The great festival of democracy has kicked off. The Election Commission (ECI) has announced the dates for the Lok Sabha elections. Thus, the stage for a two-month-long electoral battle has been set.
Elections will be held for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country in 7 phases. Of these, 84 seats are reserved for SC, and 47 seats are reserved for ST.
With the announcement of the dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force across the country.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Mr. Rajiv Kumar, an IAS officer of the 1984 batch, said that the general elections will be held in 7 phases.
The first phase of voting will be held on April 19. The second phase of voting will be held on April 26, while the third phase of voting will be held on May 7, the fourth phase of voting will be held on May 13, the fifth phase of voting will be held on May 20, the sixth phase of voting will be held on May 25, and the seventh phase of voting will be held on June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
The EC has also announced the assembly election schedule for 4 states (Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh) and the schedule for by-polls for 27 assembly seats.
SINGLE PHASE ELECTION
Lok Sabha elections will be held in a single phase in these states:
Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Ladakh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand.
ALL THE PHASES INFORMATION
The first phase of voting will be held on April 19, 2024.
The second phase of voting will be held on April 26, 2024.
The third phase of voting will be held on May 7.
The fourth phase of voting will be held on May 13.
The fifth phase of voting will be held on May 20.
The sixth phase of voting will be held on May 25.
The seventh and last phase of voting will be held on June 1.
BY POLLS & ASSEMBLY ELECTION FOR 4 STATES
There will also be assembly elections in four states: Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh.
Elections will be held in 60 seats in Arunachal Pradesh in a single phase on April 19, 2024. Voting will be held for all 32 seats in the Sikkim Assembly in one phase on April 19, 2024. Assembly elections will be held in Odisha for 147 seats, in two phases, on May 13 and May 20, 2024. Voting will be held in one phase for all 175 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on May 13, 2024. The election results for all these states will be announced on June 4, 2024.
55 LAKHS EVMs
The total number of registered voters in the country is 97 crore. 10.5 lakh polling booths have been made. 1.5 crore officers and security personnel will be deployed for the elections. Besides, arrangements have been made for 55 lakh EVM machines and four vehicles.
FIRST TIME VOTERS
As Mr. Kumar said, this time there are 1.8 crore voters who will vote for the first time. The number of male voters is 49.7 crore, and the number of female voters is 47.1 crore. There are 19.74 crore voters aged between 18 and 29 years old. The number of voters above 100 years of age is 2.18 lakh.
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
CEC Mr. Kumar said in a press conference, “The political party will have to explain that if they have fielded a candidate with a criminal background, then why did they do so and why they did not find a candidate with a clean image. The candidate will also have to publish information about his criminal background in the newspapers.”
WAR AGAINST FAKE NEWS
Mr. Kumar said that there is complete freedom to criticise anyone, including the Election Commission, but there is no freedom to spread fake news and rumours. Officials of every state have been given the power to ask to remove posts containing objectionable statements. If someone is spreading a false narrative, we will fight it strongly.
A series named ‘Lies vs. Reality’ will be started on the Election Commission’s website. Voters are also requested not to blindly follow whatever comes on social media. There is a lot of excitement in the market for lies.
