The Lok Sabha
polls will start from 7thApril and the counting
of votes will be held on 16th May,
the Election Commission announced on Wednesday.
Total electorate in the Lok Sabha
elections is 81.4 crore, an increase
of about 10 crore over last elections.
Model Code of Conduct for parties and
governments to come into force with immediate effect.
Electoral rolls updated as of January 1,
2014, published in all states.
NOTA (None of the Above) option to be used for first time in Lok Sabha polls.
In all elections will be held in nine
phases upto May 12.
First phase of polling to cover six constituencies in two states.
Second phase of poll on April 9 to cover
seven constituencies in five states.
Third phase on April 10 to cover 92
constituencies in 14 states.
Fourth day of poll on April 12 to cover
three states and five
constituencies.
Fifth day of poll on April 17 in 13
states and UTs covering 122 constituencies.
Sixth day of poll on April 24 covering
117 constituencies in 12 states.
Seventh day of poll on April 30 in 89
constituencies in nine states.
Eighth
day of poll on May 7 in seven states covering 64 constituencies.
Last date of poll on May 12 covering
three states and 41 constituencies.
With the announcement of poll dates, the
Model Code of Conduct for governments and political parties will come into
force with immediate effect.
Polling is likely to commence from the second
week of April and may be spread over six to seven phases, the longest so far,
highly placed sources said.
The probable dates for the commencement of
polling are between 7th and 10th April, the sources in the Election Commission
had said.
As of now, the plan is to have the voting
exercise involving an electorate of 81 crore in six to seven phases. The 2009
polls were held in five phases from 16th April to 13th May.
The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on
1st June and the new House has to be constituted by 31st May.
Along with the Lok Sabha election, Andhra
Pradesh, including the regions comprising Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will go
to polls to elect new assemblies.
It could be the first time the country witnesses elections over such a long period in
six or seven phases.
The sources had said that the attempt is to
maximize use of forces and the polling days.
In the first phase, polling is expected to be
held in some of the Naxal-hit states and in some northeastern states.
For the first time in parliamentary polls, a system of paper trail for electronic voting
will be introduced in some constituencies on a trial basis.
There have been demands that a paper trail
should be in place so that a fool-proof record is created and controversies
avoided in case of a dispute or an election petition filed in courts.
The Commission has also issued guidelines to
political parties asking them to explain the rationale of financing the
promises they make in their election manifestos.
The guidelines that followed Supreme Court
directions in this regard have now been made part of the Model Code.
An estimated 81.4 crore voters will be
eligible to vote in the coming elections after 9.71 crore new voters have been
added to the rolls since the last elections.
From the coming elections, candidates in a
parliamentary constituency in bigger states can spend up to Rs 70 lakh on their
campaign, up from Rs 40 lakh in 2011. In the 2009 elections, it was Rs 25 lakh.
Another first in the Lok Sabha elections will
be the introduction of "None of the Above" (NOTA) option in voting,
which came into vogue in the assembly elections a few months ago.
The electoral rolls are ready after being
updated with January one this year as the cut-off date.
A total of 1.1 crore poll personnel, half of
them being security forces, will be deployed for the smooth conduct of polls
and to ensure that they are free and fair.
Poll officials said the database of the
civilian staff to be deployed for conducting polls has been prepared and at
least 5.5 million civilian staff would be deployed.
The list of central government employees to
be deployed for poll duty as micro-observers in sensitive polling stations has
also been prepared.