Cabinet sends poll dates to President for notifications

New Delhi, Mar 10: Government today initiated the process of notifying the dates of the nine-phase Lok Sabha polls by sending to the President the Election Commission's recommendation.

The first notification will be issued on March 13 for the polls beginning April 7. The Cabinet meeting held today recommended to the President to approve issuance of notifications for the different phases, sources said.

The EC had announced the poll schedule on March 5 and had sent the mandatory recommendation to the Law Ministry on March 7 for notifying the Lok Sabha election dates. Under Section 14 of the Representation of the People Act, the EC sends its recommendation to the government which requests the President to clear the notification of poll dates.

Based on the recommendation, the Law Ministry prepares a proposal for the Union Cabinet which recommends to the President to approve issuance of notifications for the different phases. The EC's recommendation contains the details of all the Parliamentary constituencies, their respective dates of polling and dates when notification has to be issued.

PTI