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EC announces 5-phase general election from September 4 to October 1

The general election to constitute the thirteenth Lok Sabha, including in Jammu and Kashmir, and assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Sikkim will be held between September 4 and October 1 in five phases.

Announcing the schedule in New Delhi today, Chief Election Commissioner Manohar Singh Gill said the elections are being held in a "difficult and complicated situation", which is why polling has been spread over five phases lasting nearly a month.

In view of the stretched deployment of security forces and the logistics of transporting them from one area to another, polling will be held with nearly week-long gaps on September 4, 11, 17, 24 and October 1.

"The current round of elections is going to be held in a somewhat extraordinary situation. The schedule for the elections is being announced at a time when a difficult situation is confronting the country. The commission is confident that all the players in this exercise -- the political parties, the candidates, the voting public and the election machinery -- will fully appreciate the need to conduct the democratic exercise in a free, fair and peaceful manner, observing necessary restraint and discipline," Gill said.

Counting of votes cast in all five phases will be taken up on October 5 and results are expected the next day.

The entire process will be completed by October 8 so that there is enough time to constitute the new House of the People and government by October 21.

The model code of conduct for political parties and candidates has come into effect immediately, Gill, who was accompanied by election commissioners G V G Krishnamurthy and J M Lyngdoh, said. No new political party will be registered hereafter [until the election], he added.

Before drawing up the schedule, the Election Commission considered detailed inputs on the weather from the meteorological department. There were also several rounds of discussions at the working group level where the secretary to the science and technology ministry and the director general of the meteorological department made presentations to the full commission.

The commission also consulted representatives of various political parties and senior officials of the Jammu and Kashmir government and met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to ascertain the government's perception on the Kargil developments, Gill said.

The states that will have three-day polling are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

There will be two-day polling in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

All other states and the Union territories will have a single-day poll.

On September 4, polling will be held in 146 constituencies. On September 11, polling will take place in 124 constituencies. On September 17, 79 constituencies will go to the polls. On September 24, there will be polling in 72 constituencies. And on October 1, polling will be conducted in 122 constituencies.

Electronic voting machines will be used in 46 parliamentary constituencies in 17 states and Union territories.

There will be separate notifications for the different phases. With this, the campaign period for each phase will be kept to the minimum.

Since the tenures of the legislative assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Sikkim expire in six months, the commission has decided to hold simultaneous elections to constitute new assemblies there.

The term of the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly ends on December 25, that of the 32-member Sikkim Legislative Assembly on December 28, and of the 294-member Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on January 10, 2000.

Some assembly bye-elections are also due in other states. These will be held according to the schedules fixed for the related Lok Sabha constituencies, Gill said.

For the first time, the National Cadet Corps will be deployed for security because of the reduced availability of paramilitary forces on account of the fighting in Kargil.

As per the schedule announced today, the first poll notification will be issued on August 11. The last date for filing nominations for this phase will be August 18, scrutiny of nominations will take place on August 19, and last date for withdrawal of nominations will be August 21. Polling will be held on September 4. Sixteen states will be covered by this notification.

The next notification will be issued on August 17, last date for filing nominations will be August 24, scrutiny will be done on August 25, withdrawals will be allowed till August 27, and the election will be held on September 11. Seven states will be covered by this notification.

A separate notification will be issued on August 12 for Kerala and Pondicherry, though polling there will be held on September 11 along with the second phase. The last date for filing nominations in Kerala and Pondicherry will be August 19, scrutiny will be done on August 20, and the last date for withdrawals will be August 23.

The notification for the third phase will be issued on August 21. The last date for filing nominations will be August 28, scrutiny will be done on August 30, and the last date for withdrawals will be September 1. Polling will take place on September 17. This phase will cover five states.

The fourth phase will be notified on August 30. The last date for filing nominations will be September 6, scrutiny will be done on September 7, and the last date for withdrawals will be September 9. Polling will be conducted on September 24, covering eight states.

The fifth and final notification will be issued on September 7. The last date for filing nominations will be September 14, scrutiny will be done on September 15, and the last date for withdrawals will be September 17. Voting will take place on October 1. This phase will cover nine states.

Counting of votes from all phases will take place on October 5 and 6.

A separate notification will also be issued for the second phase of polling in Orissa, on September 3. The last date for filing nominations will be September 10, scrutiny will be done on September 15, the last date for withdrawals will be September 17 and polling will be conducted on October 1.

UNI

The State-wise Poll Schedule

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