Four states, Puducherry go to polls from April 4
Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 4
The Assembly elections in four sensitive states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam and Union Territory Puducherry will be held between April 4 and May 16, spread over 43 days.
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said: “The model code of conduct comes into effect immediately.” While Assam will have a two-phase election on April 4 and 11, West Bengal will see balloting on seven dates: April 4, 11, 17, 21, 25 and 30 and May 5. In both states, the BJP hopes to make strong inroads.
In contrast, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will see polling on a single day, May 16, and the votes polled in all five states will be counted on May 19.
Nearly 17 crore voters will exercise their franchise across 824 constituencies and West Bengal will spend the maximum time to elect its new 294-member Assembly.
This will be the first time when “None of the Above” (NOTA) in electronic voting machines will have a cross symbol to ensure voters recognise the option easily. "For the first time, the commission has provided a new symbol, designed by the National Institute of Design (NID), for the NOTA option," Zaidi said. To help voters identify leaders, the commission has prescribed printing photographs of candidates on the ballot to be displayed on EVMs and on postal ballot papers. “This will eliminate confusion over candidates with similar names contesting from the same constituency. The candidates are required to submit to the returning officer their recent stamp-size photograph as per the specifications laid by the commission," Zaidi said.
