When are the Public Holidays for Lok Shaba Elections?
Because of the enormous number of election officials and security personnel involved, voting in the elections for Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, take place on different days across India.
Within states, the polling day takes place on different days in some districts.
The 2019 Indian general election to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha is scheduled to be held in seven phases from April 11th to May 19th 2019.
The counting of votes will take place on May 23rd, and on the same day, the results will be declared.
India is the largest democracy in the world with 900m eligible to vote in India’s polls, representing more than 10% of the world’s population. As the voting is split over several days, it cannot claim that it is the world's largest election - that's Indonesia whose elections take place on one day.
Election schedule
(Bold indicates states who have declared a state-wide public holiday on those dates.)
| Date | Constituencies | States and Union Territories | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 11th | 91 | 20 | Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep |
| April 18th | 97 | 13 | Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry |
| April 23rd | 115 | 14 | Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu |
| April 23rd | 71 | 9 | Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal |
| May 6th | 51 | 7 | Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal |
| May 12th | 59 | 7 | Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi |
| May 19th | 59 | 8 | Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh |
State details
Below we have listed details of those states who have declared public holidays during the voting period.
Assam
The state government of Assam has declared a local holiday in 12 districts on April 11th for the Lok Sabha polls.
The holiday has been given under the National Instruments Act (NIA) and all the government, non-government offices, educational institutes, banks and other commercial establishments will remain closed on the day. The holiday will be observed in Biswanath, Charaideo, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Sonitpur and Tinsukia on April 11th.
On April 18th, there will be a holiday in eight districts as the second phase of the poll will be held in the following eight districts - Cachar, Darrang, Dima Hasao, Hailakandi, Hojai, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Udalguri and South Karbi Anglong.
The third phase of the poll will be held on April 23rd in 10 districts - Baksa, Barpeta, Kamrup, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Goalpara, South Salmara, Kamrup Metro, Kokrajhar and Dhubri.
The local holidays have been declared under the NI Act in three days when the election will take place in the respective districts in three phases.
Goa
Being the polling day for the General Election to the House of the people and bye-election to the Legislative Assembly of the state, the Goan government has declared April 23rd as a paid public holiday.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra government has announced a public holiday on the day of polling for the Lok Sabha elections which will be held this month. The LS polls will be carried out in four phases across the state, starting April 11th 2019, and the holiday has been declared as per the same.
The notification issued by the Maharashtra government will be applicable for the state and central government offices followed by semi-government offices, public enterprise, and educational institutions. This will also apply to the employees who work outside their constituency.
In the first phase of LS poll starting April 11th, the state government has issued a notification declaring a public holiday in Lok Sabha constituencies including Wardha, Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Chandrapur, and Yavatmal-Washim.
The voting for the second phase will begin on April 18th, 2019, the constituencies for the same includes Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Hinglo, Nanded, Parbhani, Beed, Osmanabad, Latur, and Solapur.
For the third phase of LS polls, the Maharashtra government has announced a public holiday on April 23rd. The constituencies include Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Raigad, Pune, Baramati, Ahmednagar, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, and Hatkanangale.
The fourth phase of the LS elections in Maharashtra will be held on April 29th and a public holiday has been declared for the voters in constituencies including Nandurbar, Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai South, Maval, Shirur, and Shirdi.
Tamil Nadu
The Tamil Nadu government has issued a government order, announcing a public holiday on April 18th, the day the Lok Sabha polls will be held in the state.
".. the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby declares April 18th, the date on which the polls for the General Elections and bye-elections to 18 assembly constituencies will take place in Tamil Nadu, to be a public holiday", the order issued by chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan said.
Elections to 39 Parliamentary seats Tamil Nadu will be held on April 18th in a single phase polling.
Telengana
The Telangana Government has issued a notification declaring April 11th as a public holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, in view of polling for 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
In its notification, State Chief secretary Shailendra Kumar Joshi said that the poll day on Thursday April 11th 2019, to be a General holiday for the government offices and educational institutions in the areas of the 17 parliamentary constituencies in the state.
Union Territory
A public holiday or paid holiday has been declared on April 18th for government offices, institutions, local bodies, commercial and industrial establishments both public and private in the Union Territory to enable electors to exercise franchise in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Lt. Governor issued a notification to this effect under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
Uttarakhand
Chief Electoral Officer, Saujanya has issued the order to the District Election Officers regarding the public holiday on April 11th in connection with the voting day.
In the order, she said that in those areas related to the five Lok Sabha seats in the state, in which a shop is situated in the commercial premises and that day it is not their weekly off, then they will remain closed for election.
She has clarified that for all employees of uninterrupted process factories, public holidays will be held on the day of polling.
