Assembly Election 2021 full schedule: When, where and how to watch
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will on Friday announce the schedule for the upcoming assembly elections in four states – Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal – and the Union territory of Puducherry. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora will hold a press conference at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi at 4:30pm to announce the poll schedule for the respective states and UT.
There are several ways you can watch the press conference live. It will be broadcast live on the commission’s official YouTube channel and also on the official channel of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on the popular video site. Doordarshan (DD) will also broadcast the press conference live, which can be watched by clicking here. You also can follow updates on the ECI’s official website: eci.gov.in.
Assembly elections will be held for 126 constituencies in Assam, 140 in Kerala, 234 in Tamil Nadu, 294 in West Bengal, and 30 in Puducherry. Puducherry has 33 seats in its legislative assembly—30 members are elected directly by voters and the remaining three are nominated by the central government. The UT is currently under President’s rule after the collapse of its coalition government earlier this week.
Also Read | President's Rule imposed in Puducherry, Assembly kept in suspended animation
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC) etc. are some of the major political parties which will contest these elections. Of these, only the BJP and Congress are national parties, while others are regional. While Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK is a BJP ally, the opposition DMK has joined hands with the Congress once again. In West Bengal, the fight is between the ruling TMC and BJP. In Kerala and Assam, the respective ruling coalitions seem to have the edge.
These will be the first set of assembly elections in India since those in Bihar in October-November last year. These are also the second assembly elections which will be held amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the Bihar polls being the first.