Elections 2014: India votes in 9 phases from Apr 7 to May 12, results May 16
Assembly polls simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh, including Telangana region, Odisha and Sikkim.
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-03-05 10:46 GMT
New Delhi: The high-stake Lok Sabha elections pitting Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi in a virtual presidential-style contest with a number of other PM aspirants thrown in will be held between April 7 and May 12 on nine days, the highest number of phases so far.
Counting of votes in all the 543 constituencies involving an electorate of 81.4 crore will be done on May 16, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath announced today at a press conference releasing the election schedule.
Assembly elections will also be held simultaneously in the states of Andhra Pradesh, including Telangana region, Odisha and Sikkim.
Flanked by Election Commissioners H S Brahma and S N A Zaidi, Sampath was at pains to explain the difference between nine polling days and phases saying the whole process from today to counting of votes on May 16 will be over in 72 days, three days less than it took in the last elections.
The model code of conduct for parties and governments comes into force with immediate effect, he said.
Calling it yet another milestone in the history of Indian democracy, Sampath appealed to political parties and candidates to uphold the democratic traditions of the nation by maintaining high standards of political discourse and fair play in the course of their election campaigns.
The first polling day on April 7 will cover six Lok Sabha constituencies in two states — Assam and Tripura — while the second on April 9 will cover seven constituencies in five states — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
Ninety-two constituencies will go to polls in 14 states on the third day on April 10, while a small number of five seats in three states will be covered on the fourth day on April 12.
The largest chunk of 122 Lok Sabha seats will go to polls in 13 states on April 17, the fifth day of poll, while the sixth day will witness polling in 117 seats in 12 states on April 24.
The seventh day of polling on April 30 will choose representatives in 89 constituencies spread over nine states and the eighth day on May 7 will cover 64 seats in seven states.
Polling will conclude on the ninth day on May 12 with elections in 41 constituencies in three states.
Battleground state of Uttar Pradesh with the maximum of 80 seats that can tilt the scales will go to polls on six days on April 10, 17, 24, 30 and May 7 and 12.
Andhra Pradesh, which has 42 Lok Sabha seats, will go to polls on April 30 and May 7. Elections in the respective Assembly segments will be held simultaneously.
The first day of polling on April 30 will over 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 Assembly seats in the Telangana region and the second on May 7 will cover 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly seats in the Seemandhra region.
Sampath explained that irrespective of the appointed day for the creation of the new state of Telangana, elections will be held in the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies as they exist on Wednesday.
On the menace of 'paid news', he said the commission would keep a close watch on the expenditures of the candidates. There is no law right to now to deal with the issue and so the commission has proposed that it should be made an electoral offence, the CEC said.
To a question on banning opinion polls, he said it was for Parliament to decide while the commission has recommended to the government that the ban should be in force from the date of notification to the last day of election.
As the Election Commission set in motion the electoral process, BJP expressed confidence that it will be the preferred choice of people when votes are counted on May 16, while the Congress said it will prove wrong opinion polls which have ruled out a third term for it.
"We are ready for elections. We are sure of a clear majority on the basis of the popular support our campaign and our prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi are getting," BJP President Rajnath Singh said.
Union Minister Kapil Sibal said there is unity in the country and all citizens are treated equally only when Congress is in power.
Referring to numerous opinion polls which have declared BJP as the front-runner and a defeat for the Congress, he said similar surveys in 2004 had termed BJP as favourites.
In 2009 too, he said opinion polls had not predicted a win for the Congress.
Taking a dig at Modi's campaign theme of a Congress-free India, he said what the BJP leader meant was a "Modi-India" which will be "disastrous" for the country if his rule in Gujarat is any indication.
Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) said the nine-phase polls are "rather long" and will be a long haul for political parties and the people.
He also expressed his party's unhappiness over increase in election expenditure limit, saying it will adversely affect smaller parties that are financially not strong.
Citing instances of paid news and paid opinion polls, he said the EC has not made any clear directives on them and hoped that it would do so in the coming days.
Speaking about the upcoming polls, Congress leader Digvijay Singh said BJP has always created a media hype that it would win the elections.
"In 2004, during the India Shining campaign... they had almost distributed their portfolios. Same thing happened in 2009 also. BJP is great at creating hype. They are experts in creating a hype in the media that they are winning," he said.
Union minister Manish Tewari said the general elections signify a clash between two competing vision of India. He claimed that a vision of pluralism and secularism is represented by the Congress while a "sectarian, communal and a fundamentalist" vision was encapsulated in the ideological vision of the BJP.
NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal predicted a downfall of the Congress. Punjab Chief minister Prakash Singh Badal claimed the Congress would suffer a crushing defeat after which the party would disintegrate.
His son and the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal also claimed that people wanted to see Modi as the Prime Minister.
Another NDA ally Shiv Sena expressed confidence that the coalition would do well in Maharashtra. Party leader Sanjay Raut said Maharashtra would contribute the maximum number of seats to the NDA tally.