India announces election dates

India announces election dates


Electronic voting machines are to be introduced in India's upcoming elections


India's election commission has announced that the world's most populous democracy will hold general elections from April 16.

About 714 million people are eligible to take part in the election, which will be held in five stages with the final day of voting on May 13.

The staggering of the polling allows more than two million security personnel and millions of other electoral staff to move around the country.

"The process of finalising the election schedule takes into account the school examinations ... the local holidays ... festivals, the harvest season and so on," N Gopalaswami, the chief of the election commission, said on Monday.

He said the counting of ballots would begin on May 16, with results expected shortly afterwards because of the nationwide introduction of electronic voting machines.

The constitution requires India to go to the polls before mid-May, the end of the five-year mandate of the Congress Party-led government of Manmohan Singh, the prime minister.

The main contest is expected to be between the Congress party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Coalition likely

But no party is expected to win enough seats to govern alone, which could mean weeks or even months of political uncertainty as parties negotiate a coalition government.

"No party will have a clear mandate in the upcoming elections," said MJ Akbar, a political commentator, noting that several coalitions have governed India since 1996.

The major parties have already begun unofficial campaigns, with Pakistan, violence, Hindu nationalism and the economic slowdown among the key issues.

Following the series of attacks in Mumbai in November, the government has introduced a new anti-terrorism law and raised defence spending by nearly one- quarter.

The election comes amid a sharp decline in the economy as domestic demand and exports have dipped sharply in recent months.

But the government has also presided over a fall in inflation, while financial help to the farm sector and a landmark jobs scheme have lifted millions in the countryside out of poverty.