The poll season began on Saturday officially, with the Election Commission of India announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections, along with the elections of the assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha & Sikkim as well as by-elections to 26 assembly segments in various states.

The elections will be held in seven phases from April 19, and the votes will be counted on June 4. The term of the current, 17th Lok Sabha expires on June 16.

Details of the full schedule can be found here:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2015237

With the ECI announcement, the Model Code of Conduct also came into effect.

In its press briefing here, the ECI also explained procedures, guidelines and new initiatives. The details of these can be found here:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2015227

This year, a large number of nations including the US are going to polls. For India, the coming polls are potentially historic as it will decide the future course of the BJP led by prime minister Narendra Modi – whether it will win a record-breaking third term, or if the Congress-led alliance called ‘INDIA’ can make an impact.