The 2024 general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases that will begin from April 19 and continue till June 1, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said today, announcing the commencement of the world’s largest democratic exercise in which the BJP would attempt to win a third consecutive term in power. The results of the election will be announced on June 4.

Simultaneous election for Lok Sabha and assembly will be held in four states — Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.  Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under President’s Rule since 2018, was not on the list.

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held soon after the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Kumar said. Simultaneous election was not viable due to shortage of security personnel, he added, pointing out that the Commission has to provide security to every member who would contest in the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

By-elections will also be held for 26 assembly seats across multiple states, including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Mr Kumar, announcing the dates, sent out a strong message on the circulation of fake news on social media, saying political parties should ensure responsible social media behaviour — “verify before you amplify”.

“Fake news will be dealt with severely as per existant laws.. Section 79 (3)(B) of the IT Act empowers nodal officers in each state to remove unlawful content,” he said.

The other strong message was on violation of model code in terms of hate speeches. “There should be issue-based campaign, no hate speeches, no speeches along caste or religious lines, no criticism of anyone’s personal lives,” he said.

The media must clarify when they carry political adverts, those cannot masquerade as news, he said. Individual messages regarding this would be sent to the candidates, he added.

The commission has employed 2,100 advisors to keep an eye on these issues and strong action will be taken regarding this, he said.

Voters above the age of 85 years and persons with disabilities, with 40 per cent disability can vote from home, Mr Kumar said. Around 82 lakh voter are above the age of 85, he said.

The announcement of election come days after Election Commissioner Arun Goel quit, leaving the three-member Commission with only the Chief Election Commissioner.

Asked about the matter, Mr Kumar said, “Arun was a very distinguished member of the team and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. But in every institution, one must be given personal space. So if he has given personal reasons, respect it”.

On Thursday, a committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi named two retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers — Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar – as Election Commissioners. They took oath the next day.

The Chief Election Commissioner today announced dates for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The elections across all states and union territories will be held in seven phases, starting from April 19. 

While a total of 22 states and UTs will undergo voting in just one poll day, three states will conduct voting in all seven phases. The states with most poll dates include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. 

Almost all UTs will vote in a single phase, except Jammu & Kashmir, which will vote on five poll dates. 

Here’s a breakdown of which state, UT will vote in how many phases: 

States and UTs with one poll date (22): 

Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar island, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Ladakh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

States and UTs with two poll dates (4): 

Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tripura, Manipur

States and UTs with three poll dates (2): 

Chhattisgarh, Assam

States and UTs with four poll dates (3): 

Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand

States and UTs with five poll dates (2): 

Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir

States and UTs with seven poll dates (3): 

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal

The phase 1 voting will take place on April 19, phase 2 voting on April 26, phase 3 voting on May 7, phase 4 voting on May 13, phase 5 voting on May 13, phase 6 voting on May 25 and phase 7 voting on June 1. 

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday steered clear of a question on last week’s shock resignation of Arun Goel as an Election Commissioner – days before the poll panel was to announce Lok Sabha election dates – telling NDTV “… he had personal reasons”. 

He also rejected talk of an acrimonious departure, calling his former colleague “a very distinguished member of the team” and someone with whom he “enjoyed working”.

“Arun Goel was a very distinguished member of the team and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. But, in every institution, everyone must be given personal space, and that should not be touched. He had his reasons, and you should ask him about it,” Mr Kumar told NDTV’s Sunil Prabha.

“But let me be clear… we have a very sound tradition of not stifling dissent within the four walls of the ECI. This (the planning and conduct of elections) is a very complicated exercise… and three minds are always better than one…,” he added.

Last week, when Mr Goel said he was stepping down, sources told NDTV he too had cited “personal reasons”, and said the government had persuaded to reconsider. 

READ | Why Election Commissioner Arun Goel Resigned Weeks Before 2024 Polls

He also dismissed speculation ill health had forced to resign. 

Mr Goel was appointed in November 2022; this was a day after he quit the Indian Administrative Service. The Supreme Court had asked then “what is the tearing hurry?”

He was to have served till 2027; in fact, Mr Goel was in line to replace Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner after the latter retires next year.

After Arun Goel’s resignation, Mr Kumar was the only person on the three-member poll panel till two new officers were inducted – ex-civil servants Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. They replaced Mr Goel and Anup Pandey, whose term expired in February.

READ | Lok Sabha Elections From April 19 In 7 Phases, Results On June 4

The Election Commission this afternoon announced the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha Assembly election and for state polls in Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim, as well as bypolls to 26 Assembly constituencies across 13 states.

Polling for all begins on April 19, with the general election spread over seven phases. Results for all elections will be declared on June 4.