Lok Sabha Elections 2024 dates likely to be announced around March 14, says report

The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the dates for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 next week, around March 14-15, sources told NDTV on Saturday. They said the Election Commission may declare the poll schedule after visiting Jammu and Kashmir from Monday.

The Elections Commission will be in Jammu and Kashmir till Wednesday to assess when polls can be held in the Union Territory. "The dates for the Lok Sabha elections are likely to be revealed immediately after that," sources were quoted as saying.

The Supreme Court of India had on December 11, 2023, asked the central government to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024 and restore statehood at the earliest.

"We direct that steps shall be taken by the Election Commission of India to conduct elections to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir by 30 September 2024," Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said reading judgment in Article 370 matter.

Earlier on Friday, the Election Commission clarified that no dates have been announced yet for Lok Sabha elections. The poll body said that a fake message was being shared on WhatsApp regarding the election schedule adding that dates will be announced by the commission through a press conference.

"A fake message is being shared on WhatsApp regarding the schedule for #LokSabhaElections2024 #FactCheck: The message is #Fake. No dates have been announced so far by #ECI. The Election Schedule is announced by the Commission through a press conference. #VerifyBeforeYouAmplify," ECI said in a post on X.

In February, the Election Commission issued an advisory to all political parties to maintain decorum and utmost restraint in public campaigning and raise the level of election campaigning to "issue-based" debate. It also urged parties to not make appeals based on caste or communal feelings of the electors.