India will hold its general elections from April 16 to May 13 to elect a new Lower House of Parliament, or Lok Sabha, said the country's Election Commission Monday.

The elections will be held in five phases to produce the country's 15th 545-seat parliament since independence from British rule in 1947, said Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami.

The country's 124 constituencies would go to the polls first April 16, followed by 141 others on April 23, 107 others on April 30, 85 others on May 7 and the last 86 on May 13, in what is one of the biggest elections in the world with over 714 million voters joining it.

A new government will also be brought out by the elections. The ruling Congress Party is expected to re-nominate Manmohan Singh as prime minister, while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen 80-year-old former vice Prime Minister L.K Advani as candidate for the next prime minister's seat.

The Election Commission made the announcement after completing consultation process with political leaders, home secretary and secretaries of key ministries.

Counting of the votes will start May 16, said the Election Commission.

India holds its general elections every five years. The coalition led by Congress party beat the Hindu nationalist party BJP, or Indian People's Party, in the last elections in 2004.

Over six million civil officials as well as police and paramilitary personnel will keep order during the elections, while a total of 1.36 million electronic voting machines would also be used, said the private Indo-Asian News Service.

Local media say the political landscape of India is still not clear as political leaders are still trying to work out political coalitions and combinations to grasp power.

Both the Congress and the BJP will have to seek support from the third front led by the Left as well as smaller parties to win the elections, said local media reports.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2009)