Lok Sabha polls on April 7, 9, 10, 12, 17, 24, 30 and May 7, 12; counting on May 16 Tags: #Election Commission #Lok Sabha elections #16th Lok Sabha #LS Polls schedule #Assembly elections #Elections 2014 Wednesday, March 05, 2014 11:13 AM V S Sampath Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, including Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will also be held simultaneously with the LS Polls New Delhi: The Election Commission has set in motion the process for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as it announced the poll schedule for the general elections on Wednesday. Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, while addressing a press conference, at the Vigyan Bhawan on Wednesday, said that the elections will be held in nine phases beginning on 7 April and will finish on 12 May. The counting of the polls will be done on 16 May. Sampath informed that close to 1.1 crore security personnel will be deployed for the elections across the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies that will see 81.4 crore voters exercise their rights. The Election Commission has planned nine lakh camps across the country till March 9, including on Sundays, to enroll new voters in the list. For the first time in the Lok Sabha elections, the voters will have the right to vote for none of the candidates exercising the Nota (none of the above) option in the 9.3 polling booths across the country. The term of the 15th Lok Sabha expires on May 31 and the new house will commence duties from June 1. With the announcement of the election dates, the model code of conduct will set in that bars the government from taking any policy decisions. Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, including Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will also be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. The opinion polls so far hint an edge to the BJP-led NDA with its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi driving the campaign across the country though Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi party leader Arvind Kejriwal are the other faces who are being counted upon by their respective parties to win them as many seats as possible. Even as different political parties are still working overtime to forge pre-poll alliances, the NDA is one alliance that looks to have gained the most, most notably, with the return of Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP after a 12-year gap. DMK chief M. Karunanidhis recent statement on Modi also indicates its inclination towards the UPA that will hold the alliance in good stead in case of a coalition government. The ruling UPAs partners, meanwhile are dilly-dallying the alliances and the uncertainty over the stand of RJD and the TRS will hurt its fortunes. The third front, comprising 11 parties, will present a challenge to both the NDA and the UPA even as Mamata Banerjees TMC and Kejriwals AAP is likely to eat into the vote bank of the UPA and NDA.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 05:57:23 +0000
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