A circular sent by the Office of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer to the 11 District Election Officers (DEOs) has set the tentative date for Lok Sabha elections as April 16, 2024.
In the circular, the Office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Delhi, said the commission has tentatively given the poll day as April 16, 2024 "for the purpose of reference and to calculate start and end dates in the Election Planner."
The circular was sent by Assistant CEO T. Misao.
The official X handle of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, posted that the date is only for “reference” for officials to plan activities.
“Some media queries are coming referring to a circular by @CeodelhiOffice to clarify whether 16.04.2024 is tentative poll day for #LSElections2024. It is clarified that this date was mentioned only for ‘reference’ for officials to plan activities as per Election Planner of ECI,” the post clarified.
The poll panel later issued a detailed statement, saying the tentative poll date mentioned in the letter had no bearing on the actual schedule of election.
“...the date 16.04.2024 mentioned as tentative Poll Date in the letter was only for reference purpose for the election officials to plan activities as per Election Planner of ECI and has no bearing on the actual schedule of election which shall be announced by ECI at an appropriate time,” it said.
However, THE WEEK cannot independently verify if the date provided by the Delhi CEO Office in the circular is the tentative date for the phase of elections held in the national capital or the start date for the entire Lok Sabha polls.