Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar addressing the media in New Delhi. File
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
Chief Election Commissioner Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on March 16 announced the schedule for the elections to the 18thLok Sabha and for the Assembly election to the four States of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim. The counting of votes will take place on June 4, Mr. Kumar said.
The Model Code of Conduct came into effect immediately on the announcement of the schedule, the Election Commission said.
The elections to the 18th Lok Sabha will be conducted in seven phases across the country from April 19, 2024 to June 1, 2024. The counting of votes will be on June 4, 2024, the CEC Rajiv Kumar said.
It may recalled that only on March 14 retired bureaucrats Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were appointed as Election Commissioners by a high-powered panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha will be conducted simultaneously along with the Lok Sabha elections.
The CEC said elections to 102 constituencies will take place in first phase, 89 in second phase,94in third phase, 96 in fourth, 49 in fifth, 57 in sixth and57in seventh phase.
The poll body had requested the Union Home Ministry to ensure appropriate security measures and maintain law and order during the period.
This 2024 Lok Sabha election reflect the peak of India’s electoral demographic dividend with 10% of voters likely to be first-time voters,
Early this month, the Election Commission of India had directed political parties, especially star campaigners, to maintain decorum while campaigning and refrain from making appeals on the basis of caste or communal politics or make false statements, which can mislead voters.
In an advisory issued to all political parties , the EC cited previous examples of such indirect violations using known methodologies to avoid strictures under the model code of conduct (MCC), and conveyed that “stern action would be taken against direct or indirect MCC violations”.
