The ECI ordered a reshuffle of 13 IAS officers in poll-bound West Bengal, appointing several district magistrates (DMs), who have also been designated as District Election Officers (DEOs) and entrusted with key responsibilities as poll observers.

According to an official communication issued by the poll body, officers including Jitin Yadav (Cooch Behar), Sandeep Ghosh (Jalpaiguri), Vivek Kumar (Uttar Dinajpur), Rajanvir Singh Kapur (Malda) and R. Arjun (Murshidabad) have been posted as DM-cum-DEOs.

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Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh kick-started his Assembly poll campaign in Kharagpur Sadar constituency in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district with a motorcycle rally and asserted that he will win by a margin higher than the 2016 elections, when he was first elected from the seat.

Mr. Ghosh, who had been the state BJP president and Medinipur MP, said he would secure more than 1 lakh votes from Kharagpur Sadar.

“I will win by a higher margin this time,” he said.

The former State BJP president, under whose stewardship the party rose to 77 seats in the 2021 Assembly elections from just three in the 2016 polls, of whom he was one of the winners, gave up his MLA-ship in 2019 after winning the Lok Sabha elections.

“The general public here thinks that the BJP is their own party and that is why they make us victorious in every election,” he said.

- PTI

Assam MP Pradyut Bordoloi joined the BJP in Assam in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Assam BJP chief Dilip Saikia.

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The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has decided to field M.K. Bhaskaran from Vadakara in Kozhikode, P.K. Praveen from Koothuparamba in Kannur, and P.K. Anil Kumar from Kalpetta in Wayanad as Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidates in the Kerala Assembly elections 2026.

The list was declared by RJD Kerala State president M.V. Shreyams Kumar in Kozhikode on Wednesday morning.

The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu and the CPI today finalised their seat-sharing agreement for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, with the latter being allotted five seats. The agreement was signed by DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and CPI State secretary M. Veerapandian at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, in Chennai.

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said that the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections were “an election for change” while criticising Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for protesting against the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Supreme Court and other institutions.

“Even before Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Election Commissioners had come, they were criticised. Those who take strict actions, Mamata Banerjee always goes against them. This time, how bad is her condition? She is protesting against the Election Commission, the Court, and the Central Force. This time it is an election for change,” Mr. Ghosh told reporters.

Mr. Ghosh will be contesting the assembly polls scheduled to be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, from the Kharagpur Sadar assembly constituency, a seat he won in the 2016 Assembly elections.

-ANI

Ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in Assam, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) vice president Aminul Islam resigned from the party after 20 years, citing personal reasons.

Calling AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal his “mentor”, Mr. Islam clarified he holds no grudges but remains open to contesting future elections.

“I have resigned from the party due to personal reasons. I worked at this party for 20 years under the leadership of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. I have no grudges with anyone in the party, and Badruddin Ajmal is my mentor. I will talk to the voters in my constituency and if they want me to contest the elections, I will, in whichever party they want,” he said.

His remarks come as the Mankachar MLA was suspended for six years from party membership. The party order signed by AIUDF general secretary Hafiz Bashir Ahmed said that Islam’s “anti-party activities” have “repeatedly been deemed controversial and detrimental to the party’s interest”.

-ANI

The United Democratic Front (UDF) has declared its candidates in Kozhikode district for the Assembly polls scheduled for April 9. With this, the lineup for the poll battle is almost ready, and the campaigning is expected to pick up pace in the coming days.

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Here are the list of candidates and their respective constituencies:

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed a total of 1,111 observers for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, as well as the bye-elections in six States, with West Bengal receiving the maximum number.

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With actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) gearing up to go alone in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, party sources indicate the senior leadership team including Mr Vijay are expected to contest from constituencies in Chennai. Mr Vijay is highly likely to make his electoral debut from the Perambur constituency, sources in the party said.

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The April 9 Assembly election in Assam is expected to be more than a high-voltage battle of two alliances — one led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) eyeing a third straight term and the other by the Congress.

The spotlight of the election to the 126-member House, the first single-phase exercise in Assam since 2001, will be on the bitter rivalry between Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi.

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A decade ago Nemom, a semi-urban constituency located at the margins of Kerala’s capital, was catapulted into the national spotlight. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which for decades was making unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold in Kerala, had won its first ever Assembly seat in the State from Nemom that year. Five years later, in 2021, the constituency again hogged all the attention as the BJP lost its sole seat, with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) regaining it in a close fight.

Things are not so different in 2026, with yet another tight and unpredictable contest in the offing. 

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Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Padhukappu Sangam has announced boycott of DMK in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, citing its “anti-farmer” policies.

Sangam founder Easan Murugasamy said that the DMK government had fulfilled only 10 out of over 80 promises made in its 2021 election manifesto. Even the 10 fulfilled promises have little relevance to livelihood and income to farmers, he said.

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Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said he has not been in touch with Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi, who resigned as the sitting MP from Nagaon on Tuesday, adding that there is a possibility of future contact with him.

Speaking to the reporters in the national capital, CM Sarma said, “I am not in touch with Pradyut Bordoloi. If he had spoken to the Union Home Minister, I would know, but I don’t think he has spoken to any BJP leader yet. There is a possibility that we can have contact with Pradyut Bordoloi.”

This comes a month after former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah joined the BJP, who served in the Congress for three decades.

-ANI

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that the BJP would announce its assembly poll candidates after a meeting of the party’s Parliamentary Board and that the party’s allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) will contest 26 and 11 seats respectively.

Assam has 126 assembly seats, and the BJP is expected to contest 89 seats.

-ANI

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) announced the names of 291 candidates for the 294 Assembly seats of West Bengal for the upcoming election. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest from Bhabanipur, the constituency she has been representing since 2011, where she will take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari.

Including Ms. Banerjee, the Trinamool has fielded 52 women candidates; 95 candidates from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities; and 47 candidates from minority communities.

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Less than a month after its former State president Bhupen Kumar Borah switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Assam Congress lost one of its three MPs on Tuesday. (March 17, 2026).

Pradyut Bordoloi, who represented the Congress from the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat, submitted his resignation to party president Mallikarjun Kharge. The latter’s office said it did not receive the letter.

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