It was on March 2 in 2014 that the then election schedule was issued by the Election Commission of India. This year, it is expected that the schedule will be announced on March 8. The political circles in Delhi are getting information about the ECI has almost finalised the dates for conducting the election. There were some doubts on the possible effect of Indo-Pakistan conflict on the Indian election process initially.
With the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan and easing of tensions to a large extent, the authorities are again beginning to set the election process in motion. The fears of war are also over. As regards AP and Telangana, there are proposals for conducting the election this time on the same day. YCP leader Jaganmohan Reddy has also demanded this. In 2014 general election, the polls were held on separate days in Telugu states.
There is already a few days delay in announcement of schedule when compared with 2014 election. PM Modi is also allotting more time for election campaigns of BJP in different states. There may be no further new announcements on welfare programmes and developmental activities. For AP, Modi has already announced South Coastal railway zone for Visakhapatnam.
