New Delhi: The 2019 Parliamentary elections will be completed in 07 phases. Polling for the 1st phase of elections will be held on 11 April, 2019, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said Sunday.
"Polling for the 1st Phase (91 seats in 20 states) on April 11, 2nd Phase (97 seats in 13 states) will be held on April 18, the 3rd Phase (115 seats in 14 states) on April 23, the 4th Phase (71 seats in 9 states) on April 29, 5th Phase (51 seats in 7 states) on May 06, 6th Phase (59 seats in 7 states) on May 12 and 7th Phase (59 seats in 8 states) on May 19, 2019", he said.
"Counting of votes will be held on May 23, 2019 and all results will be declared on the same day", he said.
"The Lok Sabha election 2019 schedule has been finalised keeping in mind many factors including CBSE and board exams, weather condition and festivals ", Sunil Arora said.
"Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) will be used at all polling stations across the country", the CEC said adding that polling stations this time will be 10% more than in 2014.
"Along with party symbols, faces of candidates will also be there on all EVMs - a first in this election", Arora said.
"Model code of conduct comes into effect across the country from today. All political parties are requested to strictly follow the rules", he added.
Arora also said that number of voters has increased from 81 crore to 90 crore in 2019.
Earlier, the announcement of 2019 election schedule was delayed by about a week if compared with 2014 when the poll schedule was out on March 05.
The Election Commission has received flak from a section for the delay. Critics accused the Election Commission of giving time to Prime Minister Modi who is on an "inauguration spree". According to a rough estimate, Modi, accused of poor performance in the last five years, has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 157 projects in the last 30 days.
The term of the current Lok Sabha ends on June 03. Last year Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26, 2014. In 2014, the BJP had bagged majority on its own by winning 282 seats in Lok Sabha. The NDA won 336 seats. The opposition Congress had won just 44 seats.
Ahead of the announcement of the election dates, the election panel has asked the poltical parties to keep armed forces out of their poll campaigns.
"It is pertinent to mention here that the Armed Forces of a nation are the guardian of its frontiers, security and the political system. They are apolitical and neutral stakeholders in a modern democracy. It is therefore necessary that political parties and leaders exercise great caution while making any reference to the Armed Forces in their political campaigns," The EC said in a notice sent to all political parties.
"The Commission accordingly calls upon all political parties to advise their candidates/leaders to desist from displaying photographs of Defence personnel or photographs of functions involving Defence personnel in advertisements or otherwise as part of their election propaganda/campaigning," it added, demanding strict compliance from the parties concerned.
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