Parties welcome two-phase West Bengal polls; people will bring down TMC, says BJP

Marking a departure from the earlier trend of multiple-phase elections, the Election Commission of India on Sunday (March 15, 2026) announced that elections to the West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases.

In the first phase on April 23, 152 Assembly constituencies will go to polls, and the remaining 142 constituencies will vote on April 29.

Assembly elections 2026 highlights

This is a sharp contrast to the eight-phase Assembly election in 2021 amidst the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Assembly elections in 2016 and in 2011 were held in six phases. The major political parties, including the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have welcomed the two-phase polls.

“How many phases will it take for the people of Bengal to decisively reject Bangla-Birodhi @BJP4India once and for all? Answer – Jotoi Koro Hamla, #AbarJitbeBangla (the party’s slogan for the polls) #BoycottBJP,” the Trinamool posted on social media after the announcement of Assembly elections.

President of West Bengal unit of BJP, Samik Bhattacharya, appreciated the poll body’s decision. “The people of West Bengal are ready to bring down the current regime,” he said.

Mr. Bhattacharya reiterated his party’s promise of implementing the Seventh Pay Commission for the government employees and ₹3,000 per month payout for women under Annapurna Lakshmir Bhandar Scheme.

While the elections have been announced, the fate of 60 lakh electors still hangs in balance. Though there was no word from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had recently observed a five-day sit-in in protest of the electors being put under judicial adjudication, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Mohammad Salim said his party will fight for the rights of the electors under adjudication before courts.

“The Constitution guarantees rights to citizens of this country to contest elections. With over 60 lakh people still under the Commission’s doubtful voter list, they will lose the opportunity to submit candidature, even if they appear in the supplementary list published later. The nomination form mandates them to state their voter details in terms of their part and serial number in electoral rolls, which they cannot,” Mr. Salim said.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while announcing the elections, said that a supplementary list of electors under adjudication will be published as per instructions of the Supreme Court.

The Congress also welcomed the two-phase polls. However, senior leader Pradip Bhattacharya expressed concern over voter intimidation.

With the dates of elections being announced, the candidates of major political parties are likely to be announced in the next few days. Around 480 companies of Central forces have already been deployed in the State for confidence-building measures.

EC seeks explanation

The poll panel sought a report from Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, and the DEO (Kolkata North) over the violence in the city’s Girish Park area on Saturday (March 14).

Allegations had surfaced that the residence of West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja was attacked by BJP supporters before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally. The Commission asked the Police Commissioner why Central forces were not seen in the area even as violence continued for nearly an hour.