New Delhi:

India’s Lok Sabha elections are all set, with 28 states and 8 Union Territories going to the polls. The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 19.

A total of 166.3 million voters are eligible to vote, the Election Commission of India said in a press release.

A total of 187,000 polling stations have been set up and 1.8 million polling station personnel have been deployed.

“The Election Commission of India is all set to welcome voters to the biggest festival of democracy that any country has ever witnessed, the 18th Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections in four states, the first phase of which will begin tomorrow,” the release said start.”

It has the largest number of parliamentary constituencies among all phases. The polling agency said voting will begin at 7 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. (poll closing times may vary by computer).

The electorate includes 840 million men; 8.23 ​​billion women and 11,371 third gender voters. There are 3.567 million first-time voters registered to vote. In addition, there are 3.51 billion young voters in the 20-29 age group.

A total of 1,625 candidates (1,491 men; 134 women) competed.

The polling agency said 41 helicopters, 84 special trains and nearly 100,000 vehicles had been deployed to transport voting and security personnel.

More than 50% of polling stations will be webcast, and micro-observers will be deployed at all polling stations. 361 observers (127 general observers, 67 police observers, 167 expenditure observers) arrived on constituency day

Before voting.

They act as the eyes and ears of the committee and maintain a high level of vigilance. In addition, special observers have been deployed in some states.

A total of 4,627 flying squads, 5,208 statistical inspection teams, 2,028 video surveillance teams and 1,255 video viewing teams are monitoring the situation around the clock to strictly and quickly handle any form of voter inducement.

A total of 1,374 interstate border checkpoints and 162 international border checkpoints maintain strict vigilance against illegal movement of liquor, drugs, cash and freebies. Sea and air routes are strictly monitored.

There are over 14.14 lakh registered voters above the age of 85 and 13.89 lakh voters with disabilities in 102 wards, who can choose to vote from the comfort of their homes. The ECI said the optional home voting facility has received tremendous appreciation and response.

India’s 2024 general election will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1 to elect 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. Results will be announced on June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)