Lok Sabha Election Schedule 2024: Taking to X, the EC said that a Press Conference by Election Commission to announce schedule will be held at 3 PM on Saturday.
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Friday said it will announce the full schedule for the much-awaited Lok Sabha elections at a press conference at 3 pm on Saturday. The ECI added that will also announce the dates for the assembly elections scheduled in Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The EC said the press conference will be live streamed on the social media platforms of the commission. The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect from the time the dates are announced by the EC for look Sabha.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that the Lok Sabha elections are expected to be held in seven to eight phases. However, the details will be clared when the EC will announce the dates on Saturday.
Press Conference by the Election Commission to announce the schedule for General Elections 2024 & some State Assemblies will be held at 3 pm tomorrow, 16th March. It will be live streamed on the social media platforms of the ECI: ECI pic.twitter.com/JVGGQfMYgw
— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2024
Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the poll body will decide on holding Lok Sabha Elections and Assembly Elections together or separately in Jammu and Kashmir after reviewing the security situation.
It is to be noted that the election schedule announcement will set the stage for a high-stake political battle between the BJP and the INDIA bloc. In this Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi-led NDA government is seeking to clinch a third successful term.
The announcement from the EC comes as the term of the present Lok Sabha will end on June 16 and a new House has to be constituted before the deadline. The Lok Sabha polls last time were announced on March 10 and were held in seven phases beginning from April 11 and the counting of votes were done on May 23.
Earlier in the day, Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu took charge of office. On Thursday, both of them were appointed election commissioners by the selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
Gyanesh Kumar retired as secretary of the cooperation ministry in February, while Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, was former Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand. Sandhu, a 1988 batch IAS officer, retired from the post of Chief Secretary on January 31, 2024.
On December 12, the Rajya Sabha passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioners and election commissioners. The bill replaces the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991.
As per the Bill, the CEC and ECs will be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of a Selection Committee, which will consist of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition or leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha.
The first task before the new election commissioner will be to ensure the successful conduct of the Lok Sabha polls which are slated to be held in April-May this year.