Would be better if elections were conducted in 3-4 phases: Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday said that it would have been better if the Lok Sabha elections were held in three or four phases.

In a statement issued by Mayawati on X in Hindi, Mayawati said, ''Our party welcomes today's announcement of dates for the Lok Sabha General Elections 2024, but it would have been much better if the elections were held in a shorter period of time, in about three or four phases, so that both time and resources could have been saved, and it would have also been possible to reduce election expenses.'' She said the long drawn out elections are especially difficult for the BSP, ''which functions through the body, mind and money of the poor, the neglected and the weaker sections to compete with wealthy parties in a fair and honest manner.'' The Dalit politician said the people of the country have a lot of expectations from the Election Commission to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of conducting free and fair elections.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister requested the EC to strictly comply with the Model Code of Conduct, and urged it to ''stop the misuse of government machinery.'' She added, ''It is also very important to strictly follow the Model Code of Conduct to provide equal electoral opportunities to various political parties.''

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)