The Election Commission on Wednesday fixed February 16 as the date for the Tripura Assembly polls and February 27 for the elections to the Nagalang and Meghalaya assemblies, with the counting of votes scheduled for March 2. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar’s announcement at a press conference here marked the official start of the first round of Assembly polls in the new year, in which nine states are headed for elections, deemed crucial in the run-up to the all-important Lok Sabha contest in 2024. The three poll-bound northeastern states may be small in terms of their electoral size but hold larger political significance. While the BJP is pulling out all the stops to retain power in Tripura and expand its footprints in the two other states, the Congress and the Left are trying to recapture their lost influence. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) is also making a determined bid to prove its clout outside West Bengal by contesting these polls. The three state assemblies have a strength of 60 members each. While the term of the Nagaland Assembly ends on March 12, the terms of the Meghalaya and Tripura assemblies end on March 15 and March 22 respectively. Kumar said the EC has decided to wrap the polls in February, taking into account the examinations scheduled in March.