Bharat Rakshak

A general election will be held in nine phases, the longest election in the country's history, from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha in India. Voting will take place in all 543 parliamentary constituencies of India to elect Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha. The result of this election will be declared on 16 May, before the 15th Lok Sabha completes its constitutional mandate on 31 May 2014.

According to the Election Commission of India, the electoral strength in 2014 is 81.45 crores (814.5 million), the largest in the world. There is an increase of 10 crores (100 million) newly eligible voters. This also will be the longest and the costliest general election in the history of the country with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election will cost the exchequer Rs 3,500 crores, excluding the expenses incurred for security and individual political parties. Parties are expected to spend 30,500 crores (about US$5 billion) in the election, according to the Centre for Media Studies. This is three times the amount spent in the previous election and is the world's second highest after the US$7 billion spent on the 2012 U.S. election. Though unelected, incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is retiring and has ruled himself out as a prime ministerial candidate.

More than 76 lakh voters from six constituencies — five in Assam and one in Tripura — will kick off the country's nine-phase general elections on April 7, as weeks of hectic campaigning came to an end on Saturday evening.

In the first phase, voters in five constituencies in Assam — Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Kaliabor, Jorhat and Dibrugarh — will elect their MPs. A total of 1,221 polling stations will be in operation, out of which 8,588 are hypersensitive and will see a higher deployment of security forces. In Tripura West constituency, state chief electoral officer Ashutosh Jindal said a three-tier security arrangement has been made across the state for peaceful election. The Indo-Bangladesh international border in Tripura has been sealed to prevent any cross-border infiltration during the election process.

"We are all ready for polls," Assam additional chief electoral officer R C Jain told TOI. "The 1,221 hypersensitive polling stations will have static forces deployed. The other polling stations will be covered by mobile patrol parties.

The ECI has also categorized 2,710 polling stations as 'critical' as these have a record of polling over 90% votes, with 75% going in favour of one candidate. These stations also have a history of poll-related violence, with a high gap between the number of voters having their photo identity card and the number of absentees.

In Tripura, Jindal said the duration of polling has been extended by an hour, ie from 7am to 5pm. The timings apply across the northeast, except in Manipur and Nagaland.

Assam will vote in two more phases. Three constituencies will vote on April 12 and the remaining six will vote on April 24. Polling for the East Tripura (ST Reserve) seat will be held on April 12.

"Around 83% of 12.46 lakh voters cast their votes when the last reports were received here at 5 pm The polling percentage may increase after the final reports come here from all four districts," Tripura Chief Electoral Officer Ashutosh Jindal told IANS.

Gus wrote:Is there a list of standout data - like number of booths, number of polling officers, number of candidates, number of voters etc?

rsingh wrote:Any pic of elephants and camels transporting election materials ?

So: the BJP lays down some markers on FDI, India’s nuclear doctrine, and how it would approach its bilateral and multilateral relationships. As a roadmap for what the possible next Indian government might undertake, it thus offers some high-level guideposts, and important areas for external observers to watch closely.

Jhujar wrote:

Ramu wrote: I haven't seen any cheer about the outcome or prospects of this year's election.

Voting began on Wednesday in six constituencies spread across four northeastern states - Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur - in round two of the nine-phase Lok Sabha elections.