Hundreds of millions of voters in India will begin casting their ballots on April 19 in a seven-phase general election that continues until June 1, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.
India holds elections for the 543-seat lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, every five years. Around 970 million people are eligible to take part this year, the Election Commission said.
Voting will stretch over seven phases, with different states voting at different times, and the results will be announced on June 4.
The electorate includes 18 million voters who have just become eligible to take part after turning 18 and 197 million people aged between 20 and 29. There are also nearly 18 million in their eighties or older, including 218,000 centenarians.
“It is our promise to deliver a national election in a manner that we add to our global shine and remain a beacon for electoral democracies across the world,” Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner, said at a press conference.
“We are committed to give the nation a truly festive democratic environment,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party are seeking their third consecutive term in power, facing a challenge from the main opposition Indian National Congress and six other national parties.
A political party or an alliance of parties needs 272 seats to form a government.
More than 1.5 million polling booths will be set up across the 28 states and eight federally ruled territories across the country, manned by over 15 million election personnel, including security forces.
“They are the sentinels of democracy. Wherever it takes, they will walk an extra mile so that voters don’t have to walk … whether it is snow-capped mountains, forests, through rivers or by mules and helicopters, they will reach the voters,” Mr Kumar said.
Each election phase will last one day, with several constituencies voting that day. The staggered polling allows the government to deploy troops to prevent violence, and transport election officials and voting machines.
Voters cast their ballots on electronic voting machines by pressing a button next to the name and electoral symbols of their preferred candidate. There is also the option of “None of the Above” in case they do not like any of the candidates or parties in the fray.
Voters above the age of 85 or with 40 per cent disability have the option to vote from home.
The announcement of the poll dates puts into force the nationwide Model Code of Conduct – rules for political parties and their candidates during campaigning and polling.
The Model Code bars ministers and the authorities from making major policy and administrative changes, announcing financial grants or launching projects, to avoid influencing the result of the polls.
India’s constitution allows the government to remain in office while the elections are held.
“We are committed to ethical political discourse. We have issued strong [advisories] to political parties to make statements that inspire rather than divide, avoid private life criticism and misleading advertisements,” Mr Kumar said.
He also announced that state assembly elections would be held simultaneously in Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
Mr Modi, 73, has claimed that his party will win more than 400 seats in parliament.
The BJP won 303 seats in the 2019 election while the Congress, which has ruled India for most of the country's seven decades since independence, managed only 52.
The “lotus is going to bloom”, Mr Modi said at a public rally on Friday, referring to his party's electoral symbol.
Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader, has also been campaigning aggressively.
He launched his Bharat Nyay Yatra, loosely translated as “India Justice Rally”, that began in January in strife-torn Manipur state, in the remote north-east, and ends on Sunday in the western coastal city of Mumbai, India's financial hub.
List of alleged parties
- May 15 2020: Boris Johnson is said to have attended a Downing Street pizza party
- 27 Nov 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
- Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
- Dec 13 2020: Mr Johnson and his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds throw a flat party
- Dec 14 2020: Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative Party headquarters
- Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
- Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Previous men's records
- 2:01:39: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) on 16/9/19 in Berlin
- 2:02:57: Dennis Kimetto (KEN) on 28/09/2014 in Berlin
- 2:03:23: Wilson Kipsang (KEN) on 29/09/2013 in Berlin
- 2:03:38: Patrick Makau (KEN) on 25/09/2011 in Berlin
- 2:03:59: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 28/09/2008 in Berlin
- 2:04:26: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 30/09/2007 in Berlin
- 2:04:55: Paul Tergat (KEN) on 28/09/2003 in Berlin
- 2:05:38: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 14/04/2002 in London
- 2:05:42: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 24/10/1999 in Chicago
- 2:06:05: Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 20/09/1998 in Berlin
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
Kobe Bryant 33,643
Michael Jordan 32,292
LeBron James 31,425
Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
British Grand Prix free practice times in the third and final session at Silverstone on Saturday (top five):
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:28.063 (18 laps)
2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 1:28.095 (14)
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:28.137 (20)
4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 1:28.732 (15)
5. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Renault) 1:29.480 (14)
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The%20Iron%20Claw
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sean%20Durkin%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zac%20Efron%2C%20Jeremy%20Allen%20White%2C%20Harris%20Dickinson%2C%20Maura%20Tierney%2C%20Holt%20McCallany%2C%20Lily%20James%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
