Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar briefed 1,444 Central Observers to be deployed in the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in New Delhi on (February 12, 2026). Photo credit: ECI Via ANI Photo.
GUWAHATI
Most political parties in Assam have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold the upcoming state assembly elections in a maximum of two phases.
The full ECI Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) reviewed the state’s preparedness for the Guwahati polls. The panel met delegations from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and other political parties.
Mr. Kumar held a review meeting with senior police and state election officials, including Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel, in the presence of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
Other political parties included All India United Democratic Front, Asom Gana Parishad, Bodoland People’s Front, United People’s Party Liberal, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Aam Aadmi Party. These parties have always favored conducting the elections, expected by April, in one or two phases.
They also suggested steps to ensure the peaceful conduct of elections. The ECI delegation, which arrived on Monday (February 16, 2026), is expected to review the SIR of the electoral rolls.
“Questioned Deletion”
Earlier, the Assam CPI(M) unit had urged the ECI to ensure an error-free electoral roll. In a memorandum submitted to Mr. Kumar, the party said that official data regarding the SIR showed that 35,94,983 applications and objections were received across the state. Of these, 12,97,796 were filed in Form 7 requesting deletion of names.
The party pointed out that 10,63,647 such objections and 5,86,146 new inclusions in Form 6 were received.
“While deletions for legitimate reasons are part of any review, the extraordinary volume and high acceptance rate of deletions warrants careful scrutiny to ensure that the constitutional guarantee of the franchise under Article 326 has not been undermined by procedural defects or concerted abuse,” the CPI(M) said.
Assam has 126 assembly seats. The term of office of the current assembly expires on May 20. The 2016 and 2021 assembly elections, won by the BJP-led alliance, were held in two and three phases.
Published – 17 Feb 2026 17:24 IST