Following the conclusion of the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, election commission officials have transferred the sealed EVMs, VVPATs, and other election materials to secure strong rooms at designated counting centres throughout the state.
The Election Commission reports that poll-related seizures, including cash, drugs, and liquor intended to sway voters, have surpassed Rs 1000 crore in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The polling for the Tamil Nadu Elections will take place on Thursday, April 23, 2026. Out of the 294 assembly seats, 152 seats in West Bengal will go to polls in the first phase on Thursday.
Authorities in Tamil Nadu have seized 2.37 crore in cash, along with precious metals, liquor, and freebies worth crores, as part of election expenditure monitoring ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
The Vanniyar vote can tip the balance in 70 to 75 assembly constituencies of the 234 in the state, mainly in the Ranipet, Vellore, Thiruppathur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Tiruvannamalai, Arani, Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts.
The Election Commission reports that poll-related seizures, including cash, drugs, and liquor, have surpassed 1,000 crore in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Voting has commenced for the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, with over 3.60 crore electors eligible to vote in 152 constituencies in Bengal and 5.73 crore voters in Tamil Nadu. Security measures are heightened to ensure free and fair polling.
'This is a major rupture in Tamil Nadu's political order.' 'For the Dravidian parties, the message is clear: The old DMK-AIADMK binary is no longer guaranteed a future.'
As industrial plants boost the village's profile, locals demand priority hiring, alongside better storage facilities and water security.
The Election Commission has released the final electoral roll for Tamil Nadu, revealing a significant decrease in the number of voters due to deletions and new additions.
Whether he comes to power or not, both his admirers and opponents agree on one thing -- Vijay may well turn out to be the 'X factor'.
Tamil Nadu will elect a new government on April 23.
Will the DMK retain power? Can the AIADMK spring a surprise? And what about Vijay's TVK? A Ganesh Nadar surveys the election landscape a day after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a series of welfare measures, including free refrigerators for rice ration cardholders, if the party wins the 2026 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's plan to implement the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state.
The announced election schedule for five assemblies reveals fewer phases, a condensed voting period, longer gaps between polling days, and a delayed counting process compared to previous elections.
Last time, assembly polls in West Bengal were held in eight phases -- by far the maximum. In Assam, elections were held in two phases, and in a singular phase in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
The Election Commission reports a significant increase in seizures of inducements during recent assembly elections, with Tamil Nadu leading in cash seizures and West Bengal in liquor and drugs.
Recent assembly elections across several states in India saw exceptionally high voter participation, with women voters outnumbering men in turnout percentages, according to Election Commission data.
The Election Commission of India is considering launching the final phase of its special intensive revision of voters' lists in the remaining states and Union territories after the assembly elections conclude.
The Election Commission is preparing to launch the third phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' lists, potentially covering 22 states and Union Territories with approximately 40 crore electors.
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu on Thursday saw a massive voter participation during the ongoing assembly elections, with turnout reaching 89.93 per cent and 82.24 per cent respectively by 5 pm, according to the Election Commission of India.
Counting of votes begins in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and West Bengal, with significant implications for regional and national parties.
The Election Commission reports the seizure of cash and contraband worth Rs 80.67 crore in Kerala during enforcement activities related to the recent Assembly elections.
The TVK's decision to offer the lone Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress came against the backdrop of key meetings between national party leaders, including former union finance minister P Chidambaram and Congress Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar at the Secretariat.
Change of guard in some states and evolving El Nino dynamics are triggering fresh actions on raging water-sharing disputes in several states.
Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi has strongly criticised the Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, stating it is 'focussed more on exclusion' and has 'played havoc with democracy' by disturbing free and fair elections.
The Election Commission of India has prohibited the conduct and dissemination of exit polls from April 9 to April 29 during the upcoming assembly elections in several states. Violators face imprisonment or fines.
In focus are the assembly polls in 2026. From a BJP perspective, their attack on the ruling DMK, using the 'Hindutva' card, and Annamalai's targeting of both Dravidian majors on corruption has not worked, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Hours after Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje's assertion that the suspect involved in the March 1 blast at The Rameshwaram Cafe was from Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader issued a retraction and offered an apology.
West Bengal recorded its highest-ever voter turnout in the 2026 assembly polls since Independence, with a cumulative 92.47 per cent polling in two phases, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.
Senior DMK leader KR Periakaruppan lost the Tiruppattur assembly seat by one vote to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam's Seenivasa Sethupathy R in the Tamil Nadu elections. The defeat highlights the impact of individual ballots and the rise of actor Vijay's TVK.
The DMK has approached the Supreme Court, alleging that Tamil Nadu ministers are actively influencing witnesses in the CBI probe into last year's Karur stampede case, which resulted in 41 deaths.
Though the trucks have not been opened yet, it is reported that the cash belonged to State Bank of India and is being transported to Vijayawada.
The BJP is showing strong leads in West Bengal and Assam, while actor Vijay's party is making a significant debut in Tamil Nadu. The Congress is ahead in Kerala, offering some consolation amid the changing political landscape in the state elections.
'The last four years was not Dravidian rule, it was BJP rule by proxy.'
The Election Commission has announced the schedule for the Rajya Sabha elections 2024, setting the stage for polls to fill 37 seats across 10 states on March 16.
The extent of doubts over the fairness of this election can be assessed by juxtaposing two figures: Total votes polled by the two principal parties and the number of people who were disallowed from voting this time, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has completed one year, leading to the deletion of nearly six crore voters across 19 states and Union territories. This exercise, which began in Bihar, has faced opposition criticism but was upheld by the Supreme Court. The purification drive has significant implications, including linking voter data to social security benefits in some states.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has voiced his support for the TMC and DMK after their losses in recent assembly elections, while criticising the Congress party.
'Present day youth are not interested in the past. They want to see what you are going to do now.'
