LS polls in AP, TS on same day

Hyderabad: All 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 in Telangana will go to polls on the same day in the first phase on April 11, according the announcement made by the Election Commission on Sunday.

The Election Commission would release the notification for the polls on March 18 and the nominations would begin on the same day. The last date for filing of nominations will be March 25.

Scrutiny of the nominations would take place on March 26 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature would be March 28. Election would be held on April 11. Counting of votes would be on May 23 and the results would be declared on the same day.

Regarding Telangana, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar said that there were 2,95,29,271 voters, including 1,48,42,619 male, 1,46,74,977 female and 1,368 third gender voters.

There are 10,307 service voters in the State, he added. Stating that there will be 34,603 polling stations in the State, the CEO informed that additional polling stations would be in place for the convenience of the voters.

There would be 1,400 additional polling stations in urban and 1,200 additional polling stations in rural areas, added the CEO.

The CEO said the model code of conduct (MCC) will be effective from Sunday and asked the machinery to remove all the posters and banners of political leaders.

The political parties have been asked to remove the posters and banners from the government buildings within 72 hours. The posters and banners should be removed even from private properties if applied without permission.

The CEO said that no new works can be taken up in the State but added that the ongoing works can be continued. The ministers cannot use the government vehicles and the photos of the ministers would also be removed from the official government websites.

The model code of conduct would be monitored from control room with 1950 as toll free number, which would be working 24X7 from Monday. The CEO asked all the political parties to maintain high standards for conduction elections in free and fair manner.

Replying to a question, the CEO said that there are enough EVMs and VVPATs and added if needed some more would be airlifted and they would be ready by March 12. The EC would be publishing a supplementary list of voters on March 25, the last date for filing of nomination papers.

State Wise Poll Details:

Phase 1 (April 11)

Andhra (25), Arunachal (2), Assam (5), Bihar (4), Chhattisgarh (1), J&K (2), Maharashtra (7), Manipur (1), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Odisha (4), Sikkim (1), Telangana (17), Tripura (1), UP (8), Uttarakhand (5), West Bengal (2), Andaman (1), Lakshadweep (1); Total (91)

Phase 2 (April 18)

Assam (5), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (3), J&K (2), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (10), Manipur (1), Odisha (5), Tamil Nadu (39), Tripura (1), UP (8), West Bengal (3), Puducherry (1); Total: 97

Phase 3 (April 23)

Assam (4), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Gujarat (26), Goa (2), J&K (1), Karnataka (14), Kerala (20), Maharashtra (14), Odisha (6), UP (10), WBengal (5), Dadra& Nagar Haveli (1), Daman&Diu (1); Total: 115

Phase 4 (April 29)

Bihar (5), J&K (1), Jharkhand (3), MP (6), Maharashtra (17), Odisha (6), Rajasthan (13), UP (13), West Bengal (8); Total: 71

Phase 5 (May 6)

Bihar (5), J&K (2), Jharkhand (4), MP (7), Rajasthan (12), UP (14), WBengal (7); Total: 51

Phase 6 (May 12)

Bihar (8), Haryana (10), Jharkhand (4), MP (8), UP (14), West Bengal (8), Delhi-NCR (7); Total: 59

Phase 7 (May 19)

Bihar (8), Jharkhand (3), MP (8), Punjab (13), WBengal (9), Chandigarh (1), UP (13), Himachal (4); Total: 59