India will go to the polls from April 19 to June 1, in a marathon seven-phase exercise to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha, the Election Commission announced on Saturday. Assembly elections will be held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh
The dates of polling for the Lok Sabha are April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. In Bihar, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh, voting will take place in all seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
Voters in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will cast their ballots for their Assembly elections on April 19, while Andhra Pradesh will elect its Assembly on May 13. Odisha’s Assembly poll will be held in four phases, with voting on May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
Second-longest poll exercise
This parliamentary election — which is considered to be heavily stacked in favour of the ruling National Democratic Alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the Opposition INDIA bloc struggling to keep its flock together — will be the second longest polling exercise in India’s electoral history. The longest so far was the country’s first general election, which was held over a five-month period between September 1951 and February 1952.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced the poll schedule, flanked by the two new Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S.S. Sandhu. He said that bypolls to 26 Assembly constituencies will also be held alongside the Lok Sabha and four State Assembly polls.
Vote from home for seniors, PwD
India has a total of 96.8 crore registered voters, of which 49.72 crore are men and 47.1 crore are women. There are 1.82 crore first time electors, of which 85 lakh are women. Mr. Kumar said that the gender ratio among electors has improved significantly to 948 women for every 1,000 men, noting that there are more women than men voters in 12 States.
This is the first time in a general election that people above the age of 85 years, as well as those with more than 40% disability, will be able to vote from their own homes. There are 85 lakh registered voters who are aged above 85 years while the number of voters with disabilities is 88.4 lakh. The electoral rolls also contain 21.18 lakh centenarians.
Poll booths for Manipur refugees
The Commission said that it has reviewed the ground situation in Manipur and has noted that a large number of electors registered in different constituencies had been displaced from their native places during the recent ethnic conflict. Given these circumstances, special polling stations will be set up at or near the relief camps, where displaced electors who opt for such facilities will be able to register their votes in electronic voting machines.
The constituency of Outer Manipur will vote on two separate days. “We know the seat,” the CEC said, indicating awareness of the prevailing situation.
‘Calibrated response to MCC violations’
With the election dates having been announced, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into immediate effect and will be in force till the declaration of results.
The CEC flagged the challenges of what he called the ‘four Ms’: muscle power, money power, misinformation, and MCC violations. “I would appeal to parties to maintain decorum during the campaign and refrain from personal attacks,” Mr. Kumar said, adding that the ECI will have a “calibrated” response to MCC violations.
He added that all election management-related news on all the major national and regional news channels will be monitored vigorously. If any untoward incident or violation of any rule is noticed, action will be taken immediately, the CEC said.
