India to go to polls in 7 phases from April 11 to May 19, counting on May 23

India will hold a general election in seven stages starting on April 11, the election commission said on Sunday, in what will be the world’s biggest democratic exercise with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to benefit from tensions with Pakistan.

More than 900 million people will vote at one million polling booths spread across 29 states and seven union territories of India to elect 543 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha, the Election Commission announced on Sunday, kicking off the world’s largest democratic exercise that will be staggered in seven phases stretching from April 11 to May 19.

Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora announced the nearly six-week-long exercise will be manned by at least 11 million election personnel. He said that the counting of votes will take place on May 23 — 11 days before the term of the 16th Lok Sabha ends on June 3.

Until a few weeks ago, a shortage of jobs and weak farm prices were seen denting Modi’s popularity. But pollsters say his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now has a clear advantage after India’s armed forces clashed with those of arch-rival Pakistan last month, triggering a wave of patriotic fervour across the country of 1.3 billion.

“The festival of democracy, elections are here,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. “I urge my fellow Indians to enrich the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with their active participation. I hope this election witnesses a historic turnout. I particularly call upon first time voters to vote in record numbers.”

He also announced that the model code of conduct – which bars governments from announcing major policy decisions or projects – came into effect from Sunday.

The polls will take place in seven phases — on April 11, 18, 23, 29, May 6, 12 and 19 – a testament to the daunting logistical and security challenges in overseeing an electorate stretching from the Himalayas in the north to deserts in the west, insurgent-infested tropical jungles in the centre and the coastal plains in the south. Along with the elections to the Lok Sabha, assembly elections will be held in four states – Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Elections in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under President’s Rule and on the boil following heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, will be announced at a later date, Arora said. By-elections to 74 assembly constituencies across India will also be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

Twenty-two states and UTs will go to the polls in a single phase and three of the biggest states — Bihar (40 seats), West Bengal (42 seats) and Uttar Pradesh (80 seats) — will be voting across seven phases. Delhi will vote in the penultimate phase on May 12.

The EC announced a raft of new measures, such as Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails in all voting machines to end any doubts about the veracity of vote cast and photographs of the candidates in the electronic voting machines (EVM) in an apparent attempt to end confusion between nominees with similar names. Contestants with criminal antecedents would be required to “publish information” in newspapers and through television channels and the EC announced a new app for voters to report violations of the model code. “Any violation will be dealt in the strictest manner,” he said.