The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the full 2026 Assembly Election schedule on March 15. Here is the complete state-wise schedule:

Kerala goes to polls on April 9 in one of the most watched state elections of 2026. The Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is seeking an extraordinary third consecutive term — a feat never before achieved in Kerala’s political history, where power has alternated between the LDF and Congress-led UDF every five years since 1982.

Key alliances: The LDF (CPI-M led) faces the United Democratic Front (UDF, Congress led) and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The UDF is led by V.D. Satheesan (Congress), while the BJP is fielding a strengthened alliance under state president K. Surendran.

Female Voters: Kerala is one of three states (along with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry) where female voters outnumber male voters — a significant factor in election outcomes.

Assam’s 126-seat assembly goes to polls on April 9. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is seeking a third consecutive victory in the state, having won in 2016 and 2021. The opposition is united under the Asom Sonmilito Morcha, led by Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi.

Other key issues include flood control, employment opportunities, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), immigration, and economic development in the Brahmaputra Valley. The BJP has pointed to infrastructure development and internal security improvements under Sarma’s tenure.

India’s smallest poll-bound territory, Puducherry (30 elected seats), also votes on April 9. The NDA alliance — led by AINRC chief N.R. Rangaswamy, who has served as CM since 2021 — faces the INDIA alliance led by Congress and DMK. Female voters outnumber male voters in Puducherry, making it one of three such regions in the country.

Puducherry’s election is often influenced by Tamil Nadu’s political dynamics given geographic and cultural proximity. The DMK’s participation in the INDIA bloc here gives the opposition a stronger Tamil identity alignment heading into April 23’s Tamil Nadu polls.

Tamil Nadu’s 234-seat assembly votes on April 23, 2026 in a single phase. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance faces a formidable challenge from the BJP-AIADMK alliance, which hopes to replicate the Modi wave in the country’s southernmost big state.

West Bengal is the headline election of 2026 — a 294-seat battle between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP, with Congress and Left Front playing supporting roles. Bengal votes in two phases: Phase 1 (152 seats) on April 23 and Phase 2 (142 seats) on April 29.

West Bengal’s election has drawn massive national and international attention — with 91 lakh names reportedly cut from voter rolls in the Special Intensive Revision process, and security forces already being deployed across sensitive districts ahead of polling.

If you are a registered voter in Kerala, Assam, or Puducherry, here is everything you need to know before heading to the polling booth on April 9, 2026:

All five states and the UT will have their votes counted on Monday, May 4, 2026. Counting typically begins at 8:00 AM and results start trickling in from 9–10 AM onwards. Early trends are usually visible by noon, and most results are declared by evening.

You can follow live election results on ECI’s official website (results.eci.gov.in), as well as on all major news channels including DD News, NDTV, ABP News, India Today, and streaming platforms.