India’s General Election 2024: Political Battle In The World’s Biggest Democracy

New Delhi: India today commenced voting in the largest election globally, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi vying for an unprecedented third term.

Over 18 lakh polling officials have been deployed and over 16.63 crore voters across 1.87 lakh polling stations are set to cast their vote today. 35.67 lakh first-time voters are registered to cast their votes. Further, there are 3.51 crore young voters in the age group 20-29 years. 

STATS What You Need to Know:

• India has 968 million voters, more than the populations of the United States, the European Union and Russia combined.
• On Friday 166 million voters in 102 constituencies across 21 states and territories will vote.
• More than a million polling stations in operation.
• More than 2,400 political parties are expected to run candidates.
• 272 are seats needed for an absolute majority in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament.
• Narendra Modi predicts his BJP will win 370 seats and its National Democratic Alliance more than 400, aiming for a four-decade high.
• The opposition Congress party formed a 28-party alliance called INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).

WHAT IS IT?

Elections to the 543 contested seats in the lower house of parliament, called the Lok Sabha, for a term of five years. To rule, a party or a coalition needs a simple majority of 272 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats the last time, followed by 52 for the main opposition Indian National Congress (INC).

In addition to the contested seats, India’s president can nominate up to two Anglo-Indians to the Lok Sabha.

WHERE AND WHEN IS IT TAKING PLACE?

Out of seven phases, today on Friday in its first phase, voters are making their choice by pressing a button on an electronic voting machine, first used in India in 1982 and more widely since the early 2000s.

The Lok Sabha battle in Assam's Jorhat, where voting is underway today in first phase, is both political and personal for Assam CM @himantabiswa . No other seat in #Assam is as interesting as #Jorhat in this Lok Sabha election. #WATCH #live #ผีฮ่องกง #bbcqt #AVFC #TSTTPD #AVFC pic.twitter.com/TZ1Aa9LmX9

— Dr. Shahid Siddiqui (@shahidsiddiqui) April 19, 2024

Votes will be counted on June 4 after polling is done on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.

Elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Puducherry will start and end today. Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tripura and Manipur will vote in 2 phases. Chhattisgarh and Assam will see elections in 3 phases, while Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand will witness 4-phase polling.

Phase 2 will see 89 Lok Sabha seats go to the polls across 13 states/UTs. Elections to all 20 seats in Kerala will be held during the second phase on April 26. The Lok Sabha elections of 2024 will be conducted across seven phases, starting on April 19, followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. Vote counting will be done on June 4.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The world’s most populous nation follows the first-past-the-post system, where voters cast a vote for a single candidate in a constituency and the candidate with the most votes wins the seat. The voting age is 18 years and contestants need to be at least 25 years old.

A total of 968 million voters are registered, out of which 497 million are men and 471 million are women. A higher percentage of women voters than men are likely to vote for the second time in a row.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Modi is chasing a record-equalling third straight term like India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Modi says another overwhelming victory for the National Democratic Alliance, led by the BJP, is crucial to meet his goal of lifting India to a developed economy by 2047 from middle-income levels. The world’s fifth-largest economy has grown fast in the past few years and Modi has “guaranteed” to take it to the third position if he wins the election.

The BJP draws its support mainly from Hindus, who form 80% of the country’s 1.42 billion people and for whom Modi earlier this year delivered on a key party promise of building a grand Hindu temple on a disputed site.

The opposition “INDIA” alliance, largely a centre-left grouping of more than two dozen disparate parties, says a victory for it is essential to save the country’s democratic and secular setup, lift its marginalised communities, raise prices for farmers and create jobs for its young. Opinion polls, which have a mixed record in India, predict another thrashing of the Congress alliance at the hands of the BJP.

–Dr. M Shahid Siddiqui (PhD), Follow via X (Twitter) @shahidsiddiqui

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