Polity & Governance Current Affairs One-liners — Last 12 months

Mon, 04 May 2026

• The BJP won 207 of the 293 West Bengal Assembly seats declared on 4 May 2026, reducing the ruling Trinamool Congress to 80 from 215 in 2021, and Suvendu Adhikari defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur by 15,105 votes.
• The NDA led by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy's All India N. R. Congress (AINRC) won 18 of the 30 elected seats in the Puducherry Assembly in results declared on 4 May 2026, with the AINRC winning 12 and Rangasamy winning both seats he contested.
• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj opened a two-day national workshop on Panchayat Development Plans in New Delhi on 4 May 2026, launching the People's Plan Campaign booklet for 2026-27, a committee report on improving Gram Panchayat Development Plans and the revamped eGramSwaraj planning portal.

Sat, 02 May 2026

• The Election Commission of India on 2 May 2026 deployed 165 Additional Counting Observers and 77 Police Observers for vote counting in the West Bengal Assembly election, using its powers under Article 324 and Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Telangana's Department of Panchayati Raj held an outreach workshop on the Atmanirbhar Panchayat Programme at NIRD&PR, Hyderabad, on 2 May 2026, with over 400 participants including 70 sarpanches recognised for own source revenue generation.

Fri, 01 May 2026

• House-to-house Houselisting and Housing Census operations under Phase 1 of Census 2027 began on 1 May 2026 in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while the online self-enumeration facility, used by nearly 82 lakh households so far, opened in five more States/UT.

Thu, 30 Apr 2026

• The Election Commission of India on 30 April 2026 introduced a QR code-based Photo Identity Card module on ECINET for counting centres, starting with the 4 May 2026 counting for five Assembly elections and seven bye-elections.

Wed, 29 Apr 2026

• West Bengal held the second and final phase of its 2026 Assembly election on 29 April across 142 constituencies in 8 districts; ECI's final statistical reports (PN/085/2026) put the state's polling percentage at 93.71%, the highest ever for the state.

Tue, 28 Apr 2026

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 April 2026 attended the closing ceremony of Sikkim's 50th Year of Statehood celebrations at Paljor Stadium, Gangtok, and launched and inaugurated over 30 development projects; Sikkim became a full state through the Constitution (Thirty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1975.

Mon, 27 Apr 2026

• The Election Commission of India said on 27 April 2026 that seizures of cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies in West Bengal since 26 February had reached ₹510.10 crore, higher than the ₹339 crore seized in the 2021 Assembly election.

Sun, 26 Apr 2026

• Gujarat held local body elections on 26 April 2026 for 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats, with over 4.18 crore eligible voters; Union Home Minister Amit Shah voted in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation polls.
• In the 133rd episode of Mann Ki Baat on 26 April 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the criticality of the Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, said India's wind capacity has crossed 56 GW with India fourth in the world, and noted Beating Retreat music is now on WAVES OTT.

Sat, 25 Apr 2026

• Census 2027 will be India's first digital enumeration using mobile-based data collection, the 16th census overall and 8th since Independence, with caste enumeration and an outlay of ₹11,718.24 crore, a PIB backgrounder said on 25 April 2026.
• Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal released NITI Aayog's report 'Moving Towards Effective City Government – A Framework for Million-plus Cities' on 25 April 2026, recommending a directly elected Mayor with a fixed tenure and an empowered Mayor-in-Council.

Fri, 24 Apr 2026

• The Cabinet Secretariat notified on 24 April 2026 the reconstitution of NITI Aayog, with Ashok Kumar Lahiri as Vice Chairperson and Rajiv Gauba, K. V. Raju, Gobardhan Das, Abhay Karandikar and M. Srinivas as full-time members; NITI Aayog was constituted by a Cabinet resolution of 1 January 2015.
• On National Panchayati Raj Day, 24 April 2026, marking 33 years of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj released the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) 2.0 report for FY 2023-24, which cut indicators from 516 to 150 and covered 97.30% of Gram Panchayats.
• Scrutiny of Form 17A and other poll-day documents was completed on 24 April 2026 in all 152 Assembly constituencies of West Bengal Phase I and all 234 of Tamil Nadu, and no repoll was recommended in any of the 44,376 and 75,064 polling stations respectively, the Election Commission said.

Thu, 23 Apr 2026

• Phase I of the West Bengal Assembly election was held on 23 April 2026 in 152 constituencies, with 1,478 candidates, 3.60 crore electors and 44,376 polling stations; bye-elections were held the same day in Umreth (Gujarat) and Baramati and Rahuri (Maharashtra).
• Tamil Nadu voted in a single phase for all 234 Assembly constituencies on 23 April 2026, with 4,023 candidates and 75,064 polling stations; ECI's statistical report puts the final state polling percentage at 86.03%, above the previous highest of 78.29% recorded in 2011.

Wed, 22 Apr 2026

• Seizures in poll-bound Tamil Nadu and West Bengal reached ₹1,072.13 crore between the activation of the Election Seizure Management System on 26 February and 22 April 2026, with Tamil Nadu at ₹599.24 crore and West Bengal at ₹472.89 crore, the Election Commission said.
• The President appointed Justice Lisa Gill, a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court whose parent High Court is Punjab and Haryana, as Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court with effect from 25 April 2026, the Law Ministry notified on 22 April 2026.

Tue, 21 Apr 2026

• Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar inaugurated Phase II of the International Election Visitors' Programme 2026 at IIIDEM, New Delhi, on 21 April 2026, with 34 delegates from 17 countries.
• The 18th Civil Services Day was observed at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 21 April 2026, with Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan delivering the keynote address.

Mon, 20 Apr 2026

• The Election Commission of India directed on 20 April 2026 that dry days be declared in polling areas for 48 hours ending with the close of poll, and on the counting day of 4 May 2026, under Section 135C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Sun, 19 Apr 2026

• The Election Commission of India said on 19 April 2026 that over 11,000 unlawful social media posts had been acted upon since the 15 March poll announcement, and that misleading AI-generated content must be acted upon within three hours of notice.

Sat, 18 Apr 2026

• Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on 18 April 2026, ending the Budget Session that began on 28 January, with 31 sittings, 9 Bills passed and productivity of about 93% in the Lok Sabha and about 110% in the Rajya Sabha.

Fri, 17 Apr 2026

• The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to enlarge the Lok Sabha and tie women's reservation to a fresh delimitation, was negatived in the Lok Sabha on 17 April 2026 after 298 members voted for it and 230 against, short of the two-thirds of members present and voting required under Article 368(2).
• Harivansh was elected unopposed as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on 17 April 2026, his third election to the office, Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan said in his felicitation remarks.
• The Election Commission of India said on 17 April 2026 that seizures of cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal since 26 February 2026 had crossed ₹865 crore.

Thu, 16 Apr 2026

• Three linked Bills, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on 16 April 2026 after the motion for introduction was carried by 251 votes to 185 in a division.