Assembly elections 2021: Voting underway in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry

Polling in the Assembly Elections for four states and one union territory began on Tuesday amid tight security and COVID-19 guidelines. At 7 am, voting for the final phase in Assam and the third phase in West Bengal, began. Voting also started for the single-phase polling in Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2021

Tamil Nadu will witness the polling for the assembly elections on Tuesday amid tight security in the state. Polling across 234 assembly constituencies in 38 districts of the state will begin at 7 am. A total of 3,998 candidates are in the poll fray.

In view of COVID-19, the number of polling stations has been increased to 88,937. The counting of votes will be done on May 2.

The state, which witnessed the fiercest electoral battles between M Karunanidhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and J Jayalalitha of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for over three decades, now is going to Assembly polls on April 6 for the first time without the two stalwarts of Dravidian politics.

West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021

West Bengal assembly goes for the crucial third phase of polling where the fate of 31 Assembly seats spread across three districts will be decided on Tuesday. Considering the sensitivity of these 31 seats the election commission has not only declared all the 10,871 booths sensitive but also made an extensive arrangement to avoid any kind of untoward situation.

These 31 Assembly seats spread across South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly are crucial both for the Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. 

Assam Assembly Elections 2021

The voting for the third and final phase of Assam Assembly elections began on Tuesday morning as a huge security blanket spread in 12 districts while all Covid-19 protocols being maintained, officials said.

The voters comprising men, women and the first time electorates, in large numbers queued up in front of the polling stations well before the voting for 40 of the total of 126 assembly seats opened at 7 a.m.

Kerala Assembly Elections 2021

Elections to choose members of the 140-seat Kerala Legislative Assembly commenced in the state on Tuesday with a three-cornered fight between the incumbent Left Democratic Front (LDF) which hopes for continuity of term, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

A total of 2.74 crore voters are set to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 957 candidates in the fray. Voting will start at 7 am and end at 6 pm.

Pudducherry Assembly Elections 2021

In Puducherry, the Union Territory having just over 10 lakh voters, the fight for the 30-member Assembly is majorly between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) consisting of Congress (contesting in 14 seats), DMK (13), CPI, VCK (one seat each) and an Independent.

The rival National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprises of All India N.R. Congress (16 seats), BJP (9) and AIADMK (5).