The Election Commission of India on Thursday announced that the scrutiny of nominations for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, along with Puducherry, as well as bye-elections in multiple states, has been completed.
The poll panel had earlier declared the election schedule on March 15 for the five poll-bound regions—Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry—alongside bye-elections in six states. The last date for filing nominations for Assam, Kerala and Puducherry, and bye-polls in four states going to polls on April 9, was March 23.
Following scrutiny conducted by Returning Officers on March 24 and 25, a total of 2,140 candidates remain in the fray across 296 Assembly constituencies in Assam (789 candidates), Kerala (985) and Puducherry (366).
For the bye-elections, 66 candidates are contesting across five constituencies in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura.
The scrutiny process was carried out in the presence of candidates and their representatives and was fully videographed to ensure transparency.
As per the Commission’s guidelines, Returning Officers have published the final list of valid candidates along with their photographs on official notice boards.
The last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 26, up to 3 pm.
