India, March 16 -- Roughly 174 million voters across four states and a Union Territory will vote in assembly polls next month, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Sunday, setting in motion a crucial electoral cycle that will have deep ramifications for national politics.

Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced a significantly compressed electoral schedule with one-phase polls on April 9 in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry, and April 23 in Tamil Nadu. West Bengal, which went to the polls in eight phases at the height of the second wave of Covid five years ago, will see two-phase polls on April 23 and 29. This is the fewest phases in the crucial eastern state since 2001. The results will be out on May 4.

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