New Delhi: In the largest and lengthiest democratic exercise in the world, India, with about 814.5 million eligible voters, is all set to witness a nine-phase election that challenges every facet of logistical planning over the 36-day period — one that covers 930,000 polling stations and presses into service 1,878,306 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The election to the 16th Lok Sabha will be remembered for the sheer size and magnitude of the exercise. This 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 Rs50 billion (Dh3 billion), excluding the expenses incurred for security and individual political parties.
India added more than 100 million voters since the last election five years ago. This time, those in the age group of 18 to 19 years will constitute 2.88 per cent of the total number of voters as against a mere 0.75 per cent in that age group in 2009.
According to the Election Commission of India, the general elections will be held between April 7 to May 12 in 543 parliamentary constituencies of the country. The results will be declared on May 16, before the 15th Lok Sabha completes its constitutional mandate on May 31.
The long election schedule will ensure that security forces can be moved across the country for adequate deployment in sensitive areas.
A total of 11 million poll personnel will be deployed to ensure a free and fair poll. The database of the civilian staff to be deployed for conducting the polls has been prepared and at least 5.5 million civilians would be deployed. Along with the Lok Sabha election, Andhra Pradesh, including the regions comprising Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will go to polls to elect new state assemblies.
Significantly, with security concerns looming large in the northeast, Jammu and Kashmir and the Naxalite-affected areas, the Election Commission has decided to stick to a tight schedule. Most of the polling stations in these areas will be housed in school buildings as the election time coincides with the examination time.
According to the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies, political parties are expected to spend Rs305 billion in the elections. This is three times the amount spent in the previous election and is the world’s second highest after the $7 billion (Dh25.7 billion) spent on the 2012 US election.
This time the candidates in a parliamentary constituency in bigger states can spend up to Rs7 million on their campaign, up from Rs4 million in 2011. In the 2009 elections, it was Rs2.5 million.
Among the new features this time would be the introduction of the ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) option in the EVMs, and the adoption of a voter verifiable paper audit trail system in some constituencies. For the first time in parliamentary polls, a system of paper trail for electronic voting will be introduced in some constituencies on a trial basis. A paper trail would help in avoiding controversies in case of a dispute.
The Election Commission has also issued guidelines to political parties asking them to explain the rationale of financing the promises they make in their election manifestos. The guidelines that followed the Supreme Court’s directions in this regard have now been made a part of the Model Code of Conduct.
While the central authorities are deploying extra manpower to conduct elections in the four worst-hit states — Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh — the three Uttar Pradesh districts will be largely policed by the Provincial Armed Constabulary, besides the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The Election Commission has also decided to cover critical polling stations by at least one or more micro observer, video camera, still camera or web casting to keep a watch on the polling process.
This will be the second general election that will be conducted after the delimitation of constituencies. Among the states that are going to the polls for both assembly and parliamentary constituencies, Andhra Pradesh will vote in two phases on April 30 and May 7, Odisha, in two phases again, on April 10 and 17 and Sikkim on April 12.
This will be the last time Andhra Pradesh will go to the hustings as a united state. On June 2, Andhra Pradesh will be split into Telangana and Seemandhra states, and their assembly constituencies will be represented by the same lawmakers. Andhra Pradesh has 294 assembly constituencies, Odisha has 147, and Sikkim 32. Besides this, by-elections are being held in 23 assembly constituencies in eight states.
The states where parliamentary polls will be held over the most phases are Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where polling will take place on April 10, April 17, April 24, April 30, May 7 and May 12. The two states together account for 120 parliament seats.
“Credible elections, conducted at regular prescribed intervals, are the very soul of any democratic system. Elections to the world’s largest democracy pose immense challenges with respect to logistics and man and material management,” Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath had recently said.
