Assembly Election 2026: Tamil Nadu and West Bengal all set to enter the first phase of polling. Scroll down for details.
Published: April 23, 2026 12:02 AM IST
Assembly Election 2026: Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are all set to head to the polls on April 23. When the former will be voting in a single phase for all the 234 assembly constituency seats, the latter will have the voting in two phases, i.e., April 23 and April 29 for the 152 and 142 constituencies, respectively. The two states are now witnessing high-stakes contests that may bring a large-scale political shift in the political future for the years to come.
Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2026
Tamil Nadu will witness voting across all 234 seats on Thursday. More than 5.73 crore voters will participate in the voting to decide the future of 4,023 candidates. The major contest is between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance. The actor Vijay’s party has also participated in the election independently, with an aim to leave a huge impact. Special arrangements have been made in the state to ensure that the process of voting happens smoothly. Alongside this, voting will be done in more than 75,000 booths with additional EVMs and VVPATs already placed in reserve so that technical issues can be avoided.
West Bengal Assembly Election 2026
The voting will happen in two phases in West Bengal. The first phase covers 152 constituency seats out of 294 and will be held on April 24. On the other hand, the second phase will cover 142 constituencies and will be held on April 29. The state has undergone immense campaigning this time, with sharp political exchanges between Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Campaigning in the states
The top leaders from both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have held their separate rallies in different cities and regions across the state. The Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the TMC and said, “Both Love Jihad and Land Jihad will come to an end… farmers will get ₹9,000… women and unemployed youth will get Rs 3,000 per month.”
Second phase of voting in West Bengal
The second phase of voting in West Bengal will take place on April 29. Later, the vote counting will happen on May 4.
SC slams West Bengal CM
The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed West Bengal CM for allegedly interrupting the ED raid held in January. The bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N V Anjaria said that the dispute here is not between the centre and the state.
At this, the BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “First phase of polling will be held tomorrow and people of West Bengal are demanding a big change. They will vote for this. This makes it clear that Mamata Banerjee’s jungle raj will not continue further. People will teach her a lesson. On May 4, Mamata Banerjee’s jungle raj will come to an end.”
