A total of 17.4 crore voters are eligible to take part in the forthcoming Assembly elections in four States — Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala, and one Union Territory, Puducherry, to elect 824 MLAs.
WEST BENGAL
- The Home Ministry will deploy 480 companies of Paramilitary forces in West Bengal for the assembly election. This deployment will be in two phases. In the first phase, 240 companies shall be deployed from March 1, 2026, and the remaining 240 companies on March 10, 2026.
- Trinamool Congress released its candidate list, announcing nominees for 291 of the 294 constituencies. Party chief Mamata Banerjee will once again contest from Bhabanipur, where the BJP has already fielded the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari.
- The Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front released its candidate for 192 out of 294 assembly seats. The list includes 27 women candidates.
- Election Commission of India (ECI) has transferred more than one-and-half-a-dozen IPS officers in the state to ensure fair and neutral policing during the poll process.
ASSAM
- The BJP released its first list of 88 candidates, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari seat. Former Congress leaders Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhupen Kumar Borah, who joined BJP, will contest from Dispur and Bihpura assembly seat respectively.
- Aam Aadmi Party announced its second list of six candidates. The party has fielded Ranu Mai Teronpi from Barhampur constituency, Biresh Difoesa from Diphu, and Pranab Priyangshu Dutta from Jorhat.
KERALA
- BJP announced the second list of candidates for 39 constituencies. Senior leader Kummanam Rajasekharan will contest from Aranmula. The first list had 47 candidates.
- CM Pinarayi Vijayan has filed his nomination papers as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate from the Dharmadam Assembly constituency in Kannur.
- Congress has announced its first list of 55 candidates for the Kerala Assembly polls, fielding senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala from the Haripad seat.
- CPI, a key ally of the ruling LDF, announced a list of 25 candidates.
TAMIL NADU
- Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has allotted five seats to the Communist Party of India, one less than the six it contested in 2021.
- Actor-turned-politician Vijay's party TVK has announced it will contest all 234 seats in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections without any alliances.
- DMK and Congress have signed seat-sharing pact with Congress contesting for 28 seats and one Rajya Sabha berth.
PUDUCHERRY
- The filing of nominations to the 30-Assembly constituencies in Puducherry began on March 18. Candidates can file their nominations from today till March 23.
