The Phase 1 of the 2026 Assembly election has gone off without any major huddles as voting in Kerala, Puducherry and Assam is completed, which is a prelude to the high stakes that are in store. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) Assam has achieved an impressive 85.38% turnout, its highest since independence and Puducherry has achieved an equally impressive 89.83%. A high rate of participation was recorded in Kerala, at 78.03. Interestingly, women voters exceeded men in terms of turnout in Assam and Kerala, which is a sign of growing electoral participation of women voters.
The election was conducted amicably in 296 constituencies, and more than 5.31 crore voters who were eligible participated. As Phase 1 was completed, political attention shifted to the important upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
West Bengal, with 294 Assembly seats, will undergo polls in two phases on 23 rd April and 29 rd April, and counting will be done on 4 May. The initial phase will be 152 constituencies with a second phase of 142. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu will have one-phase elections on April 23.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up the rhetoric of campaigns by attacking the ruling Trinamool Congress, which he claimed encouraged lawlessness and mentioning some incidents such as the Bagtui violence. In the state of Tamil Nadu, the battle between the DMK-led alliance and the AIADMK-led NDA is likely to be intense with actor-turned-politician Vijay likely to make his electoral debut, which is long overdue, and could make the race become a three-cornered contest.