Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19 and results will be announced on June 4, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Saturday. The other phases will be on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be held on April 19, and in Andhra Pradesh on May 13.
Elections to Odisha assembly will be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Bypolls will also be held for 26 assembly constituencies, Kumar said at a press conference flanked by two new Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
“We are committed to give the nation a truly festive, democratic environment. The term of the 17th Lok Sabha is due to expire on june 16,2024. The terms of the Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are also due to expire in June 2024. Elections are due in Jammu and Kashmir,” Kumar said.
The five-year term of the current Lok Sabha ends on June 16. The term of the state assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha is set to expire in June 24. With the announcement of dates, the model code of conduct comes into force immediately.
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal will vote in seven phases starting from April 19, while Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir will vote in five phases. Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand will vote in four phases and in three phases in Chhattisgarh and Assam. Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tripura and Manipur will go to vote in two phases.
Single day polling will be held in 22 states and Union territories. These are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar, Daman and Haveli and Diu.
There are 97 crore registered voters and over 10.5 lakh polling stations would be set up for this election, CEC said. Rajiv Kumar added there are 1.82 crore first-time voters over 1 crore polling officials and security staff are involved. 55 lakhs EVMs will be used in this election and all minimum basic faciltiies will be available in polling stations, Kumar said.
