PM Modi to address public rallies in poll-bound West Bengal & Assam on March 18

Ahead of the Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address public rallies in West Bengal and Assam at 11 am and 3 pm respectively, on Thursday. These events are a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Marathon Election campaigns in the two poll-bound states. BJP's campaign strategy is to put an end to the Trinamool Congress's (TMC) 10-year rule in Bengal and to retain power in Assam.

A day before the event, PM Modi took to Twitter and said that the BJP's agenda of good governance was striking a chord among the people of West Bengal and there was a desire for a change in the state.

PM Modi in another tweet informed people about his rally in Assam's Karimganj and said that under NDA governance, Assam has witnessed a positive change. Check out PM Modi's tweet:

EC announces election dates

On February 26, the Election Commission of India announced the dates of the Assembly election for Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry. While Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry will have a single-phase poll, Assam elections and West Bengal elections will be conducted in three and eight phases respectively.

West Bengal elections (8-phase)

• 294 seats (68-SC, 16-ST)
• 1,01,916 polling stations
• Assembly term ending on June 1
• 1st phase- 30 constituencies. Date of polling- March 27
• 2nd phase- 30 constituencies. Date of polling- April 1
• 3rd phase- 31 constituencies. Date of polling- April 6
• 4th phase- 44 constituencies. Date of polling- April 10
• 5th phase- 45 constituencies. Date of polling- April 17
• 6th phase- 43 constituencies. Date of polling- April 22
• 7th phase- 36 constituencies. Date of polling- April 26
• 8th phase- 35 constituencies. Date of polling- April 29 

Assam elections (3-phase )

• 126 seats (8-SC, 16-ST) 
• 33,530 polling stations
• Assembly term ending on May 31
• 1st phase- 47 constituencies. Date of polling- March 27
• 2nd phase- 39 constituencies. Date of polling- April 1
• 3rd phase- 40 constituencies. Date of polling- April 6

As many as 18.68 crore electors will cast vote at 2.7 lakh polling stations in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. The counting of votes for all the polls will take place on May 2.