Announcement of assembly elections today, press meet at 4.30 pm

NEW DELHI: The dates for the assembly elections will be announced today. The Election Commission has called a press conference at Vigyan Bhavan at 4.30 pm to announce the dates for five states including Kerala. Apart from Kerala, elections will be held in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry. The date for the Malappuram Lok Sabha bypoll for the seat lying vacant after Kunhalikutty resigned the post will also be announced today.

With the announcement of the election dates, the model code of conduct will come into effect from this evening. Representatives of the Central Election Commission (CEC) had personally assessed the preparations for the elections in the states. Political parties opined that elections should be held in a single phase in Kerala. When the UDF and LDF demanded that elections be held in April, the BJP wanted it to be held in May.