Election date 2026 highlights: Kerala, Assam, Puducherry to vote on April 9; Tamil Nadu and Bengal to vote on April 23

Election date 2026 LIVE: The Election Commission of India will be announcing the dates for the legislative assembly elections in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

Tamil Nadu elections 2025 LIVE: Congress MP Manickam Tagore has claimed that PM Narendra Modi has “stopped insulting people of Tamil Nadu by switching from Hindi to English during his public rallies.”

The Congress MP sounded confident about the INDIA alliance's chances in Tamil Nadu and said that the polls are about protecting the pride of Tamil Nadu.

"In Tamil Nadu, the BJP and NDA are going to lose badly. Yesterday, their rally was a flop...Usually, the PM speaks in Hindi, but yesterday he spoke in English. He has stopped insulting people of Tamil Nadu by speaking in Hindi. This election is to protect Tamil Nadu from the attack of the BJP-RSS. The INDIA alliance will win and form the government under MK Stalin," Tagore told ANI last week.

Election date 2026 LIVE: As West Bengal prepares to head to the polls, clashes broke out between TMC and BJP workers. These clashes broke out on Saturday, ahead of PM Narendra Modi's rally at the Brigade Parade Ground.

Police have said a total of nine people have been held in connection with the Kolkata clashes.

"So far, nine people have been arrested in connection with the clashes. Legal action is being taken," the officer told news agency PTI.

Both the TMC and the BJP have lodged complaints against each other over the clashes.

Amid political tensions in the state, the Election Commission of India will be announcing the dates of the West Bengal assembly elections today.

Election date 2026 LIVE: The Election Commission of India is all set to announce the dates for the assembly elections in 4 states - Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Assam. Along with these four states, the election date for the legislative polls in Puducherry will also be announced.

In Murshidabad, West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mohammad Ali on Sunday questioned the Election Commission's fairness ahead of the announcement of election dates for West Bengal, asserting that it would not be correct to conduct polls in the state until the process of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is fully completed.

The poll panel's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is still not complete in Bengal, where around 60 lakh people are under "adjudication".

Ali further alleged that if the assembly elections are “weaponised” to impose President's Rule in West Bengal, it would be detrimental to democracy. He added that the Election Commission risks losing public trust if it does not correct its course.

"What the EC is doing is not right. In the years to come, people will lose their trust in this institution," Ali told ANI.

However, BJP leader Rahul Sinha expressed an opposing view and demanded that the assembly elections be held in only one or two phases this time.

In 2021, the elections were held over eight phases.

The Election Commission this morning said it will announce the schedule for the 2026 legislative assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territory of Puducherry at 4 pm today.

The Trinamool Congress will look to defend its fortress against the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In the Puducherry UT assembly polls of 2021, the NRC-BJP alliance won the election, with N Rangasamy's NR Congress winning 10 seats and the BJP winning six, giving them a comfortable majority in the 30-member assembly.

The election came after months of political instability that had brought down the V Narayanasamy-led Congress government. The result marked a significant shift in Puducherry's political landscape away from the Congress.

In Thiruvananthapuram, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Sunday said the opposition UDF is fully prepared for the upcoming Kerala assembly election, and that the front would announce its candidates soon after the poll schedule is declared.

Speaking to reporters here, Chennithala said many had expected the announcement of the election dates in the first week of March.

He said the release of the candidates' lists of the Congress-led UDF has been delayed as the Election Commission of India is yet to announce the poll schedule.

Chennithala said the UDF has completed all preparations for the elections and expressed confidence that the state is ready for a political change.

"Kerala is all set, and we are also set. The state is ready for a political change," he said.

Asked whether MPs should contest the assembly polls, Chennithala said the final decision would be taken by the party high command.

"There is nothing wrong in anyone expressing the desire to contest the elections. However, the party will decide what needs to be done in such matters," he said in response to a question about Congress veteran K Sudhakaran's reported interest in contesting the assembly polls.

The Congress leader also said he had spoken to Sudhakaran and that he would travel to Delhi on Monday.

In 2021, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, won a landslide victory, securing 213 of 294 seats. The BJP, despite a massive campaign involving central leadership, was limited to 77 seats — a significant improvement from 2016 but far short of its target. The Left-Congress alliance was virtually wiped out, winning no seats. Mamata Banerjee returned as CM for a third term. The election was one of the most fiercely contested in recent Indian political history.

Ahead of the assembly poll schedule announcement by the Election Commission, the Congress on Sunday took a swipe, saying since 2014 the MCC (Model Code of Conduct) has come to stand for "Modi's Code of Campaigning" that is “full of defamation, abuses, intimidation, fear-mongering, and spreading the virus of lies”.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the 2026 assembly elections at 4 PM today. It would have been given the go-ahead by the G2, since G1 would have completed this round of inaugurations, ribbon-cuttings, flag-offs, and launches."

The Congress frequently uses the term ‘G1’ and 'G2' to take swipes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, who are both Gujaratis.

"The Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will soon come into effect. But since 2014 this has come to stand for Modi's Code of Campaigning which will be full of defamation, abuses, intimidation, fear-mongering, and spreading the virus of lies," Ramesh said.

The MCC is a set of conventions agreed upon by all stakeholders during the elections. Its objective is to keep campaigning, polling and counting orderly, clean and peaceful and check any abuse of state machinery and finances by the party in power.

The Election Commission will announce dates for assembly polls in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry. The terms of these legislative assemblies are ending on different dates in May and June.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released the first list of 14 candidates for the assembly elections to Assam, dates for which, along with West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry, will be announced by the Election Commission on Sunday afternoon.

The list includes the names of candidates for various constituencies in Assam, such as Naoboicha, Dergaon, and Gohpur.

The Congress on Saturday released its second list of candidates for the Assam state polls, announcing 23 names, bringing the total tally to 65 out of 126 state assembly seats.

The Congress said that 15 constituencies, including Bhowanipur-Sorbhoog, Bajali, Palasbari, Guwahati Central, Goreswar, Morigaon and Barhampur, have been left for alliance partners.

In the 2021 elections, the NDA, comprising the BJP, AGP and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), won 75 seats. The BJP is the largest partner in the alliance with 60 seats. Voter turnout was as high as 86.2 per cent with over 2. 2 crore registered voters in 2021.

In the 2016 assembly elections, too, the BJP put up a strong show and won 60 seats, and the Congress secured 26 seats. The AIDUF won 13 seats. The voter turnout for the 126 state assembly constituencies was high at 83.9 per cent.

The two main opposition parties in Assam — Indian National Congress and the regional Raijor Dal — on Sunday released their second lists of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, after their alliance talks collapsing earlier.

The Congress, which had released the names of 42 candidates on March 3, announced 23 more in its second list issued late on Saturday, taking the total to 65 for the 126-member Assembly. The party had earlier said it would contest 100 seats. It left 15 seats in its second list for its allies — Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) and All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC).

The second list includes the names of sitting MLAs — Rekibuddin Ahmed (Chamaria), Wazed Ali Choudhury (Birsing Jarua) and Abul Kalam Rasheed Alam (Goalpara East) — as well as former Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque from the Mandia seat.

The Raijor Dal, which had announced the names of 11 candidates in its first list on March 4, named two more candidates in its second list for the Naoboicha and Dhemaji seats released on Saturday.

The party had several rounds of talks with the Congress to forge an alliance of like-minded parties against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies. But the talks failed over seat-sharing disagreements between the two parties.

This will be the first assembly election in Assam after the delimitation exercise of 2023, which saw large-scale redrawing and renaming of many constituencies but did not change the total number of seats.

BJP MP K Sudhakar said on Sunday that the Bhartiya Janata Party “serves the nation rather than preparing for the elections”, exuding confidence that the party will emerge victorious in the upcoming assembly elections.

"We are confident that we will win in Assam again, and there is a good possibility of the NDA's victory in Puducherry as well. There is an NDA wave in Tamil Nadu," he said, as per news agency ANI.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) of T20 cricket will have its complete schedule released after the dates of the assembly elections to be held in four states and one UT are announced, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla said on Sunday.

The Election Commission is set to hold a press conference this afternoon in which it's to announce the dates for polls in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Shukla said availability of police deployment can be understood only after the announcement of the election schedule.

On March 11, BCCI announced the schedule for the first phase of the 2026 IPL edition, which is to be played from March 28 to April 12.

VD Satheesan, Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, on Sunday said the Congress will announce its candidates for the upcoming elections in different phases soon after the poll notification is issued.

Speaking to reporters here, Satheesan said there are no differences within the UDF over seat-sharing.

"Since there was uncertainty over the election announcement, all parties decided to delay the candidate announcement. Once the election is declared, the candidates will be announced in different phases," he said, as per news agency PTI. He said seats could be finalised in a short meeting.

Satheesan added that no allies have sought additional seats and the UDF parties are moving forward in good coordination.

Regarding the possibility of MPs contesting the assembly elections, he said a decision in that regard would be taken by the national leadership of the party.

In 2021, the DMK led by MK Stalin swept to power after a decade in opposition, winning 133 seats on its own and 159 as part of its alliance with the Congress and others (out of total 234). The ruling AIADMK, in alliance with the BJP, got around 75 seats.

MK Stalin will hope to remain the CM this time, having last time ended the AIADMK's 10-year rule.

In Kerala, the 2021 polls saw the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the CPI(M) securing a historic second consecutive term, winning 99 of 140 seats. The United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the Congress, was reduced to 41 seats. The BJP-led NDA managed just one seat.

Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn in again as Chief Minister — the first time in decades that a ruling front was re-elected in Kerala. The result was seen as a strong endorsement of the LDF government's performance, particularly its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Election Schedule 2026 LIVE: The Election Commission will announce on Sunday the dates for upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.

The commission will unveil the schedule in a press conference at 4 pm. The terms of the legislative assemblies in these dates are ending on different dates in May and June.