India is set for the festival of democracy as the Election Commission has announced the dates for elections to Lok Sabha parliament.
Polling will run from April 19 to June 1, while the results will be announced on June 4.
The biggest election in the world’s largest democracy will be held over 82 days in seven phases across 28 states and 8 union territories.
Announcing the dates, newly-elected Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that it was necessary to hold Lok Sabha elections in seven phases due to geographic conditions, festivals, exams and other factors.
According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), polling for the first phase will be on April 19, for second phase on April 26, third phase on May 7, fourth phase on May 13, fifth phase on May 20, sixth phase on May 25 and seventh phase on June 1.
Total Voters in India
As many as 970 million registered voters could take part in the biggest festival of democracy in India. Out of those, 497 million are men and 471 million are women. This accounts for more than 10 percent of the world's population.
The CEC also said that participation of women voters in the poll process has increased.
“There are 12 such states where the gender ratio is over 1000 which means that number of women voters is more than males and 18.9 million new voters have joined," Kumar said. "Out of them in the age group of 18-19 years there are 8.53 million women electors so they are going side by side so that is a very healthy sign that women are also participating equally in our elections.”
Some 18 million people will cast their votes for the first time while 197.4 million are young voters in the 20-29 age group.
According to the data provided by the ECI, as many as 8.84 million people with disabilities will also be participating in the world’s biggest election.
The numbers of voters over 85 years is 8.2 million, and centenarian voters account for 2.12 million.
Facilities at Polling Stations
The ECI will be setting up over 1.2 million polling stations across the country.
All polling stations will be equipped with facilities such as drinking water, toilets for men and women, signs, wheelchair access ramps for voters with disabilities, a help desk, voter facilitation centre and ample lighting.
How is the Government Formed After Elections?
Holding 50 per cent of seats ensures that the political party or coalition can pass legislation through Parliament.
At the last election in 2019, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 353 seats, with the BJP alone winning 303 seats. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could win only 91 seats, of which Congress itself held 52.
As many as 912 million voters were eligible to vote in the last election. Voter turnout was 67 per cent, the highest since the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP's vote share was 37.76 per cent, while NDA’s combined vote share was 45 per cent.