Lok Sabha elections 2019 schedule: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal to vote in all seven phases

Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will see the crucial Lok Sabha elections 2019 spread over all seven phases starting from April 11 to May 19.

NEW DELHI: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will see the crucial Lok Sabha elections 2019 spread over all seven phases starting from April 11 to May 19. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora told the media that 22 states and union territories will see single-phase election, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Tripura will see polling in two phases, Assam and Chhattisgarh will have three-phase polling, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha will see four-phase polling and Jammu and Kashmir will have five-phase elections. The places where elections will take place in a single phase are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry. Uttar Pradesh: 80 seats Phase 1, April 11: 8 seats Phase 2, April 18: 8 seats Phase 3, April 23: 10 seats Phase 4, April 29: 13 seats Phase 5, May 6: 14 seats Phase 6, May 12: 14 seats Phase 7, May 19: 13 seats Bihar: 40 seats Phase 1, April 11: 4 seats Phase 2, April 18: 5 seats Phase 3, April 23: 5 seats Phase 4, April 29: 5 seats Phase 5, May 6: 5 seats Phase 6, May 12: 8 seats Phase 7, May 19: 8 seats West Bengal: 42 seats Phase 1, April 11: 2 seats Phase 2, April 18: 3 seats Phase 3, April 23: 5 seats Phase 4, April 29: 8 seats Phase 5, May 6: 7 seats Phase 6, May 12: 8 seats Phase 7, May 19: 9 seats Calling the Indian parliamentary battle the "largest festival of democracy", he said that 91 constituencies (spread across 20 states) will see polling on April 11, 97 constituencies (13 states) on April 18, 115 (14) on April 23, 71 (9) on April 29, 51 (7) on May 6, 59 (also 7) on May 12 and 59 constituencies (8 states) on May 19. The staggered election will see about 900 million voters, up from 814.5 million in 2014, when Narendra Modi led the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to power ending a decade of Congress-headed UPA rule. Of this, some 15 million will be first-time voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years. Approximately 10 lakh polling stations, one lakh more than in 2014, will be set up and a total of 17.4 lakh VVPATs will be used with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in all polling stations, Arora told a crowded press conference. "The Election Commission has attempted a very comprehensive preparation for the conduct of the election", he said. "The panel believes that purity of electoral roll is the foundation of fair elections," he added.