Election preparations have begun in five states with the announcement of Assembly polls. The Chief Election Commissioner, S.Y.Qureshi said in New Delhi that Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will have one day poll on 13th of next month. He said, in Assam, the votes will be cast in two phases on 4th and 11th of April. West Bengal will have a six-phase poll schedule beginning on the 18th of April and concluding on 10th of May. Counting of votes will take place on the 13th of May.Qureshi said that model code of conduct has come into effect immediately. He said for the first time the election commission will distribute voter slips to the electorate through booth level officers and said that a call centre will be established to receive complaints from voters. To curb the menace of money power in elections, he said an expenditure monitoring division has been set up in the commission manned by senior income tax officials.With announcement of the poll schedules by the Election Commission, the political parties in Assam have geared up their activities to finalize the lists of the contesting candidates for 126 Assembly segments of the State. According to State Pradesh Congress Committee sources at Guwahati, the ruling Congress is likely to release the first list of candidates for the State polls by 12th of this month.Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has released its first list of candidates for 22 constituencies of the State hours after the announcement of the poll schedule. The party has also announced a tentative list of another eight candidates to be fielded in the ensuing polls, subject to negotiations with other parties. The opposition Asom Gana Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party have already released their first list of candidates. The State is scheduled to go for polls in two phases on 4th and 11th of the next month.Poll fever has also gripped the other 4 states going to the polls to elect new assemblies.