Election Commission of India to announce Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha Assemblies poll schedule on March 16

It remains to be seen whether the poll panel announces dates for Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir as well.

Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Rajiv Kumar with the two newly-appointed Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will on March 16 announce the schedule for elections to the Lok Sabha and some State Assemblies.

The current Lok Sabha’s term ends on June 16 and a new House has to be constituted before that. The term of the Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha is coming to an end on different dates in June.

It remains to be seen whether the poll panel announces dates for Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir as well.

The poll panel announced in a post on X, that a press conference to announce the schedule for Lok Sabha elections and some State Assemblies will be held at 3 p.m. on March 16.

The announcement will be made by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. New Commissioners Gyanendra Kumar and Sukbir Singh Sandhu, who assumed office on March 15, will also be present.

Nearly 97 crore people are eligible to cast vote in the upcoming polls at over 12 lakh polling stations.

In 2019, the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10 and held in seven phases beginning April 11 and votes were counted on May 23.

In the last parliamentary polls, the BJP had won 303 seats while the Congress got 52 seats.