Lok Sabha polls from April 11; southern polls to end by April 23
The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases, starting April 11. The counting of votes will be on May 23, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora told mediapersons in New Delhi on Sunday.
Elections will be held to the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. Assembly elections in four states will also be held simultaneously. The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3 and the model code of conduct comes into force immediately after the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s poll announcement.
The states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Delhi, Puducherry, Chandigarh will go to polls in single phase.
Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tripura will see two-phase polls while Assam and Chhattisgarh will see three-phase polls. The states of Jharkhand, MP, Maharashtra, and Odisha will see four phase polls. It will be a five-phased exercise in Jammu and Kashmir. In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, the process will be completed in seven phases.
Phases
The first phase elections will be on April 11; second on April 18; third, April 23; fourth, April 29; fifth, May 6; sixth, May 12; and phase 7, May 19.
More details
In phase one, there will be 91 constituencies in 20 states; phase 2, 97 constituencies in 13 states; phase 3, 115 constituencies in 14 states; phase 4, 71 constituencies in 9 states; phase 5, 51 constituencies in 7 states; phase 6, 59 constituencies in 7 states; and phase 7 will have 59 constituencies in 8 states.
The CEC said 1950 would be the number for voters to check their name and election-related information. He said social media companies including Facebook and Twitter would verify all political advertisers to ensure that there is no manipulation. Candidates would be asked to furnish details of their social media accounts, he added.
Violations
The CEC said the privacy of citizens who report violations would be ensured and they would be informed of the action taken. There would be extensive web-casting of sensitive booths and all events would be video-graphed.
NOTA
Voters can choose NOTA and they would also be able to see voter photographs. There would be 10 per cent more polling booths this time, with VVPATS in all of them. The commission said it would ensure minimum facilities in all booths in a bid to make elections a ‘more comfortable’ affair.
The CEC said the commission looked up to the media as a force multiplier and sought the help of the fourth estate in the conduct a free and fair election.
