New Delhi: As the political temperature is rising across various states and Union Territories, all eyes are on April 9 when voters in Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry will head to the polls for crucial assembly elections. This significant polling day also includes high-stakes by-elections in Karnataka, Nagaland, and Tripura where localised battles are expected to test the ground for both national and regional heavyweights.
According to the Election Commission, the polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm across the states. To facilitate a smooth and peaceful voting process, elaborate security measures have been deployed across all sensitive zones and polling stations.
Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry
In Assam assembly polls, the fate of 722 candidates will be decided in single-phase polling. As per the poll officials, 31,940 polling stations have been set up in 35-districts. A public holiday has already been announced for the day by the government.
In Kerala, the fate of 883 candidates will be decided by the 2.71 crore voters. The CPIM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) is seeking a historic third consecutive term, having broken the state’s decades-old ‘revolving door’ tradition in the previous election.
Now comes Puducherry assembly elections, where the fate of 294 candidates will be decided. A total of 1,099 polling stations have been set up across the state.
By-polls in Nagaland, Karnataka and Tripura
In Nagaland, a bypoll election will take place for the Koridang Assembly in Nagaland’s Mokokchung district. The elections are being organised as the BJP sitting MLA Imkong L.Imchen died last year in November. Ahead of the elections, security has been tightened with a total of six candidates in the fray.
In Karnataka, the voting will happen for Karnataka’s Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly segments. The by-elections are necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
In Tripura, the by-election will happen for North Tripura’s Dharmanagar Assembly with six candidates in the fray. The by-elections are necessitated after the death of BJP leader and Assembly Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen in December last year.
The counting for all the constituencies is scheduled for May 4.
Goa bypoll gets cancelled
The by-election in Goa has been cancelled after the Bombay High Court quashed ECI’s notification for the Ponda Assembly bypoll. The court refused to stay its order, citing a violation of the law, as the Assembly’s term is set to expire within a year.