Assam, Kerala & Puducherry go to polls: Millions to cast votes across three states

In one of the most sweeping single-day electoral exercises India has seen in years, three distinct corners of the country, the rolling tea gardens of Assam , the monsoon-drenched backwaters of Kerala , and the compact French-heritage enclave of Puducherry , will simultaneously go to the polls on Thursday, April 9 . A total of 296 assembly seats across Assam's 126-member house, Kerala's 140-member legislature, and Puducherry's 30-seat assembly will be decided in a single phase, with votes counted on May 4 . These elections are being watched nationally as a key political barometer ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2029 .

In Assam , the contest is a sharply drawn battle between legacy and ambition. The BJP-led NDA first wrested the state from Congress in 2016 and won again in 2021, with Himanta Biswa Sarma becoming Chief Minister after the second victory. Now the party is chasing history, an unprecedented third consecutive term . A total of 722 candidates are contesting across 126 constituencies, including Chief Minister Sarma seeking his sixth straight term from Jalukbari, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi making his assembly debut in Jorhat, and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal contesting from Binnakandi. Polling runs from 7 AM to 6 PM, with 2.50 crore voters eligible, including 6.42 lakh first-time electors . All 31,490 polling stations have webcasting facilities , and Central Armed Police Forces are deployed statewide. Congress has fielded the highest number of candidates at 99, followed by the BJP with 90.

In Kerala , the battle is nothing short of a political thriller . In 2021, the LDF made history by winning 99 of 140 seats, becoming the first alliance to win consecutive terms in the state since 1977. Now, the ruling LDF is seeking a third consecutive term, while the UDF aims to convert the momentum it gained in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections into an assembly victory. Over 2.69 crore voters are registered, including 1.38 crore women and 277 transgender voters, making it the largest of the three electoral arenas on Thursday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan contests from Dharmadam, while Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan fights from Paravur. Campaigns have been defined by debates over anti-incumbency, unemployment, welfare spending, corruption allegations, and an intense battle for minority votes. The BJP-led NDA emerges as a significant factor in around 40 strategic seats, while pre-poll surveys show a highly uncertain outcome.

In Puducherry , small size belies enormous political significance. Every seat in its 30-member house carries outsized weight. The incumbent AINRC-led NDA , with Chief Minister N. Rangaswamy at the helm, seeks to retain power, while the Congress-DMK INDIA alliance accuses the ruling coalition of failing on development and employment. Nearly 9.44 lakh voters are eligible, including 5 lakh women voters, in a race where a swing of just a few thousand votes can overturn everything.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar , announcing the poll schedule, called India's elections the "festival of democracy" , appealing to first-time voters to step forward. On April 9, from the banks of the Brahmaputra to the shores of the Bay of Bengal, over three crore Indians will answer that call, shaping the political destiny of three very different, yet equally vital, corners of the nation. The verdict arrives on May 4 .