New Delhi/Bhopal: The much-awaited Lok Sabha 2024 election dates are likely to be announced next week. Sources said that the elections could be held in seven phases like 2019 and voting for the first phase could be held in the second week of April. The Election Commission of India is expected to announce the schedule of Lok Sabha elections 2024 anytime after March 13, sources said. Election Commission teams are on continuous tour to assess the election preparedness of various states. Probably this tour will end by March 13. Elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly are also likely to be held along with the Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha 2024 election dates are likely to be announced on March 14 or 15. Sources said that elections can be held in 7 phases like 2019. Voting for the first phase may take place in the second week of April. The Model Code of Conduct is likely to come into effect from March 14. Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019 were held in April May. After this, Lok Sabha elections 2024 are also likely to be held in April-May. The Election Commission is taking feedback from many states regarding this. Most of the states have also given their feedback. Details of the examinations have also been taken from the education board of Madhya Pradesh. Care is being taken to ensure that studies are not affected due to elections. However, the situation of farmers is also being considered, because farmers remain busy due to wheat harvesting.
Results 2019-2014
In the last two Lok Sabha elections, the PM Modi-led BJP performed brilliantly and defeated its national rival Congress by just double digits in the lower house. In the last election held in 2019, BJP won for the second time with 303 seats. Last time elections were held in 7 phases. In this election, Congress was successful in winning only 52 seats. The BJP saw a big jump in its vote share in 2019 by securing 37.3 percent votes. In both 2014 and 2019, the BJP managed to secure majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha on its own. In 2014, BJP came to power by winning 282 seats in the Lok Sabha. Its alliance NDA got 353 seats. Congress was reduced to only 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, its lowest ever in history. In terms of vote share, BJP managed to secure 31 percent of the total votes, while Congress secured 19.3 percent of the total votes. This time PM Modi has set a target of 370 seats for BJP alone and 400 seats for NDA.
The Commission’s tour will end on March 13.
Reports quoting sources suggest that Election Commission teams will visit West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and other states in the coming weeks. The Election Commission team will visit Jammu and Kashmir on March 13. The Election Commission said about 97 crore Indians will be eligible to vote in this year’s Lok Sabha elections. This number of voters is 6 percent more than 2019. Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, will hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the coming months.
Preparation for Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections
Lok Sabha elections are going to be held in the country soon. In such a situation, it is being said that there is a possibility of elections for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly being held along with the Lok Sabha. The Election Commission is brainstorming for this. According to sources associated with the Election Commission, there is every possibility of this being discussed in the meeting of senior officials of the Commission with the Union Home Secretary. Sources say that last week the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir also had an informal meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah. The Election Commission is considering holding elections for Jammu and Kashmir along with Lok Sabha in a meeting with officials of the Union Home Ministry and heads of security forces. Let us tell you that the Supreme Court had also ordered to hold assembly elections by October this year. However, now the Election Commission itself has to assess the situation and prepare a program for holding the elections. Fresh delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats has also been done in the state.
