ECI announces schedule for Lok Sabha polls, Assembly polls in 4 states, bypolls on 26 Assembly seats

New Delhi [India], March 16 : Along with announcing Lok Sabha elections that will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar also announced the schedule of Assembly polls in four states - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha.
Assembly elections will be held in Andhra Pradesh on May 13, in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim on April 19.
Bypolls on 26 Assembly seats will also be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. Nearly 96.8 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming polls at over 12 lakh polling stations.
In Phase 1 which will be held on April 19, the voting will be held in a total of 102 constituencies. The second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on April 26 which will see voting on 89 constituencies. The third phase of General elections will be held on May 7. A total of 94 constituencies will see voting in this phase.

96 Lok Sabha seats will go for polling in Phase 4 on May 13. Phase 5 will see polling on 49 Lok Sabha seats with elections on May 20. The sixth phase will be held on May 25 which will see polling on 57 constituencies. The seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held on June 1 which will witness polling on 57 constituencies.

A total of 96.8 crore voters will be eligible to cast their vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said.

A total of 10.5 lakh polling stations and 1.5 crore polling officials and security staff will be deployed in the poll exercise. 55 lakh EVMs will be deployed.
There are a total of 412 General category seats, SC- 84 seats, ST- 47 seats.
Kumar said approximately 49.7 crore voters are male and 47.1 crore voters are female.
Lok Sabha Polls schedule state-wise
Andhra Pradesh will vote on all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Phase 4 (May 13), Arunachal Pradesh will vote on all 2 seats in Phase 1 (April 19)
Assam will vote for its 14 seats in three phases with elections that will be held on total of 5 seats each in Phase 1 and 2. The remaining four seats will go for polls in Phase 3.
Bihar will witness polling for 40 Lok Sabha seats across all seven phases. In Phase 1 voting will be held on four seats. The state will witness polling on 5 seats each from Phase 2 to Phase 5. In Phase 6 and 7, elections will be held on 8 seats each.
In Chhattisgarh, elections will be held in three phases for 11 seats. Phase 1 will see voting on one seat, three seats in Phase 2 and 7 seats in Phase 3.
Goa will vote on all two seats in Phase 3. Gujarat will also witness polling on all 26 seats in Phase 3.
Karnataka will see polling on 28 Lok Sabha seats in two phases. The southern state will go to polls for 14 seats each in Phase 2 and 3.
All 20 seats in Kerala will witness voting in Phase 2 (April 26).
In Madhya Pradesh on 29 seats, polling will be held in four phases. Voting will be held on 6 seats in Phase 1. 7 in Phase 2 and 8 seats each in Phase 3 and Phase 4.
In Maharashtra, elections will be held in five phases. 5 seats in Phase 1, 8 seats in Phase 2, 11 seats each in Phase 3 and 4. The remaining 13 seats will go for polls in Phase 5.
Meghalaya will see voting on all two seats in Phase 1. Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Puducherry will also go for polls with elections on one seat each in Phase 1.
In Odisha, polling will be held in four phases, with 4 seats in Phase 4, 5 in Phase 5, and six each in Phase 6 and 7.
Punjab will vote for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the seventh phase on June 1.
Rajasthan will vote in two phases. Phase 1 will see polling on 12 seats while the remaining 13 seats will go for polling in the second phase.
Tamil Nadu will see voting on all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Phase 1.
In Telanagana, elections will be held on all 17 seats in Phase 4.

Elections for 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held across seven phases. 8 seats each will go for polls in Phase 1 and 2. In phase 3, elections will be held on 10 seats. 13 seats in Phase 4, 14 each in Phase 5 and 6, and the remaining 13 seats in the seventh and final phase.

In Uttarakhand, polling will be held in single phase with people electing its representatives on all 5 seats in Phase 1.
In West Bengal for 42 seats, polls will be held across seven phases. Three seats each in Phase 1 and 2, four seats in phase 3, 8 seats in phase 4, 7 in Phase 5, 8 in Phase 6 and the remaining 9 in the final phase on June 1.
The elections in Delhi on all 7 constituencies will be held in the final phase on June 1.
Schedule for Assembly polls in four States
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar also announced the schedule of Assembly polls in four states - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha.
The Assembly in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be held on April 19 the day when phase 1 elections of Lok Sabha will take place.
The Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh will be held on May 13.
The Assembly polls in Odisha will be held in four phases which are May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The results for all four states will be announced on June 4.
Stressing the need for a mechanism to check 'unaccounted' donations while also ensuring donors' privacy is protected and they are not harassed, CEC Rajiv Kumar said, "As far as electoral bonds are concerned, the Commission has always been in favour of transparency'"
"In democracy, there is no scope for hiding things, it is all about making everybody know, we are all for transparency. This is the first part of the exercise that it must be known, the country now has to ask and find solutions through an institutional mechanism where the donor's privacy is also considered," he added.
By-elections to 26 Assembly seats across 13 States
A total of 26 Assembly constituencies will also go for bypolls simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections
In Phase 1, Assembly bypolls will be held in Tamil Nadu's Vilavancode seat and Ramnagar in Tripura.
In Phase 2, the Bagidora seat in Rajasthan will undergo for Assembly bypoll, polling will also be held in the Akola West Assembly.
In Phase 3, the bypolls will be held in Karnataka's Shorapur, West Bengal's Bhagawangola and five assembly seats from Gujarat which are Vijapur, Khambhat, Vaghodia, Manavadar and Porbandar.
Assembly bypolls in Secunderabad Phase Cantt, Dadraul will be held in Phase 4, while Lucknow East, Gandey in Uttar Pradesh will go under Phase 5.
Also, Assembly bypolls in Gainsari in Uttar Pradesh and Karnal in Haryana will go under Phase 6.
Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala, Lahaul & Spiti, Sujanpur, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar seats will undergo assembly bypolls in the final phase as seats went vacant after six MLAs from Congress were disqualified.
Baranagar (West Bengal), Duddhi (Uttar Pradesh), and Agiaon (Bihar) seats will also go for bypolls in the seventh phase.
"We have 1.8 crore first-time voters and 19.47 crore voters between the age group of 20-29 years," he said, adding that 88.4 lakh voters are of PwD category, 2.18 lakhs are centenarians and 48,000 are transgenders.
The poll body said that voters above 85 years of age and Persons with Disabilities with 40 per cent benchmark disability can vote from home.
"Volunteers and wheelchairs at polling stations. Transport facility for PwD and elderly Saksham app for PwDs to avail facilities at PSs, push for permanent AMF in schools, gift of election process to students," the poll body said in a statement.
Election Commission said that steps are being taken to take on the 4Ms challenges- Muscle, Money, Misinformation and MCC violations.
The poll body said that it has seized a total of Rs 3,400 crore in the last 11 Assembly elections. With maximum seizure from Gujarat (Rs 802 crore).
Slamming BJP after the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha elections will be held across 7 phases in West Bengal, TMC said that Voter turnout decreases due to multiple phases adding that it is a desperate attempts to gain political advantage in Bengal.
"Why are we against it? Voter turnout decreases due to multiple phases, It undermines the federal structure of the country, It favors parties with muscle & money power, It is nothing but BJP's desperate attempts to gain political advantages in Bengal. Shameful!," TMC posted on X.
On the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini said, "General elections have been announced in the world's largest democracy. I congratulate the Election Commission for conducting the largest democratic elections in an organized manner."
"Along with this, I also hope that the country will develop more rapidly. These general elections will play an important role in taking us on the path of prosperity. First of all, I appeal to the people of the state to ensure their participation by taking part in this democratic festival and voting as much as possible to build a developed India and a strong India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A strong and stable government has been formed in the country for the last 10 years,"he added.
On the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates, AAP MP Sandeep Pathak said, "We welcome this decision of conducting elections in 7 phases. We are hopeful that transparent and peaceful elections will be held. AAP party is prepared and we have started our campaigning."