The Bengal Assembly election dates will be announced at 4 pm, the Election Commission said on Sunday, the morning after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in the heart of Kolkata.

The poll dates of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nādu and the Union Territory of Puducherry will also be announced along with Bengal this afternoon. The legislative assembly terms are set to expire at different dates in May and June.

The poll panel's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is still not complete in Bengal, where around 60 lakh people are under "adjudication".

The prime minister on Sunday said the countdown to the end of the "maha jungle raj" under the Trinamool had begun in Bengal.

In 2021, the Bengal elections were held over eight phases. Opposition parties like the BJP and CPM have asked for fewer election days this time.

PTI had reported earlier this week that the Assembly election is likely to be held in two phases this time.

In the last election, chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool had won 215 of the 294 seats in the Bengal Assembly.

The BJP had emerged as the largest Opposition with 77 seats.