Lok Sabha elections: ECI to announce poll schedule tomorrow
What's the story
The Election Commission of India will announce the voting schedule and results date for the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday. After concluding its hectic deliberations with political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, the poll body wrapped up its pan-India survey recently, indicating that the announcement would be likely soon, reports said. This comes right after an eventful Thursday, when a panel led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed two election commissioners and the ECI published the electoral bonds data.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The upcoming general elections in India, expected to take place between April and May 2024, will witness a high-voltage battle. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is vying for a third term, while the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has formed a united front against the saffron party. Notably, both the BJP and the Congress have already released two candidate lists.
Elections commissioners
New election commissioners appointed ahead of 2024 polls
Ahead of the Lok Sabha poll dates announcement, bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were chosen to fill two vacant positions in the ECI on Thursday. The new commissioners were appointed to fill the vacancies in the poll body following Anup Chandra Pandey's retirement in February and Arun Goel's surprise resignation last Saturday. The new commissioners will work alongside Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar in preparing for the upcoming elections.
Background
Who are the 2 new election commissioners
Both Sandhu and Gyanesh are retired Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers from the 1988-batch. Sandhu is from the Uttarakhand cadre and has held important government positions, such as chief secretary of Uttarakhand and chairman of the National Highways Authority of India. Gyanesh, from the Kerala cadre, has served as secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Cooperation which comes under Union Minister Amit Shah.
Electoral bonds
ECI uploaded electoral bonds data on website
On Thursday, the ECI uploaded data received from the State Bank of India (SBI) on electoral bonds on its website. The development was in compliance with the Supreme Court order. The ECI shared the data a day ahead of the court-mandated deadline of Friday (March 15). The data, uploaded on the ECI website in two documents, showed that around 1,260 companies and individuals bought 22,217 bonds worth Rs. 12,155.51 crore in this period.