Assembly Elections 2016: Know your state -- West Bengal

West Bengal will be one among the four states going to the Assembly elections this year; the other four being Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

• Know your state: 2016
• Opinion polls 2016

The Asembly election in Bengal will be held in six phases over seven days---the most for any state this year---and it will begin on April 4 and conclude on May 5. The results will be declared on May 19, along with the three other states and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Bengal has 294 seats in its Assembly and currently, the Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has an adequate majority. In the last election, the TMC and Congress contested the election in alliance.

Here are some important facts on the Bengal election of 2016:

• Total Assembly seats: 294, spread over 20 districts [Total Lok Sabha seats 42]

• Reserved seats: 68 for Scheduled Castes and 16 for Scheduled Tribes

• Polling phases: 6 (seven days) [See link for phase-wise seats]

Phase 1: Day 1: April 4 [Monday]
Phase 1: Day 2: April 11 [Monday]
Phase 2: April 17 [Sunday]
Phase 3: April 21 [Thursday]
Phase 4: April 25 [Monday]
Phase 5: April 30 [Saturday]
Phase 6: May 5 [Thursday]

Results: May 19 [Thursday]

Date-wise seats going to polls:

April 4: 18 constituencies
April 11: 31 constituencies
April 17: 56 constituencies
April 21: 62 constituencies
April 25: 49 constituencies
April 30: 53 constituencies
May 5: 25 constituencies

Total voters: 6.55 crore

Total polling booths: 77,247

Chief Electoral Officer: Sunil Kumar Gupta

2011 Assembly poll results:

Trinamool Congress: 184 seats
Congress: 42 seats
CPI(M): 40 seats
Forward Bloc: 11 seats
RSP: 7 seats
GJM: 3 seats
Independents: 2 seats
CPI: 2 seats
Samajwadi Party: 1 seat
SUCI (C): 1 seat
DSP (PC): 1 seat

Vote share in 2011 Assembly polls:

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