From April 11 to May 19, about 90 crore people will cast their votes to elect their representatives to the Lok Sabha elections in seven phases. The Election Commission (EC) announced on Sunday that the counting of votes would take place on May 23. The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.
With the announcement of the polling date, the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect. The Code remains operational till the election process is concluded.
The elections for the Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. By-elections to 34 Assembly seats — including 21 in Tamil Nadu — will also be held simultaneously.
The EC has decided to set up a three-member special observer committee, consisting of a former secretary to the government, a former IAS officer and a CRPF Director General, to monitor the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. On the recommendations of the committee, the EC will take a call on when elections to the J&K Assembly can be held.
The first phase of voting for the Lok Sabha polls will be on April 11, and the last phase on May 19.
The 2019 Lok Sabha polls will see about 10.35 lakh polling stations being established and about 17.4 lakh Verifiable Voter Paper Audit Trail machines, including those kept in reserve, being used.
Modi seeks ‘blessings’
“Guided by ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’, NDA seeks your blessings again. We spent the last five years fulfilling basic necessities that were left unfulfilled for 70 long years,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the hashtag “#PhirEkBaarModiSarkar.
The time has come to “build on that and create a strong, prosperous and secure India”, he added.
The Congress slammed the Modi government, saying it will be best remembered for “wasting” its historic mandate and that all its promises remained “unfulfilled”.