Elections to choose representatives to the
543-member Lok Sabha
will be held in seven phases, beginning April 11
New Delhi: Elections to the 17th Lok Sabha will begin April 11 and continue for over a month till May 19 across seven phases, followed by counting of votes, May 23, the Election Commission (EC) announced Sunday, kick-starting the countdown for a mega electoral battle where the BJP will pitch for a re-election of the Modi government amid the Opposition’s efforts for a united fight to unseat it.
Polling will be conducted April 11, 18, 23, 29, May 6, 12 and 19 for 543 Lok Sabha seats across the country in which nearly 90 crore voters would be eligible to vote, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said at a packed press conference here. The results will be announced, May 23.
Assembly elections will also be simultaneously held in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha, the CEC said.
However, elections for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will not to be held along with the Lok Sabha polls, the EC said citing security reasons. The state has been under Governor’s rule after the ruling alliance between the BJP and People’s Democratic Party fell apart last year.
Arora said the model code of conduct would come into immediate effect from Sunday. He also informed that 10 lakhs polling stations would be set up this time as against about nine lakh in 2014.
The EC also said the ‘voter verifiable paper audit trail’ (VVPAT) will be used in all polling stations this time.
In 2014, the BJP had won 282 seats out of 543 constituencies in Lok Sabha handing a crushing defeat to the 10-year-rule of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by Congress.
In the press briefing, Arora reassured the nation of the EC’s ‘solemn resolve and deep commitment to fulfil its constitutional mandate to conduct free, fair and credible elections’. He also said all political advertisements on social media will need pre-certification and that the candidates will have to give details of their social media accounts to the Election Commission.
