New Delhi: A circular from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi, dated January 19, 2024, citing April 16, 2024, as a “poll date” (both cited in bold) as part of the Election Planner issued by the Election Commission of India, “in which various activities in the build up to the election have been given”, created a flutter today.
The circular, issued to all 11 district election officers (DEOs) of Delhi, is titled, “Compliance/adhering to the timelines given in the Election Planner of Election Commission of India -regarding”.
It says, that “for the ensuing General Election to the Lok Sabha 2024, the Commission has tentatively given the Poll Day as 16.04.2024 for the purpose of reference and to calculate Start and End dates in the Election Planner.”
It says that the circular is “to inform you that on every Start and End Date of the each activity, a notification is sent from the Election Planner Portal to CEO Delhi through SMS & email. The status of each activity is required to be updated/ marked as Pending/ In Progress/ Scheduled/ Completed depending on the reports received from the DEOs/ROs and concerned Branches at CEO (HQ).”
In this regard, writes the Assistant Chief Electoral Officer, he expects them all “to kindly adhere to the given timelines for initiating and completing each election activity mentioned in the Election Planner and send a report to COE Branch, office of CEO, Delhi…at least one day prior to the Start and End dates of the activity(s).”
The CEO Delhi later said in a statement that this was for just enabling officials to “plan activities” and the date was “tentative”; “some media queries are coming referring to a circular by @CeodelhiOffice to clarify whether 16.04.2024 is tentative poll day for #LSElections2024 It is clarified that this date was mentioned only for ‘reference’ for officials to plan activities as per Election Planner of ECI.”
A senior official formerly with the Election Commission of India told The Wire, “The fact is that elections have to be completed before June. Mid-April to May-end are the normal/ essential dates in any case”.
Interest in poll dates is to be expected, as announcement of these dates stops governments from laying out several plans and schemes. The announcement of dates kicks in the model code of conduct, with restrictions on the advantage a government (parties in the union government or ruling parties in states) would otherwise enjoy over opposition parties.