Election 2026 updates LIVE: EC to deploy 2,407 companies of central armed forces for phase 1 polling in Bengal

ELection 2026 updates unrecorded: The Election direction testament deploy 2,407 companies of exchange armed law forces for the first phase of the West Bengal assembly polls on April 23, with the highest number of personnel likely reserved for Murshidabad district, a senior official said on Wednesday, PTI reported.Elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases - on April 23 and April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.The official said Murshidabad is likely to have the highest deployment with 316 companies of forces, including 240 in Murshidabad police district and 76 in Jangipur.BJP leader K Annamalai is confident of NDA's win with huge mandate in Tamil Nadu. “We are confident in Coimbatore and across Tamil Nadu, this time NDA will come to power with a huge mandate. People of Tamil Nadu want change. They want DMK to get out of the government. Across all the places we are campaigning, the response is massive. This time, we expect Edappadi K Palaniswami to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu with a very huge mandate,” Annamalai said.As poll battle heats up in Bengal, chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee took a potshot at the Centre with her “Delhi's zamindar' barb as she wished people on Bengali New Year, Poila Boishakh' on Wednesday.“In this call of the new, may every soul brim with sanctity. Just as our Bengal is the cradle of art and culture, so too is it the cradle of harmony among all religions. Some malevolent forces are leaving no stone unturned to tarnish this Bengal. Delhi's zamindars are usurping people's voting rights. Remember, we must give them a democratic answer,” Mamata said in a post on X.Poll campaigns in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have gained momentum and entered its last leg with voting scheduled in these two states scheduled for next week. Tamil Nadu will go to polls on April 23, while high-stakes Bengal voting is scheduled for April 29.The battle field is set with salvos being exchanged between Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday. Stalin said he never feared the Maintenance of Internal Security Act during the Emergency and asked whether he would now fear Shah. He was speaking at a rally in Ranipet.With the West Bengal elections just around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi intensified his attack on the ruling All India Trinamool Congress, accusing it of corruption, appeasement politics, and neglecting North Bengal. Addressing a rally in Siliguri, he asserted that the BJP is poised to form the next government in the state.Modi said that people have witnessed “nothing but ruin” during the TMC’s 15 years in power, adding that a new generation of voters now has the opportunity to shape Bengal’s future through their votes."The ruthless TMC government has completed 15 years in power. Over these 15 years, you have witnessed nothing but ruin. I see many young people here; my young friends, 15 years ago, you were likely studying in the first grade. In this election, you are going to cast your votes--votes that will determine the future of Bengal," he said.