Assembly elections 2026 LIVE: ECI deploys over 1,000 Central observers for upcoming Assembly polls

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee publishes the Trinamool Congress party's candidate list for the upcoming West Bengal assembly election in Kolkata on March 17, 2026. TMC party MP and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also seen. | Photo Credit: ANI

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed a total of 1,111 observers for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, as well as the bye-elections in six States, with West Bengal receiving the maximum number.

West Bengal has been assigned one general observer for each of its 294 constituencies, along with 84 police observers and 100 expenditure observers. Tamil Nadu has been allocated 136 general observers, 40 police observers and 151 expenditure observers. The commensurate figures for Assam are 51, 35 and 50 and for Kerala are 51, 17 and 40. For Puducherry, the numbers are 17, 4 and 17.

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The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) announced the names of 291 candidates for the 294 Assembly seats of West Bengal for the upcoming election. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest from Bhabanipur, the constituency she has been representing since 2011, where she will take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari.

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