EC to announce LS poll schedule at 5 pm today

As soon as the election schedule is announced, the model code of conduct will come into force.

Among other things, the code bars the government from announcing their policy decisions.

This time Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his bid to return to power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight against the ruling BJP.

Notification for the first phase could be issued by the end of March for voting sometime in early April, sources suggested.

There is also a strong possibility that EC may go by the precedent and hold Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh along with the Lok Sabha polls this year.

Jammu and Kashmir may also face polls.

Since the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has been dissolved, the EC is bound to hold fresh polls there as well, within a six-month period, which will end in May.

While it's said that the J&K Assembly elections can be held along with the LS polls, a lot depends on the complex security situation in the state, given the heightened tension along the India-Pakistan border.

The J&K Assembly's six-year term was to end on March 16, 2021, but it got dissolved after a ruling coalition between PDP and BJP fell apart.

The other state Assemblies and Lok Sabha have five-year terms.

The required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be deployed in nearly 10 lakh poling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

There is a high probability of the elections being spread across seven to eight phases this time.

In 2014, the Election Commission had announced the election schedule on March 5 and the nine-phase electoral exercise was spread across April and May.

While the first phase polling was held on April 7, the last phase was on May 12.