The general election will begin on April 11 and continue for more than a month till May 19 across seven phases, followed by counting of votes on May 23, the Election Commission announced on March 10.

The polling will be held on April 11, 18, 23, 29, May 6, 12 and 19 for 543 Lok Sabha seats in which nearly 90 crore voters would be eligible to vote, said Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora.

Assembly polls will also be held in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

However, the Assembly polls for Jammu & Kashmir have been deferred, the EC said citing security reasons. The state has been under President’s Rule after the ruling alliance between the BJP and People’s Democratic Party fell apart last year.

Polling for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra, Arunachal and Sikkim will be held in the first phase on April 11. Simultaneous assembly polls will be held in Odisha across the first four phases.

Twenty-two states and Union territories, including Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, will have Lok Sabha polls in a single phase, while it will be spread across seven phases in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Tripura will have Lok Sabha polls in two phases, while Assam and Chhattisgarh will have three-phase polling.

Four states - Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha - will have elections in four phases. Jammu & Kashmir will have five-phase voting.

The CEC said the model code of conduct would come into immediate effect.

Among other restrictions, the model code bars the government from announcing any policy move that may impact voters’ decision.

The EC said the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) will be used in all polling stations this time. Ten lakh polling stations would be set up this time as against about nine lakh in 2014. EVMs and postal ballots will carry pictures of candidates.

In 2014, the BJP had won 282 seats, handing a crushing defeat to the 10-year-rule of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.

Arora said all political advertisements on social media will need pre-certification and the candidates will have to give details of their social media accounts to the EC.

The CEC said 91 constituencies will go for polls in the first phase, 97 in the second, 115 in the third, 71 in the fourth, 51 in the fifth, 59 in the sixth and 59 in the seventh phase.

In 2014, the Lok Sabha polls were held in nine phases beginning April 7 and ending May 9. Votes were counted on May 16.