New Delhi, February 17 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry could be held on various dates in April, for which the schedule is likely to be announced in the middle of March, officials said on Tuesday.
They said the Election Commission would announce the dates of the assembly polls together "sometime in the middle of March," and elections could take place on different dates in April.
The terms of the five assemblies end on different dates in May and June.
While the five-year term of Puducherry ends on June 15, the terms of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal end on May 20, 23, 10, and seven respectively.
The poll authority has already started touring the poll-bound states and is already in Assam to assess poll preparedness.
Last time, assembly polls in West Bengal were held in eight phases – by far the maximum. In Assam, elections were held in two phases, and in a single phase in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.
Of the poll-bound assemblies, Puducherry was the first one to publish its final electoral roll on February 14 as part of the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
Tamil Nadu will publish its post-SIR final poll roll on Tuesday, while Kerala will do so on February 21.
West Bengal's final voters' list will be published on February 28.
In Assam, where a 'special revision' of electoral rolls took place in place of SIR, the final list was published on February 10.
Separately, in Guwahati, political parties of Assam on Tuesday urged the EC to hold the assembly polls in the state in either a single or a maximum of two phases.
The full bench of the EC, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, is on a visit to Assam to review preparedness for the forthcoming assembly elections in the northeastern state.
They also urged the EC to schedule the election dates keeping in mind the Bihu festival, which falls on April 14.
