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EC to announce Lok Sabha election schedule on Saturday

| Updated: 15 March, 2024 3:35 pm IST
ECI will anoounce the schedule for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on Saturday

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission declared that it will unveil the schedule for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and several state assemblies tomorrow, March 16, at 3 pm. The announcement will be made through a press conference at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan and will be streamed live on the Election Commission’s social media platforms.

The announcement will set the Model Code of Conduct into motion, a set of guidelines for parties, candidates, and governments regarding their conduct during the election period. The current Lok Sabha’s term is set to conclude on June 16, necessitating the formation of a new House before then.

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This development comes on the heels of the recent appointments of election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, who joined Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

The vacancies arose following the resignation of Arun Goel and the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey. The Electoral Commission’s statement follows its earlier announcement this month, revealing a record 96.88 crore registered voters for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, including two crore new youth voters aged 18 to 29 years.

Furthermore, the Commission will also announce the polling dates for four state assemblies expected to vote in April/May: Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim. Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand are slated to vote later in the year.

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The impending announcement sets the stage for a heated political battle, with the Narendra Modi-led NDA government vying for a rare third term. The Model Code of Conduct, effective immediately after the announcement, prohibits the government from introducing new policies.

In the previous Lok Sabha elections, announced on March 10, 2019, polling took place over seven phases from April 11 to May 19, with results declared on May 23.

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