proof of their experience and efficiency. The role of these officers is going to be important in making the election process fair and transparent.

Puducherry Assembly Election 2026 Dates Schedule: The Election Commission has released the election schedule in the Union Territory of Puducherry along with 4 states today i.e. on March 15. Know when voting will take place in UT and when the results will be announced.

Election Commission’s press conference was held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, in which Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi were present in this press conference. The Election Commission (ECI) has announced the complete schedule of elections for five states-union territories (West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry).

When will voting take place in Puducherry?

Announcing the election schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that voting will take place in Puducherry in one phase. Voting will be held here on 9th April. Apart from Puducherry, voting will also be held in Assam and Kerala on 9 April. Let us tell you that there are a total of 30 assembly seats in Puducherry. At present, NDA led by N Rangasamy is in power here. After the election bugle sounds, he will once again face the challenge of returning to power.

Who will compete in Puducherry?

In the Union Territory of Puducherry, the direct contest is being considered between two alliances. In which Bharatiya Janata Party and AIDMK are included in the NR Congress led NDA alliance. At the same time, DMK and Left Party are included in the Congress alliance. While Congress is dreaming of returning to power, the Rangasamy-led alliance is making efforts to form the government again.

Earlier, in the assembly elections held in the year 2021, the All India NR Congress alliance of BJP and N Rangasamy had got 16 seats in Puducherry and won the majority. Congress alliance got 8 seats while others got 6 seats. This time Congress will have to make full efforts to regain the lost power.

Election Dates 2026: Elections in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on April 9, see full election schedule of all five states including Bengal.