“Look at the geography of the country there are rivers, mountains, snow, jungle, summers think of the security forces’ movements, they will move in the gaps between phases, through the length and breadth of the country imagine the pressure on them. There are festivals and exams when we sit with the calendar, we fix one date, then it has to be changed,” he said.”We do not take any action to favour anyone or hurt anyone. If anyone has such doubt they are wrong,” the CEC said.Several opposition parties have criticised the move to hold elections in seven phases, especially in states such as West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.Kumar, however, said more phases have to be held in larger states, which have higher number of constituencies and candidates.The country’s first general election was held between October 25, 1951, and February 21, 1952, the longest so far.During the 1951-52 election, 489 seats of the Lok Sabha were allotted across 401 constituencies in 25 states.
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