Rama Krishna Sangem
The Election Commission of India (EC) on March 16, Saturday announced the upcoming Lok Sabha election dates. As per EC’s announcement, Lok Sabha polling will be conducted in seven phases, between April 19 and June 1, followed by counting of votes on June 4. Polling for Telangana and AP will be held on May 13.
Phase I will be held on April 19, Phase II on April 26, Phase III on May 7, Phase IV on May 13, Phase V on May 20, Phase VI on May 25, and Phase VII on June 1. The General elections in Delhi will be held in one phase for all 7 Lok Sabha seats.
The model code of conduct has come into force starting the evening of March 16 and will remain in force even after the polling on June 1 till the entire process of counting is completed on June 4.
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections were held in seven phases between April 11 to May 12, while the 2014 general elections were held in nine phases. Around 1 million polling booths were set up across the country, up from 90,000 in 2014, to enable 912 million people eligible to vote. The voter turnout was over 67 per cent. The last general elections saw the highest women participation in voting so far and recorded the highest voter turnout.
The Election Commission also announced that the by-polls in 26 constituencies and four state Assemblies will take place simultaneously with the Parliament elections. This means the dates for the by-polls and the four state Assembly elections in Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh will be done simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polling/
Telangana, AP polls on May 13
Lok Sabha elections in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, along with assembly elections in AP will be held on May 13, in one single phase. Notification for elections in these two states will be issued on April 18 and the last date for filing papers by April 25. Late date for withdrawal of nominations on April 29. Counting of votes all over the country will be taken up on June 4.
