The Election Commission of India (EC) on March 10 is expected to announce schedule for the general elections to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha. The date of counting will also be announced.
The announcement will be made by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3. The election, to be conducted in April-May, is being pegged as the largest election exercise in history.
The poll panel could also announce Legislative Assembly election schedule for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and possibly Jammu and Kashmir. The two polls -- Lok Sabha and Assembly -- will happen simultaneous in these states.
With this announcement, the model code of conduct was imposed across the nation with immediate effect. Amongst other things, the code of conduct bars the government from announcing policy decisions.
Catch the live updates of the EC's press conference here. "The Centre's tall claims regarding the situation in the state stand exposed. The Centre has itself certified that the situation is out of control and not conducive for holding simultaneous polls,” Pradesh Congress Committee president G A Mir said in a statement.
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"Ultimately back to 'We the people' -- the real power of our democracy. Time to throw out the most dictatorial and anti-federal govt in the history of India. Time to seek answers on demonetisation, jobs, destruction of traders and destroying brotherhood amongst different communities," Kejriwal said in a tweet.
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"Why have we madeEVMs some kind of football? The process of EVMs... is being done by a highly expert technical committee," says CEC Sunil Arora, while answering a question about EVMs.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force.Amongst other things, the code bars the government from announcing policy decisions.
Read the full article here.
In 2014, the people comprehensively rejected the UPA. There was unprecedented anger over the UPA’s corruption, nepotism and policy paralysis. India’s self-confidence was at an all-time low and the people of India wanted to rid the nation of such decay and pessimism.
Best wishes to the Election Commission, all those officials and security personnel who will be on the field, across the length and breadth of India assuring smooth elections. India is very proud of the EC for assiduously organising elections for several years.
Reacting to the Election Commission's announcement that no simultaneous polls will be held in Jammuand Kashmir, former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that "in 2014 we had Lok Sabha elections on time & assembly elections on schedule even after the most devastating floods", stating that the decision "shows how badly the BJP & earlier the BJP-PDP mishandled J&K".
All by-polls as pending on March 9 shall be conducted with the general elections
