The Election Commission of India is in its final leg of preparation, complete with security assessment, as it wraps up the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal by February 28.
Once done, the Election Commission (EC) will be ready to announce the dates for the highly anticipated assembly election after March 2.
A top delegation of the EC is scheduled to visit the state for two days on March 1 and 2 when it will interact with all district magistrates and superintendents of police. Before that, the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise will be completed with the revised schedule suggesting final publication of the voter lists on February 28.
After March 2, rules demand a full EC bench, including CEC Gyanesh Kumar as well
as election commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi, to visit poll-bound Bengal.
This can be on any date from March 3, technically speaking. If the full bench remains satisfied with the preparation, coordination, and security apparatus in place during the election, it will return and announce the election dates in New Delhi.
To put things into perspective, the EC full bench visited Bihar on October 4 and 5, 2025, to review poll preparedness for the assembly elections. The visit took place only days after the publication of the final electoral rolls on September 30, 2025, following the SIR.
According to sources, election dates are likely to be announced soon after March 2 if the EC keeps the Bihar pace unchanged in Bengal.
In historic 2011 elections, the Trinamool Congress won 184 seats and ended the 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state. The BJP wants to replicate the same with the ruling TMC in the upcoming polls.
While the BJP won 77 seats and notched up a 38.13 percent vote share in the 2021 assembly polls, it was a far cry from its “200 paar” aspirations. But this time, the saffron party is exuding much confidence making it a two-way contest.
