New Delhi, Mar 15: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is poised to unveil the schedule for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Saturday. In a post on social media platform X, the poll panel announced that a press conference will be held at 3 pm tomorrow, March 16th, to announce the schedule for #GeneralElections2024 as well as for some State Assemblies. The event will be livestreamed on the ECI’s social media platforms.
The current term of the Lok Sabha is scheduled to conclude on June 16, necessitating the formation of a new House before that date. In the previous election cycle in 2019, the Lok Sabha polls were declared on March 10 and conducted over seven phases starting from April 11, with vote counting taking place on May 23.
The announcement of the election schedule by the Election Commission coincides with the appointment of two new Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. This follows the resignation of former Election Commissioner Arun Goel just prior to the Lok Sabha election this year, with President Droupadi Murmu accepting his resignation on Saturday.
Arun Goel, whose term was scheduled until November 2027 and who was expected to assume the role of Chief Election Commissioner in 2025, has resigned. As a result, the Election Commission of India, which previously consisted of three members, now has one office-bearer, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, following the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey as a commissioner last month.
