Lok Sabha elections 2019: Absolutely everything you want to know about the poll in numbers
Lok Sabha elections 2019: Starting Thursday, India will hold general elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a second straight term and the Opposition consisting of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, BJD's Naveen Patnaik and more lining up to face him. Notably, this is the world's largest democratic exercise. The election will be held in seven phases until May 19 and votes will be counted on May 23. Here are some facts and figures about the election in the country of 1.3 billion people. The Election Commission of India (ECI), an autonomous constitutional body, oversees the election with more than 300 full-time officials at its headquarters in New Delhi.
Lok Sabha elections 2019: VOTERS
Lok Sabha elections 2019: FIRST PHASE
Lok Sabha elections 2019: SEATS
The fight is for 543 of the 545 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha. The remaining two seats are reserved for the Anglo-Indian community, which traces part of its ancestry to Europeans who intermarried with Indians in the colonial era. These members are nominated by India`s president. (Reuters)
Lok Sabha elections 2019: Narendra Modi in 2014
Lok Sabha elections 2019: BY ROAD, BOAT AND ELEPHANT
The commission has set up about 1 million polling stations, 10 percent more than in 2014. No voter should be more than 2 km (1.2 miles) away from a polling station. More than 11 million government officials will travel by foot, road, special train, helicopter, boat, and sometimes elephant, to hold the election. Polling stations are often in remote areas. More than 80,000 stations lacked mobile connectivity and nearly 20,000 were in forest or semi-forest areas, a commission survey said last year. A polling station in the Gir forest of western Gujarat state will be set up for just one voter, a Hindu monk. (Reuters)
Lok Sabha elections 2019: DURATION
Lok Sabha elections 2019: CASH, DRUGS, LIQUOR
Some offer cash, drugs and liquor in exchange for votes. The commission has seized 5.1 billion rupees ($73.6 million) in cash, some 21,500 kg of drugs worth 7.2 billon rupees, and 8.8 million litres of liquor valued at 1.8 billion rupees. It seized 12 billion rupees in cash, liquor and drugs in the last election. (PTI)