The Election Commission will release the LokSabha election dates at 3 p.m. on Saturday. According to the central poll body, election dates for Assembly polls in other states will also be revealed today.
This declaration is made as the present Lok Sabha’s term draws to a close on June 16.
Making sure a new House is created before that date is the responsibility of the ECI. As soon as the dates are revealed, the Model Code of Conduct, a collection of rules for political parties during elections, will go into force.
There are more than 12 lakh voting places where almost 97 crore voters are eligible to participate in the next elections. The election commission visited every state before making the announcement to assess the arrangements.
For the opposition, which is competing in many states under the INDIA bloc, it is a “do or die” situation, even if the BJP seeks to capture 400 seats for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and 370 for the saffron party alone. For the Lok Sabha elections, all of the major parties have partially announced their candidates, and in a few other states, seat discussions are under progress.
The BJP secured 303 seats and the Congress secured 52 seats in the 2019 elections. It was unable to gather enough support to run for Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The seven phases of this election were announced on March 10.
As their terms end on different dates in June, states like Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Arunachal Pradesh are anticipated to hold their assembly elections concurrently with the national elections. Rajiv Kumar, the chief electoral commissioner, stated earlier this week that the board will assess the security situation before determining whether to hold Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
