Lok Sabha Election 2024 Highlights: Polls begin on April 19, results on June 4; MCC kicks in

Along with announcing Lok Sabha elections that will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar also announced the schedule of Assembly polls in four states - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha.

Assembly elections will be held in Andhra Pradesh on May 13, in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim on April 19.

Bypolls on 26 Assembly seats will also be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. Nearly 96.8 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming polls at over 12 lakh polling stations.

ANI

With Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar's announcement that Lok Sabha elections for 543 seats will be held in seven phases, from April 19 till June 1 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4, the Bharatiya Janata Party said that the party is fully prepared for the Lok Sabha elections adding that Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister of the country for the third time.

Shortly after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates, reactions from party workers started pouring. The BJP leaders exuded confidence in the party win and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be back in power for the third consecutive time.

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal spoke on the LS date announcement in Rajasthan and said, "As soon as the dates were announced, we directed everyone to follow the ECI. We will go among the public and will make them aware of the works done by PM Modi and will also take feedback."

ANI

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Saturday. The polls to elect members for the 18th Lok Sabha will commence on April 19 and will be conducted in seven phases.

Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the subsequent phases will take place on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.

The results for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections will be announced on June 4.

With the announcement of the poll schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has been enforced nationwide.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: After announcing the Lok Sabha election dates, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that voting in the Outer Manipur constituency will happen in two phases. He also said that people living in violence-affected areas will be allowed to vote from their camps.

Regarding the confusion about the number of seats being 544 instead of 543, Kumar explained that this discrepancy occurred because Outer Manipur was counted twice due to the elections being held there in two phases.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday that the extension of the Lok Sabha poll to seven phases is intended to pacify the anti-ruling party sentiment.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that he is already strategising for the year 2047 and his focus is on long-term goals rather than immediate headlines. In his address at the India Today Conclave, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quipped, "Find out what Modi is. You are stuck on 2029, but I am planning for 2047."

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on Saturday that the seat-sharing agreement among the INDIA bloc partners is nearly finalised, expressing confidence in winning the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to deliver better governance to the people of the country.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: In his decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Karnal, former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said, "I will be contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Karnal. Our Karnal team is strong, and MP Sanjay Bhatia will lead the election campaigns. I will also be actively participating in Karnal."

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The seventh and concluding phase of polling is scheduled for June 1, which includes constituencies like Varanasi, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Gorakhpur, the stronghold of chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Read: Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha elections schedule

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Samajwadi Party announced six additional Lok Sabha candidates from Uttar Pradesh, marking its fifth list for the forthcoming seven-phase parliamentary elections. Uttar Pradesh, with its 80 seats in the Lower House of Parliament, will witness voting across all phases.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Chhattisgarh's Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in several phases. Bastar constituency will go to the polls on April 19, followed by Kanker, Rajnandgaon, and Mahasamund on April 26. The remaining constituencies, including Durg, Raipur, and Bilaspur, among others, will vote on May 7.

Counting of votes for all 543 Lok Sabha seats is scheduled for June 4, as announced by the Election Commission.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Election Commission is adopting a dual approach to combat misinformation and false narratives on social media during the Lok Sabha polls. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the commission will actively counter false information and provide accurate information to voters.

"Misinformation is a significant concern for us during elections. While social media aids our outreach efforts and allows for democratic criticism, spreading fake news without factual basis is unacceptable as it can disrupt public order," he said.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: As the Election Commission announced Lok Sabha election schedule on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took on the Opposition, terming them "rudderless," expressing confidence in retaining power. Meanwhile, the Congress said that this was "perhaps the last chance to save democracy and our Constitution from dictatorship."

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Lok Sabha elections will take in seven phases, commencing on April 19 and culminating in the vote count on June 4. As outlined by chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the ensuing phases will take place on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Saturday that polls for Sikkim's 32 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha segment will be held simultaneously on April 19, marking the first phase of the seven-phase general elections.

Sikkim's ruling party, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), which currently holds sway over 19 assembly segments and the Lok Sabha seat, is making vigorous efforts to retain power.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 12 legislators, while the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which governed for 25 years until its defeat in 2019, has only one MLA.

Political observers anticipate a triangular contest in Sikkim between the SKM, SDF, and the newly formed Citizen Action Party (CAP).

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Saturday that, for the first time in Lok Sabha elections, voters aged above 85 years and those with more than 40 per cent disability will have the option to cast their votes from home.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy said on Saturday that there are no dissenting voices in Andhra Pradesh to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite his alleged desire to exert influence over the state.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) serves as a collective agreement among all stakeholders and is enforced during elections. Its primary aim is to maintain orderliness, cleanliness, and peace during campaigning, polling, and the counting process. It also serves to prevent the abuse of state machinery and finances by the party in power.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: "I urge parties to refrain from personal attacks and the use of foul language. Certain boundaries in speech have been delineated to uphold civility. Let us not exceed these boundaries in our political rivalries. An advisory has been issued to political parties, encouraging them to promote a political discourse that inspires unity rather than division," said CEC Rajiv Kumar.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Nagaland will hold elections for its lone Lok Sabha seat on April 19, announced Election Commission on Saturday. The deadline for filing nominations is March 27, with withdrawal of candidatures allowed until March 30. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on March 28, and counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Following the Election Commission's announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh chife minister Yogi Adityanath urged voters nationwide to actively participate in the upcoming elections, which are scheduled to be held in seven phases.

"Offer your oblation in this 'Maha Yagya' of democracy by casting your vote and making it a success. Bharat Mata ki Jai!," CM said.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live:

• Bypolls for Agiaon assembly seat in Bihar, Duddhi in Uttar Pradesh, and Baranagar in West Bengal are scheduled for June 1. Agiaon seat became vacant due to the disqualification of CPI (M-L) legislator Manoj Manji, convicted in a nine-year-old murder case. Baranagar seat fell vacant after Trinamool Congress MLA Tapas Roy resigned to join the BJP. BJP MLA Ram Dular was disqualified after being convicted in a rape case, leading to the vacancy of the Duddhi seat.

• Bypoll for the Gainsari assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh, vacated after the death of SP MLA Shiv Pratap Yadav, is set for May 25.

• Bypolls for the Gandey seat in Jharkhand and Lucknow East in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for May 20. Gandey seat became vacant after JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmed resigned. BJP MLA Ashutosh Tandon's demise led to the vacancy of the Lucknow East seat.

• Bypolls for Dadraul assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh and Secunderabad Cantt seat in Telangana will be held on May 13.

BJP MLA Manavendra Singh's demise led to the vacancy of the Dadraul seat. BRS MLA Lasya Nanditha Sayanna's death caused the vacancy of the Secunderabad Cantt seat.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: On the announcement of Lok Sabha dates and the decision for Jharkhand to conduct polls in four phases, JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said, "We welcome it, we were waiting for this....Last time, we had to go through 7 phases, this time Jharkhand will go to the polls in 4 phases; it's good..."

ANI

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The bypoll for the Karnal seat in Haryana, left vacant by former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, is scheduled for May 25. Khattar resigned as MLA on March 14, and the new legislator will serve a term of approximately seven months.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: In Gujarat, elections for five assembly constituencies, vacated by the incumbent MLAs who resigned to join the BJP, are scheduled for May 7.

Gujarat Congress MLAs C J Chavda (Vijapur), Chirag Patel (Khambhat), Arvind Ladani (Manavadar), Arjun Modhwadia (Porbandar), and Independent legislator Dharmendrasinh Vaghela (Vaghodia) resigned from their seats to join the BJP.