- There are 96.8 crore eligible voters in the country, including 49.7 crore males, 47.1 crore females and 48,000 transgenders
- Assembly polls: Arunachal, Sikkim to cast vote on April 19; Andhra, Odisha on May 13
- By-elections will also be held for 26 assembly seats in states such as Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu
- With the announcement of dates, the moral code of conduct comes into force immediately
NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, GANDHINAGAR, MARCH 16
The Election Commission of India has on Saturday announced the schedules for the conduct of Lok Sabha Polls 2024, along with Assembly Elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha. With the announcement of dates, the moral code of conduct comes into force immediately.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar announced that by-elections will also be held for 26 assembly seats in states such as Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
Addressing the press from Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar announced that General Elections for Lok Sabha for 543 constituencies will take place in 7 phases.
Phase 1 elections will be held on April 19, the last date for making nominations is March 27. Polls will be held in 21 States and Union Territories.
Phase 2 elections will be held from April 26, last date of nominations for candidates in April 4.Second phase will cover 12 States and Union Territories.
Phase 3 elections will be held on May 7, last date for nominations for candidates is April 20. The third phase will cover 12 States and Union Territories.
Phase 5 elections will be held on May 20, last date for nominations for candidates in May 3. The fifth phase will cover 8 States and Union Territories.
Phase 6 elections will be held on May 25, last date for nominations for candidates in May 6.The sixth phase will cover 7 States and Union territories.
Phase 7 elections will be held on June 1, last date for nominations for candidates in May 14. The seventh phase will cover 8 States and Union Territories.
Phase 1 elections will be held in 102 constituencies, a total of 89 constituencies will undergo in phase 2.
In Phase 3, polling will be held in 94 constituencies.
96 constituencies will undergo polling in Phase 4, 49 constituencies will undergo polling in Phase 5.
In Phase 6, polls will be held in 57 constituencies and also in Phase 7, 57 constituencies will undergo for polls.
Coming to the Assembly elections, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will go for polls on May 13, while the Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be held on on April 19.
Counting of votes on 4 June Nearly
With the announcement of dates, the moral code of conduct comes into force immediately. CEC Rajiv Kumar said that strict directions have been given to Distric Magistrates and SPs to ensure level playing field.
CEC Rajiv Kumar has said that there are 96.8 crore eligible voters in the country, including 49.7 crore males, 47.1 crore females and 48,000 transgenders.
Gujarat to have Lok Sabha polls in single phase on May 7
All 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will witness polling in a single phase on May 7, the Election Commission of India announced on Saturday.
The nomination process will begin on April 12, the last date of filing nominations will be April 19, while scrutiny will take place the next day, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi told reporters.
The last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 22, she added.
The state is well-prepared with a robust voter base of nearly 4.95 crore, including over 11 lakh young voters and 10,322 centenarians.
There are 87,042 Balloting Units, 71,682 Control Units, and 80,308 VVPAT machines being deployed across Gujarat.
Particular emphasis is being placed on inclusivity, with 182 model polling stations, 1,274 ‘Sakhi’ polling stations run exclusively by women, and 182 polling stations managed by persons with disabilities. Furthermore, the introduction of live webcasting at around 25,000 polling stations and home voting facilities for senior citizens and differently-abled individuals underscores the comprehensive measures to enhance electoral participation.
The c-VIGIL app ensures that election conduct violations and expenditure breaches can be reported effectively.
Bypolls to five assembly seats, necessitated due to resignations of sitting MLAs, will also take place on May 7, the official said.
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