New Delhi: The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19 and the votes will be counted on May 23, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced on Sunday.
Calling the Indian parliamentary battle the “largest festival of democracy”, he said that 91 constituencies (spread across 20 states) will see polling on April 11, 97 constituencies (13 states) on April 18, 115 (14) on April 23, 71 (9) on April 29, 51 (7) on May 6, 59 (also 7) on May 12 and 59 constituencies (8 states) on May 19.
The staggered election will see about 900 million voters, up from 814.5 million in 2014, when Narendra Modi led the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to power ending a decade of Congress-headed UPA rule.
Of this, some 15 million will be first-time voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years.
The Lok Sabha elections in Telangana will be held in a single phase on April 11 in all 17 seats. The Election Commission announced that the general elections will be held in seven phases and the final counting of votes will take place on May 23.
