Election Commission to announce Lok Sabha poll schedule at 3 pm on Saturday, March 16

The Commission will also announce the schedule for elections to state Assemblies of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the schedule for Lok Sabha election on Saturday afternoon, setting stage for a fierce electoral battle where Narendra Modi-led BJP will be seeking a third consecutive term while a fractured Opposition will be making all attempts to unseat the ruling combine.

The commission, whose two new members Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu assumed office on Friday, is also likely to announce the schedule for elections to Assemblies of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

It is not immediately known whether the Election Commission will announce Assembly polls for Jammu and Kashmir where there is no Assembly since November 2018. The Commission had reviewed the Lok Sabha preparations in Jammu and Kashmir, where polls will be held for the first time after Article 370 was abrogated.

Eyes will also be on how the EC plans to go ahead with the election process in the ethnic violence-hit Manipur.

The announcement of the schedule will be made by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar in the presence of Gyanesh Kumar and Sandhu at a press conference in Vigyan Bhavan in the national capital at 3 pm. The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 16 and a new House has to be constituted before that.

In 2019, the Election Commission had unveiled the poll schedule on March 10. The polling was held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19. The counting of votes was held on May 23.

With Modi setting a target of 370 for BJP and 400 for the NDA, the ruling party is seeking to add new allies to the ruling coalition. While the BJP managed to bring in TDP, Jana Sena and Chirag Paswan’s LJP into its fold, efforts are being made to bring BJD and Akali Dal too on board.

On the other side, the Congress and its I.N.D.I.A. partners are also making all efforts to unseat the BJP though parties like Trinamool Congress have taken a divergent stand seeking to contest alone in West Bengal. Congress has finalised seat-sharing arrangements in states like Uttar Pradesh, it is however yet to seal the deals in Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

It will be a test for the Opposition to increase its tally, and it would mainly rest on Congress’ ability to win seats in north India. In the 2019 elections, BJP had won 303 seats with the party winning in huge numbers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh besides Gujarat in the west, while the main Opposition Congress managed only 52 seats.

However, it will also not be easy for the BJP as it has reached a saturation point in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and smaller states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Its prospects in south India are also not particularly encouraging.

It is in this context that the BJP is looking to bring back their erstwhile allies and find new friends. It has managed to wean away JD(U) and RLD from the I.N.D.I.A. bloc besides encouraging individual leaders with significant following to switch sides. The Opposition has accused the BJP of using the central agencies to coerce parties and leaders to dump the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.

The Opposition believes that price rise and unemployment would add to anti-incumbency, which would help them in unseating the BJP. On the other hand, the BJP will be highlighting the inauguration of Ram temple and implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Also, the BJP believes that Modi is still popular and there is no face in the Opposition to match him. Modi has already toured several states announcing ‘Modi Guarantees’, which the Opposition say is a pale "copy" of their strategy.