State Assembly elections in four states: all you need to know

State Assembly Elections in four states: Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh

Digital Desk: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar informed today that four states will hold assembly polls simultaneously with the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, which are scheduled to begin on April 19.

On April 19, Arunachal Pradesh, which has two Lok Sabha seats and sixty assembly seats, will cast ballots in both elections concurrently. On April 19, Sikkim, which has 32 assembly seats, will also cast a ballot.

On May 13, Andhra Pradesh will hold elections for 175 assembly seats. The results will be tallied on June 4.

The assembly elections in Odisha will take place in two stages: on May 25 for 42 seats, and on June 1 for another 42 seats.

Andhra Pradesh

Together, the BJP, TDP, and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena are running for both the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats.

The TDP will compete for 17 parliamentary seats and 144 state seats, while the BJP will fight for six Lok Sabha and ten Assembly seats under their seat-sharing agreement for 2024. The agreement states that Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena will run for 21 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats.

In 2019, with 151 seats, the YSR Congress crushed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by Chandrababu Naidu, while the TDP retained 23 seats in the legislature. 

Odisha

The Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Saturday that there will be four phases to the voting process for the 147-member Odisha parliament. Voters will be able to cast their ballots on May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, according to the notification. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar declared that the vote counting will happen on June 4. June 2, 2024, is the end of the current assembly's term, which was elected in 2019.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won 113 seats in the 2019 Odisha legislative assembly elections, securing a commanding majority and constituting the government under Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for a fifth consecutive term.

In anticipation of the next Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the BJP and BJD were engaged in intense negotiations about forming a potential coalition.

Arunachal Pradesh

The election commission said on Saturday that Arunachal Pradesh's assembly elections are scheduled for April 19 and that the votes for the state's sixty assembly constituencies would be counted on June 4.

On Tuesday, the BJP unveiled their nominees for each of the 60 seats. Chief Minister Pema Khandu has been nominated to run from the Mukto assembly constituency.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) branch in Arunachal Pradesh released the names of eight candidates for the upcoming assembly elections.

Sikkim

One phase of voting will be used to elect the 32-member Sikkim parliament, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Saturday. 

The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) won 15 seats in the 2019 Sikkim legislative assembly elections, while the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) gained 17 seats and established the government under Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang.