7-phase polls from April 11
New Delhi: The suspense over the announcement of dates for Lok Sabha elections came to an end on Sunday as Chief Election Commissioner unveiled the poll dates. As per Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora, the election would be held in seven phases starting from April 11 and ending on May 19 followed by counting of votes on May 23 for all the 543 Lok Sabha seats.
Following the repeated demands of opposition parties, the Election Commission will use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) in all polling stations along with EVMs. As many as 17.4 lakh VVPAT machines will be deployed for the Lok Sabha and simultaneous assembly elections, Arora said, adding that in new SOPs issued, vehicles installed with GPS trackers and mobile-based tracking system for transportation of reserve EVMs and VVPATs will be used.
"There will be very stringent security norms for storage, handling of VVPATs. After incidents, fresh SOPS have been issued for last mile transportation, including monitoring by GPS, including reserve too," the CEC said.
In a first, the Election Commission has decided to introduce candidates' photos on the voting machines, in addition to the party name and symbol. "This would eliminate confusion in the minds of voters," Arora said.
However, the Election Commission that 'failed' to conduct bypoll for Anantnag parliamentary seat is still not in 'position' to hold assembly election in Jammu & Kashmir along with the Lok Sabha poll schedule. There are six parliamentary seats in J&K and elections for all six Lok Sabha seats will be held in 5-phases.
According to the CEC, assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal, Odisha and Sikkim will also be held simultaneously.
While announcing the election dates, Arora said, "The model code of conduct would come into immediate effect from Sunday. This time, 10 lakh polling stations would be set as against about nine lakh in 2014 and nearly 90 crore voters would be eligible to vote for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country."
"The first phase will be held on April 11, second on April 18, third on April 23, fourth on April 29, fifth on May 6, sixth on May 12 and seventh phase on May 19. The counting of votes will be on May 23," Arora said, adding that in the first phase, 91 constituencies will go for polls, 97 constituencies in the second phase, 115 constituencies in third phase, 71 in fourth phase, 51 in fifth phase, 59 in sixth and 59 in the seventh phase.
Polling for Lok Sabha seats in the states of Bihar (40), Uttar Pradesh (80) and West Bengal (42) will conclude in seven phases, while there will be single phase polling in 22 states/UTs and the states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha will witness four-phase elections.
In reply to a question on monitoring contents/political advertisements on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, the CEC said, "We would set up control rooms to monitor the contents. There is a case pending in Bombay High Court over the issue. The observation of the HC in the case would bring more clarity. We have also asked candidates to submit their social media details."
Replying to a question on the provision of making arrangements to deposit mobile phones at the polling stations, the CEC said, "There is work in progress and a decision in this regard would be taken very soon." The assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh will be held on April 11, while assembly poll in Odisha will be held in four phases starting from April 11.
