Key Points
Over 960 million electors, of whom 470 million are women, will soon elect 543 members of parliament by casting their ballots in one of the 1.2 million booths overseen by 15 million election officials across the 28 states and nine Union territories in a multi-phase Lok Sabha election..
In the contest are the well-entrenched BJP-led 38-party grouping called the NDA, which is pitted against the fledgling Congress-led 27-member bloc I.N.D.I.A..
Then there is an entire spectrum of Observersfrom general observers to expenditure observers to special observers, sector magistrates, and micro-observers appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), as well as more than 3.5 lakh security personnel from Central Armed Police Forces(CAPFs) to assist the existing state police force and Home Guards...
These agencies are armed with data about booth-level demographics and assist candidates and political parties in pitching their campaigns by coining the requisite slogans, designing ads for print, social media, and wall graffiti, besides ensuring that expenditure is incurred in a manner that does not invite allegations of spending more than the stipulated amount of Rs 75-95 lakh for the Lok Sabha and Rs 28-40 lakh for the Assembly segment..
The Constituent Assembly notified the establishment of an Election Commission in November 1949, and in March of the following year, Sukumar Sen of the Indian Civil Service (ICS), then-Chief Secretary of West Bengal, was appointed as the first Chief Election Commissioner of India, even before the Representation of the People Act was enacted by the Constituent Assembly a few months after this..
