{
  "id": 6132367,
  "title": "5 state polls likely to be conducted in Feb-March",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/5-state-polls-likely-to-be-conducted-in-feb-march",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-07T10:12:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/census-move-signals-feb-march-timeline-for-2027-assembly-polls-in-five-states/articleshow/133875073.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Election Commission has decided to advance the Census exercise in four states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa — while postponing the first phase in Manipur, leading to the assembly elections in those states being likely held in February or March of next year, as reported by the Times of India. Manipur's assembly term ends first on March 13, 2027, followed by Goa on March 14, Punjab on March 16, and Uttarakhand on March 28, with Uttar Pradesh concluding its term on May 22, 2027. All five states had previously voted together in the 2022 assembly elections. The Election Commission is expected to follow the usual practice of concluding polls before the earliest assembly term ends, which would mean Uttar Pradesh could conduct elections almost two months prior to its assembly term's expiry. The EC's constitutional authority permits elections to be held within six months before the assembly term's expiration. Given Uttar Pradesh's vast size and population, it is expected to have multiple polling phases, though a reduced number of phases could occur, similar to what happened in Bihar and West Bengal. Polling in Uttar Pradesh might commence in February or early March if the EC opts for a two-phase election, as was done in Bihar. The SIR of electoral rolls has already been completed in three of the five states and is ongoing in the other two. Consequently, the EC is unlikely to carry out an annual summary revision in these states before officially announcing the assembly elections. Following the SIR completion, the voter population in Uttar Pradesh is projected at 13.4 crore, a decrease of 13.2% from the previous count; Goa's electorate is now at 10.6 lakh, down 10.2%; Manipur has 19.3 lakh voters, marking a 7.6% reduction. Punjab and Uttarakhand's final electoral rolls are set to be published within the coming months. The Census 2027 population enumeration phase has been advanced in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, the non-snow-bound regions of Uttarakhand, and Goa, scheduled from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027, with January 5 as the reference date. The houselisting phase of the Census in Manipur has been deferred. Conducting both exercises concurrently helps circumvent logistical challenges that might arise from overlapping schedules. Traditionally, the Census second phase is conducted nationwide in February, with March 1 serving as the reference date.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}