As an internal note circulated by the office of Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer mentioning April 16 as the tentative “poll date” to help officials schedule various activities “in the build-up” to the Lok Sabha elections created a flutter, the CEO’s office rushed to clarify that the date was “only for reference purpose” for election officials and “has no bearing on the actual schedule of election”. The Delhi CEO’s office had on January 19 issued a letter to all 11 district election officers, referring to the Election Planner issued by the Election Commission of India in which various activities in the build-up to the election have been given along with the timelines and durations for each activity. As questions arose about this being the possible schedule of the upcoming polls, the Delhi CEO’s office on Tuesday issued a clarification. “It is required to plan and complete a large number of activities pertaining to election”, in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the statement said. “ECI Planner enlists all such important activities and provides start date and end date with reference to an imaginary poll date as a reference point to initiate and complete those activities”. Hence the date mentioned as the tentative poll date in the letter was “only for reference purpose” for the election officials and “has no bearing on the actual schedule of election”, which shall be announced by ECI at an appropriate time, the statement said. The CEO office also posted on X: “Some media queries are coming referring to a circular by @CeodelhiOffice to clarify whether April 16 is the tentative poll day for Lok Sabha elections. It is clarified that this date was mentioned only for ‘reference’ for officials to plan activities as per Election Planner of ECI”. Lok Sabha polls in 2019 were announced on March 10 and were held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. Votes were counted on May 23.