The Election Commission is in the process of deciding the number of phases and the months in which polling would be held, informed sources. The dates for the Lok Sabha elections are likely to be announced in the first week of March, sources indicated on Friday. The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.
The charting of the phases would also depend on the availability of security forces and other requirements, the sources said, adding the announcement of the mega exercise is likely to be made in first week of March.
In 2014, the EC had announced the election schedule on March 5 and the nine-phase electoral exercise was spread across April and May. While the first phase polling was on April 7, the last phase was on May 12.