New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the Lok Sabha elections 2019 schedule dates today, which is likely to be spread over seven to eight phases in April-May.
The EC is likely to hold a press conference today at 5 pm in Vigyan Bhawan.
The Model Code of Conduct will come into force once the polling dates are announced by the Election Commission.
The Lok Sabha election 2019 is expected to begin in the second week of April and end on mid of May. The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.
Notification for the first phase could be issued by the end of March for voting some time in early April, sources suggested.
The Election Commission is also likely to announce the assembly election dates in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
The required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be deployed in nearly 10 lakh polling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. There is a high probability of the elections being spread across seven to eight phases this time.