A general election is taking place in nine phases, the longest election in the

country's history, from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to constitute the 16th Lok

Sabhain India. Voting will take place in all 543 parliamentary

constituencies of India to elect members of parliament in the Lok Sabha.[1] The

result of this election will be declared on 16 May, before the 15th Lok

Sabha completes its constitutional mandate on 31 May 2014.[2]

According to the Election Commission of India, the electoral population in 2014 is

81.45 crores, the largest in the world.[3] There is an increase of 10 crores newly

eligible voters.[4] This also will be the longest and the most expensive general

election in the history of the country with the Election Commission of India

estimating that the election will cost the exchequer   35 billion, excluding the

expenses incurred for security and individual political parties.[5] Parties are

expected to spend   3.05 thousand crores (about US$500 million) in the election,

according to the Centre for Media Studies. This is three times the amount spent in

the previous election and is the world's second highest after the US$7 billion spent

on the 2012 U.S. presidential election.[6] Though unelected, incumbent Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh has ruled himself out as a prime ministerial candidate.[7]

Use of technology

In January 2013, the Election Commission of India announced that it would be

using an SMS based alert system called Communication Plan for Election

(COMET) during the election. The system, aimed at sending messages to lakhs of

government officials on election duty, was successfully deployed in the provincial

assembly elections in Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur in

early 2012 and in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in late 2012.

The COMET system "uses coded text messages through mobile phones to collect

data about officials, information about scheduled events like staff reaching the

polling station, mock polls conducted, start of polling, voting percentages every

two hours, number of voters in after voting time was over, and whether the poll

party reached safely at the high security Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs)

deposit centre." The system would also send alerts to the local police in case of

disturbances at any polling station.[13]

Changes

Satendra Singh, a doctor with a disabilty,[14] showed the lack of preparedness by

the Election Commission of India (ECI) towards electors with disabilities through

theRight to Information Act .[15] The Chief Electoral Office in Delhi, Vijay Dev

then started a campaign on providing accessibility for the disabled, along with him.

Singh conducted sensitisation workshops for election officers and helped in setting

up a registration link for voters with disabilities to register to vote and provide their

requirements.[16]

Dates

The election will be held over multiple phases during the months April and May.[17] The final session of parliament started on 6 February and ended on 21 February.

Amongst the agenda in the final session is passing the The Lokpal and Lokayuktas

Bill, 2013 in tackling corruption and the creation of Telegana.[18] Electoral

Commissioner V. S. Sampath said that Tamil Nadu could vote in one phase, while

also considering DMK's proposal to transfer Tamil Nadu Deputy General of Police

K. Ramanujam, who is serving as extended terms after his superannuation to

ensure a free and fair election.[19]

Simulataneously, elections will be held for the Vidhan Sabhas of Andhra Pradesh,

Odisha and Sikkim.[20]

The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), V. S. Sampath announced the

polling schedule on 5 March with voting to be held in nine phases from 7 April to

12 May. The result of the election will be announced on 16 May.[21]