New Delhi [India], March 10 (ANI): Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced the dates for the 17th Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in seven phases and the first phase of polling will take place on April 11.

Announcing the election schedule and related measures, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said: “The Election Commission of India has attempted every comprehensive preparation for the conduct of election for the 17th Lok Sabha, which is free, fair, inclusive, ethical, participatory and also festive,” he said.

CEC also stated that the examination schedule of all state boards and factors like festivals, harvest season, etc were taken into consideration while fixing poll dates.

“The panel held deliberations with several departments, including railways, to ensure smooth movement and facilitation during the conduct of polls,” said Arora.

He also informed that the final electoral roles with have a total number of voters in the vicinity of 900 million.

“This marks an increase of 84.3 million voters since 2014. There are 15 million voters in the age group of 18-19. The number of polling booth has also increased from 9 Lakh to 10 Lakh,” he said.

“VVPATs will be used along with EVM's at all polling stations. Adequate numbers of both have been made available for smooth conduct of election exercise. There will be mandatory VVPAT slip count at randomly selected polling station per assembly segment,” he said.

The tenure of the 16th Lok Sabha expires on June 3.

The Lok Sabha elections in India are the biggest democratic exercise in the world. Indian electorates will be voting to elect Member of Parliament (MP) for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. (ANI)

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