Fact Check: EC is yet to announce poll schedule for 2024 LS elections; viral dates are from 2019
The Election Commission of India has yet to announce the dates of the General Elections.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 20 Feb 2024 10:26 AM GMT
Screengrabs of the viral posts.
Hyderabad: A purported official notification showing the dates of the 18th Lok Sabha elections in Bihar in seven phases has gone viral. The notice mentioned the polling dates as April 11, 18, 23, 29 and May 6, 12, 19. X users have shared the notice as, “Bihar Lok Sabha election date.”
Similarly, an X user tweeted alleged dates for the 18th General Elections to be held in four phases in Maharashtra on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.
As the official tenure of the NDA-led (National Democratic Alliance) 17th Lok Sabha session is set to expire on June 16, 2024, the General Elections to elect the members of the 18th Lok Sabha in India are expected to take place in the coming months of April and May.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The Election Commission of India has yet to announce the dates of the General Elections.
We ran a keyword search for the schedule of the 2024 General Elections but did not find any notification by the Election Commission of India or any report by the mainstream media with the announcement.
However, we came across a report by the Indian Express for the 2019 General Elections. The dates in the report are from April 11 to May 19 in seven phases for Bihar and April 11 to April 29 for Maharashtra; the same dates mentioned in the viral posts.
We also found a notification for the 2019 General Elections on the official website of the State Election Commission in Bihar. The schedule on page 15 of the EC notification is the same as being circulated as upcoming dates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
We also found that the alleged schedule for the 2024 polls in Maharashtra was the same as the 2019 polls. The official notification mentioned dates in four phases April 11, 18, 23 and 29. The same can be found mentioned on pages 50 and 84 in the official EC notification.
Hence, we conclude that the 2019 General Election schedule is being falsely shared as the schedule for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission of India has yet to announce the dates.
