India is gearing up for the 17th Lok Sabha elections, which will be conducted in seven phases starting from April 11. The chief election commissioner on March 10 announced that the elections will be conducted in seven phases across the country. Counting of votes will be done on May 23.

The country held its first general elections in 1951 and almost 1,874 candidates contested from 54 political parties in that election. In 2019, about 90 crore eligible voters will cast their votes to elect their preferred candidates on VVPAT machines.

About 196,084 polling booths were set up across the country in the first-ever Lok Sabha elections held in 1951-52. In the upcoming elections, 1,035,918 polling booths are set up, a rise of 428 percent.

First Published:Mar 22, 2019 5:22 PM IST