By Ayodhya Prasad Singh

The great festival of democracy has kicked off. The Election Commission (ECI) has announced the dates for the Lok Sabha elections. Thus, the stage for a two-month-long electoral battle has been started.

Elections will be held for 543 Lok Sabha seats of the country in 7 phases. Of these, 84 seats are reserved for SC and 47 seats are reserved for ST.

With the announcement of the dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force across the country.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Mr Rajiv Kumar said that the general elections will be held in 7 phases.

The first phase of voting will be held on April 19. The second phase of voting will be held on April 26, while the third phase of voting will be held on May 7, the fourth phase of voting will be held on May 13, the fifth phase of voting will be held on May 20, the sixth phase of voting will be held on May 25 and the seventh phase of voting will be held on June 1, Whereas the counting of votes will take place on June 4.