After weeks and months of speculation, the Election Commission finally announced the dates for India’s next general election.  The 2024 elections will take place in seven phases, with the

first date of polling on April 19. All votes will be counted on June 4, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced at a press conference. Phase 1 – Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Sikkim,

Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and some constituencies in Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Tripura, Manipur, Assam and West

Bengal – will vote on April 19. Phase 2 – Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Jammu and

will vote on May 13. Phase 5 – Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh – will vote on May 20. Phase 6 – Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand,

Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, NCT of Delhi – will vote on May 25. Phase 7 – Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chandigarh – will vote on

June 1. The announcement comes two days after the appointment of two new election commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, after the sudden resignation of election commissioner

Arun Goel on March 6 and the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14. The 2019 poll was held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19, with results declared four days later.  The

term of the assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha will end on various dates in June. Andhra Pradesh will vote in their assembly polls on May 13 and Arunachal

Pradesh and Sikkim on April 19. Odisha will be in two phases, voting on May 13 and May 25.  These elections will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.