West Bengal Assembly Election 2026: The Election Commission kicked off two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal on Thursday, 23rd April,  with one more phase scheduled on Wednesday, 29th April, 2026.

Adults above the age of eighteen, male, female, and third gender are eligible to vote. The ECI and the state election machinery have released guidelines regarding the polling hours, voter identification requirements, postal ballots, home voting facilities, dry days ahead of polling, and the mandatory silence period.

Polling date and timings:

The campaign for the first phase of the West Bengal polls ended on April 21, 2026. Out of 294 Bengal Assembly constituencies, 152 went into voting on Thursday (April 23), while the remaining 142 seats will vote on April 29 (Wednesday). The seats which went to polls in the first phase are spread across eight North Bengal districts and Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum and Hooghly on April 23, 2026.  The voting started 7 am and ended at 6 pm, mandated by the ECI guidelines as per the framework of assembly elections.

In the second phase, the rest of the 142 seats will go to the polls.