DPA;APS;

DPA;APS; ANPAi..r.. ATW-India-Elections India's election dates announced JP/11/J04 India's election dates announced INDIA: India's parliamentary elections will be held in four phases on April 20 and 26, and May 5 and 10, Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy announced on Sunday.

Simultaneous state elections will be held in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Orissa and Sikkim.

According to the poll schedule, 16 states and federally- administered areas will vote on April 20, 11 on April 26, seven on May 5, and 16 on May 10. The votes will be counted on May 13, Krishnamurthy said.

This will also be the first completely electronic election in the world's largest democracy. India has an electorate of more than 600 million, who will all use electronic voting machines, the commissioner said.

He also hoped more people, especially the young, would come forward to vote. Usually the average voter turnout is only about 55-60 percent.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee called for a dissolution of parliament in early February to cash in on his government's current domestic and economic success. --DPA