Kolkata: After the announcement of dates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghosh on Sunday termed the upcoming elections as a "moment of truth".
"Why are these elections necessary? These elections are a moment of truth for us. Can we stick to one party, one leader, one language, one religion, one dress? Or do we want to preserve our federal, multi-faith and multi-cultural diverse democracy?" she said.
"Remember that, vote wisely. Do we want to live in a time when our basic freedom is under threat?" she added.
Meanwhile, the general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Saturday. The counting will be held on June 4.
Assembly elections will be held in Andhra Pradesh on May 13, in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim on April 19. The Assembly polls in Odisha will be held in four phases, which are May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
Bypolls on 26 Assembly seats will also be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. Nearly 96.8 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming polls at over 12 lakh polling stations.
A total of 10.5 lakh polling stations and 1.5 crore polling officials and security staff will be deployed in the poll exercise. 55 lakh EVMs will be deployed. There are a total of 412 General category seats, SC- 84 seats, ST- 47 seats.
Kumar said approximately 49.7 crore voters are male and 47.1 crore voters are female.
—ANI