Election Commission Lok Sabha Election Schedule Announcement: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has arrived at the Election Commission of India to announce the poll schedule for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha Election today. The poll panel will hold a press conference at 3 pm to announce the full phase-wise schedule. As per media reports, the counting of the vote is likely to be held in May. Notably, the tenure of the 17th Lok Sabha will end on June 16. As soon as the dates are announced, Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will be enforced across the country. The MCC will stay in place till Lok Sabha Election Results are declared. Once the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is enforced, ministers are prohibited from approving grants or disbursements from discretionary funds.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday expressed confidence in securing 13 seats in Assam this time around. He insisted that Prime Minister Modi is poised to secure a consecutive third term, framing the upcoming election as a contest between Modi and Rahul Gandhi.
The Lok Sabha poll dates in 2019 were announced on March 10th. Subsequently, the polling to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha took place in seven phases, spanning from April 11th to May 19th.
#watch | J&K: On his candidature from Udhampur for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections, Union Minister Jitendra Singh says, "… The picture has drastically changed since 2014. This city was so deprived of roads that folk songs were made in Dogri describing the roads… In the last… pic.twitter.com/XCfGDxwDBc
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2024
The top buyers of electoral bonds are – Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR, which donated Rs 1,368 crore. Next up, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd, the company at no.2. The EC data shows that Megha Engineering bought poll bonds worth Rs 966 crore. At no.3 is Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd, which donated Rs 410 crore in terms of poll bonds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Karnataka to launch BJP‘s poll campaign today. He is scheduled to address a mega poll rally in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi. Later on March 18, PM Modi will address an event in Shivamogga. Notably, the BJP won both Kalaburagi and Shivamogga in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
The Election Commission released the data of the electoral bonds, which was shared by the State Bank of India a day earlier. According to the poll panel, the BJP was the top beneficiary of the now-scrapped scheme. Bonds worth Rs 12,769 crore were purchased in the last five years. The BJP got Rs 6,061 crore in the form of the poll bonds.
Good morning and welcome to Day 2 of our ongoing live coverage of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. At 3 pm, the Election Commission of India will announce the full schedule of both Lok Sabha Elections as well as four Assembly polls. The four states that will go to polls along with the General Elections are – Sikkim, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh
Less than 24 hours before the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh assembly elections schedule announcement, the state government issued orders Friday night for releasing dearness allowance (DA) to employees covering multiple time periods. Special Chief Secretary (Finance) Shamsher Singh Rawat issued a government order (GO) for the release of DA to government employees for the period from July 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021. Additionally, orders were issued for the release of DA with effect from January 1, 2022, to eligible government employees.
In a blow to the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections, senior Punjab MLA Raj Kumar Chabbewal switched allegiance to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday. Chabbewal, 54, resigned from his position as a legislator representing the Chabbewal assembly constituency in Hoshiarpur district, where he also served as the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly. Renowned as a prominent Dalit leader, Chabbewal was warmly embraced into the AAP by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Some reports suggest that southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala will go to polls in the first phase of the General Elections due to heatwave conditions from mid-April onwards.
On Friday, the Haryana Government announced a 4% increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees, pensioners, and family pensioners. The revised rate, elevated from 46% to 50%, will take effect from January 1, 2024, according to an official statement released by the Haryana government.
Ahead of the poll dates announcement, AIUDF or All India United Democratic Front on Friday said that it will contest in three out of the 14 parliamentary constituencies in Assam. AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal will be contesting from Dhubri. He is the incumbent MP and would be looking for the fourth term. The other seats where AIUDF will also contest are Karimganj and Nagaon.
KCC Venugopal, Congress general secretary (organisation), general secretary Mukul Wasnik and Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala met leaders of the allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) in Mumbai on Friday to talk about the seat-sharing pact for the General Elections. However, representatives of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) led by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar were not present at the meeting. It should be noted that VBA was part of the discussion earlier.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the electoral bonds scheme of being the largest extortion racket globally and attributed it as a creation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gandhi, who is currently on the final stretch of his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra,’ further alleged that the funds acquired through this scheme were utilised to divide parties such as the Shiv Sena and NCP, as well as to overthrow governments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on the eve of the Parliament election schedule announcement that the BJP-led NDA is poised to clinch power at the Centre, surpassing previous records in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. He called upon Kerala voters to translate their substantial support into votes, aiming for the BJP to secure seats in double digits within the state.
Trinamool Congress MP Arjun Singh joined the BJP on Friday. The leader was miffed over being sidelined by the party leadership as he was denied ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The Barrackpore MP officially returned to the BJP on Friday.
Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party announced six of its candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming general polls. The six candidates in the fray are Manoj Kumar (Nagina), Bijendra Singh (Aligarh), Jasveer Valmiki (Hathras), Bhanu Pratap Singh (Meerut), Yashveer Singh (Bijnor) and Daroga Saroj (Lalganj), the party said on X (previously Twitter). One seat has been given to Mamata Banerjee‘s Trinamool Congress.
In the last General Polls, the EC had announced the schedule that was spread in seven phases. The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections Phase 1 polling was held on April 11. The seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded on May 19, 2019. The counting of the votes was held on May 23 and the results were announced on the same day.
Apart from the Lok Sabha Elections, the poll panel will also announce the dates for four state Assembly polls. Dates of Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal and Andhra Pradesh will also be announced on Saturday.
The Madras High Court on Friday allowed Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s roadshow in Coimbatore. Giving nod for the roadshow, the High Court directed the Tamil Nadu Police to make necessary arrangements.
Hello and welcome to our liveblog on the 2024 Lok Sabha Election Date Announcement. Ending a full stop to all speculations, the poll panel issued an official statement regarding the General Elections full schedule. In a post on X (previously Twitter), the Election Commission said that the dates of the Lok Sabha Elections will be announced during the press conference at 3 pm on Saturday (March 16). Stay with us to know more about the election data, opinion poll surveys, who said what and latest from the political corridors.