Authors
Claim
The Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 16, 2024
Fact
The Election Commission has not announced the April 16 Lok Sabha polls. Viral claims are false.
Various social media users across the country have posted a screenshot of a letter from the Assistant Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi and claimed that the Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 16. Some news agencies have also reported that the next Lok Sabha elections will be held on the same date. The posts can be seen here.
The posts by other users making the same claim here, here and here.
We received a request to verify the authenticity of this date on our tipline 9999499044.
Fact Check/Verification
We first checked the websites of the Election Commission of India and the Press Information Bureau to verify the news and posts on the poll date of general elections 2024, but found no information in this regard. Next, we examine the letter attached to the viral posts thoroughly. The letter was sent by T Misao, Assistant Chief Election Officer from the Chief Electoral Officer’s Office, Delhi on January 19, 2024 to each branch in-charge at office of CEO Delhi and the SDM (Election) of all 11 districts of NCT of Delhi.
In the letter, the official said the Election Commission of India has been directed to comply with and conduct the Election Planning Rules within the stipulated time frame for the smooth conduct of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The letter also stated that only for the ensuing General Election to the Lok Sabha 2024, the Commission has tentatively given the Poll Day as 16.04.2024 for the purpose of reference and to calculate Start and End dates in the Election Planner.
We, then, checked the X handle of the Election Commission of India and found a pinned-post posted on 23 January 2024. The post can be seen below.
A press note attached with the X post stated that – 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.
Meanwhile, another tweet from the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi’s office said this date was mentioned only for ‘reference’ for officials to plan activities as per Election Planner of ECI.
We then conducted a keywords search, which led us to several reports regarding the confusion over the Poll date by leading news outlets, viz The Economic Times, The Times of India, Hindustan Times etc.
Conclusion
Thus, as per our investigation, the Election Commission of India has not announced that the Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 16. The Election Commission will officially announce the date of the general elections.
Result: False
Our Sources:
1. X Post by Ceo Delhi Office, dated 23rd Jan, 2024
2. Report by Economic Times, dated 24th Jan, 2024
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