Election Commission to announce poll dates for five states today

A press conference has been called at 4:30 pm by the commission to announce the dates.

The elections are expected to be concluded by the end of April this time as the central board examinations for classes 10 and 12 are scheduled to begin on May 4.

In Assam, the BJP, however, is seeking to return to power for the second straight term even though the state had witnessed massive anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests early last year.  

With Congress becoming a marginal force, the BJP's capturing of power under Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is likely to be a cakewalk.

All eyes are on West Bengal this time as the country's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which dominates the political map of the country presently, is aggressively campaigning to wrest power in the state.

From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda to several other union ministers, all are campaigning hard to capitalise on the massive gain it got in the state in the Lok Sabha elections, where the saffron brigade won 18 of 42 seats.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, an arch-rival of the BJP and Modi-Shah duo, is leaving no stone unturned to return to power for the third straight term though her ruling Trinamool Congress was deserted by more than a dozen leaders, who later joined the saffron camp.

Puducherry has been in the political news of late as the Congress government collapsed following a series of resignations by the ruling party members leading President Ram Nath Kovind to impose his rule in the union territory.

No party has staked claim to form the government after Chief Minister V Narayanasamy lost his majority in the house even though the Congress had accused BJP of destabilising the government.

While it would be worth seeing whether the Left will return to power for the consecutive two terms breaking the trends in the state, DMK chief MK Stalin, another strong critic of the BJP, will aim to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu where the ruling AIADMK will fight the polls in an alliance with the BJP.