The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Saturday the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, which will be conducted in seven phases, commencing on April 19 and concluding on June 1.
In Maharashtra, the elections will be conducted in five phases. Nashik, Dhule, and Dindori are scheduled for the fifth phase on May 20, while Ahmednagar, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Beed, Jalna, and Jalgaon will have polling in the fourth phase on May 13.
Meanwhile, for Pune, Maval, and Shirur Lok Sabha constituencies, polling is slated for the fourth phase on May 13, whereas Baramati, Kolhapur, Satara, and Sangli will go to polls during the third phase on May 7.
12 states have more women voters than men: EC
Twelve states have more women voters than men, with a total of 47.1 crore females registered in the electoral roll in the country, the Election Commission said.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said gender ratio is 948 women to 1,000 men in the country which is a "very healthy sign" of women participation in the electoral cycle.
"There are 12 such states where the gender ratio is over 1000 which means that number of women voters is more than males and 1.89 crore new voters have joined, out of them in the age group of 18-19 years there are 85.3 lakh 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," he said.
He did not give names of the states.
Meanwhile, a total of 96.8 crore voters will be eligible to cast their vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rajiv Kumar said. There will be 10.5 lakh polling stations and 1.5 crore polling officials and security staff will be deployed to conduct the elections in the world's largest democracy, he added.
