Tribune India: The ruling BJP will eye a historic third win with the Election Commission all set to declare the schedule for the 18th Lok Sabha election at 3 pm on Saturday.
The EC spokesperson in a post on X after the full panel meet on Friday, said, “Press Conference by Election Commission to announce schedule for #GeneralElections2024 & some State Assemblies will be held at 3 pm tomorrow ie Saturday, 16th March. It will be live-streamed on social media platforms of the ECI.”
In 2019, the election was announced on March 10.
The BJP, which has already declared 267 of the 543 candidates for the polls, has set itself a target of crossing 370 seats with a goal of 400 plus for the ruling NDA coalition.
The opposition led by Congress is seeking to halt the BJP in its tracks with seat-sharing deals under a ramshackle INDIA alliance which has failed to reach an understanding in key states like UP, West Bengal and Bihar.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has gone alone declaring all 42 candidates and spurning Congress overtures.
In Bihar, the architect of INDIA alliance Nitish Kumar dumped the grouping and returned to the NDA.
In UP too, RLD, a previous INDIA ally, joined the NDA.
Source: Tribune India
