The schedule for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections was announced on Sunday 10 March. The election is scheduled to begin on 11 April and will be held over seven phases. The results will be announced on 23 May.
As Twitterati geared up for elections, there were also questions about the extended election schedule in many states. Bihar, UP and West Bengal will have seven phases of poll while in Maharashtra and Odisha, the election will be held in 4 phases.
While some were of the view that this will greatly inconvenience the voters, others tried to figure out the objective behind the staggering election schedule.
Activist Yogendra Yadav put out a series of questions for the Election Commission regarding the stretched schedule. Some of the questions were: Why is West Bengal poll extended to 7 phases? If state polls in Madhya Pradesh took place in one day, why 4 phases for Lok Sabha polls?
Journalist Amey Tirodkar said those states where BJP hopes to win more seats are divided into various phases, alleging that it seemed like “Narendra Modi want [sic] to address as many as rallies as possible in these states.”
Others echoed this thought. Author Krishan Partap Singh said that the election schedule makes no sense from logistical, security or climatic points of view.
There were also opinions that the 7 phase polls in Bengal will give “ample time for riot mongering processions.”
Since there were arguments that multiple phases allow to maintain the law and order situation, senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai asked why a “peaceful state like Maharashtra needs a four phase poll.”
Why No Assembly Elections In J&K?
Twitterati also questioned the decision to not hold Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Former CM of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah expressed his protest through a tweet that said that this is the first time since 1996 that Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are not being held. “Shows how badly the BJP & earlier the BJP-PDP mishandled J&K ,” he tweeted.
Another Twitter user said it is bizarre that when the atmosphere is conducive to conduct Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, why not Assembly Elections?
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