President issues notification for first phase of elections

New Delhi, Mar 23 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil on Monday issued the notification for the first phase of the five phased Lok Sabha elections.

Notifications were also issued by respective Governors for 154 of the 294 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 70 of the 147 Assembly seats in Orissa, going to polls along with the Lok Sabha elections in the first phase.

As many as 124 out of the total 543 constituencies will go to polls in the first phase, which is scheduled to be held on April 16 covering 15 states and two Union Territories.

The election process will be completed in one go in the first phase in Kerala (20 seats), Chhattisgarh (11) and Arunachal Pradesh (2).

Mizoram, Nagaland and the two Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakhadweep with one seat each are also covered in this phase.

Constituencies in other states to be covered in this phase include Andhra Pradesh - 22, Uttar Pradesh -16, followed by 13 seats each in Bihar and Maharashtra. Ten seats in Orissa and six in Jharkhand will also go to polls in the first phase.

Candidates may file their nomination papers till March 30. The national parties at present are the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPM, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Notification for the second phase of elections for 141 seats will be issued on March 28, for third phase for 107 seats on April two, for fourth phase for 85 seats on April 11 and for the fifth phase for 86 seats on April 17. (ANI)