NewDelhi: Owing to assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on Thursday (23 April 2026), netizens are curious to know about status of bank holiday. RBI has listed April 23 in its official holiday calendar for Tamil Nadu, but there is no mention for Bengal. However as per common parlance, bank branches are usually closed on election days.
In West Bengal, assembly elections will be conducted in two phases i.e on April 23 and April 29. For the 1st phase of assembly polls today, banks are expected to be closed in specific constituencies.
Not nationwide bank holiday today
April 23 is not a nationwide bank holiday. Bank branches in other parts of the country will continue to work as normal business day.
Reserve Bank of India places its Holidays under three brackets –Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act; Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday; and Banks’ Closing of Accounts. However, it must be noted that the bank holidays vary in various states as well not observed by all the banking companies. Banking holidays also depend on the festivals being observed in specific states or notification of specific occasions in those states.
PM Modi urges citizen to actively participate in polls
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon citizens to participate actively in the electoral process. In a post on X, he urged voters to “enthusiastically fulfil this sacred democratic duty” and appealed especially to women and first-time voters to turn out in large numbers and contribute to a record voter turnout.
Tamil Nadu Assembly Polls
Voting for the high-stakes Tamil Nadu Assembly elections commenced on Thursday amid reports of technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at several booths, leading to delays in the start of polling in multiple locations.
Election officials moved swiftly to address the malfunctions, particularly those related to EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units, to ensure that the voting process resumed smoothly.
West Bengal Assembly Polls
Polling has begun for 152 assembly constituencies scattered over 16 districts from 7 a.m. on Thursday in the first phase of the two-phase crucial West Bengal assembly polls.
This time, the voters are required to go through a two-stage verification process, the first being by the central armed police (CAPF) personnel before entering the polling station premises, and the second by the booth-level officer (BLO) concerned before entering the polling room.
Bureau Report
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