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. 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.
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.
96.8 crore voters eligible to take part in 2024 Lok Sabha polls
A total of 96.8 crore voters will be eligible to cast their vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said.
Addressing a press conference to announce the dates of Lok Sabha elections, 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.
"We are committed to give the nation a truly festive, democratic environment. The term of the 17th Lok Sabha is due to expire on 16th June 2024. The terms of the Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are also due to expire in June 2024. Elections are due in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Kumar said approximately 49.7 crore voters are male and 47.1 crore voters are female.
"We have 1.8 crore first-time voters and 19.47 crore voters between the age group of 20-29 years," he said, adding that 88.4 lakh voters are of PwD category, 2.18 lakhs are centenarians and 48,000 are transgenders.
(With ANI inputs)
