Contemporary politics and previous elections

India has a multi-party system with two major parties, namely the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress dominating the politics at the national level. The Bharatiya Janata Party has governed the country with Narendra Modi at the helm since 2014. The tenure of the 17th Lok Sabha is scheduled to end on 16 June 2024.^[4] The previous general election was held in April–May 2019, after which the, National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, formed the union government, with Modi continuing as Prime Minister.^[5]

Electoral system

Article 83 of the Constitution of India requires elections to the Lok Sabha to be held once every five years.^[6] All 543 elected MPs are elected from single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.^[7] The 104th amendment to the constitution abolished the two seats that were reserved for the Anglo-Indian community.^[8]

Eligible voters must be Indian citizens, 18 years or older, ordinary resident of the polling area of the constituency and registered to vote (name included in the electoral rolls), possess a valid voter identification card issued by the Election Commission of India or equivalent.^[9] Some people convicted of electoral or other offenses are barred from voting.^[10] Indians holding foreign citizenship are also barred from voting. There is no postal or online absentee voting in India; members of the Indian diaspora are required to travel back to their home constituencies in order to cast a ballot.^[11]

For the 2024 election, 968 million people are eligible to vote, an increase of about 150 million people from the 2019 election.^[12] In Arunachal Pradesh, a polling station will be set up for the only registered voter in the village of Malogam, due to electoral laws that stipulate voting booths to be placed within two kilometers from all settlements.^[13][14][15] Polling stations will also be set up inside a wildlife sanctuary in Kerala and in a shipping container in Gujarat,^[16] as well as in 320 relief camps hosting some 59,000 people displaced during interethnic violence in Manipur.^[17]

In March 2024, the Supreme Court of India rejected a petition by the Congress Party to end the usage of electronic voting machines and revert to paper ballots and manual counting, which was the system used in elections until the late 1990s, with the party citing risks of electoral fraud.^[18] Nearly 5.5 million electronic voting machines will be utilized for more than one million polling stations, while 15 million election workers and security personnel will be tasked with managing the conduct of the election.^[15]

Planning

Key processes during a Lok Sabha election include monitoring campaign expenditure, preventing illicit goods, and ensuring adherence to the Model Code of Conduct. In the final 48 hours, campaigns halt, and measures are implemented to maintain order and prevent disruptions. Polling day involves strict rules to prevent undue influence, ensuring a smooth and secure election process. EVMs are sealed and stored with tight security, while Booth Level Officers assist voters. The exercise requires meticulous planning to ensure free, fair, and peaceful elections.^[19]

Date summary

Seat summary

National Democratic Alliance

The National Democratic Alliance, abbreviated as NDA (IAST: Rāṣhṭrīya Jānātāntrik Gaṭhabandhan) is a big-tent, mostly centre-right to right-wing political alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, abbreviated as INDIA (IAST: Bhāratīya Rāṣṭrīya Vikāsaśīla Samāveśī Gaṭhabaṃdhana) is a big-tent, mostly centre-left to left-wing bloc of opposition parties.^[28][29]

On the run up to the general election numerous opposition parties met to form a new opposition alliance to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. After numerous talks 24 political parties came together to form the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

Source:^{[30][31][32][33]}

Other notable parties and alliances

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati announced that her party will contest the election on its own in most states and ally with other non-BJP, non-Congress parties in Telangana and Haryana.^[55]

On 11 May 2023, Biju Janata Dal leader and Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik said that his party will go alone for the Lok Sabha polls.^[56]

National Democratic Alliance

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance

Unemployment

The issue of unemployment has been a major problem for the Indian economy, especially affecting the youth.^[104][105] Unemployment in India has been at a 45-year old high.^[106] According to a 2022 World Bank report, India's youth unemployment rate stood at 23.2%,^[107] whereas the national unemployment hovered around 7%.^[104] In 2023, 42.3% of graduates were unemployed, showing the lack of job growth needed to accommodate the increasing workforce.^[108]

As such, unemployment has taken a centre stage in the election campaigns, with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance banking on rising unemployment and inflation to criticise the BJP government's handling of the Indian economy.^[109] As a part of its separate youth manifesto, the Congress-led INDIA bloc promised to fill in the 3 million vacancies in government jobs and bring in the "Right to Apprenticeship", in which any diploma and degree holder up to the age of 25 can demand employment for one year and they will get a one-year salary of ₹100,000 for the term of the job.^[110]

Ram Mandir consecration ceremony and sectarianism

The BJP prepared a pamphlet for the Ram Mandir Inauguration Programmes to connect with families across the nation. After the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, a new era of Hindu nationalistic sentiments have dominated the political sphere in India.^[111][112] Modi kept a long-standing political pledge of the reconstruction of the Ram Mandir and was seen to have fulfilled the BJP's manifesto to the nation's Hindu population.^[112] The Hindu nationalist ideology of Modi and the BJP has also garnered substantial support from Hindu community members.^[113][114] At the same time, Bollywood productions have been released with themes supporting the Modi government's policies and Hindu nationalist ideologies.^[115] In response to such concerns, BJP spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon acknowledged the existence of a "level of threat perception", but said that the party was trying to change that.^[116]

A major controversy was stirred when the opposition Congress Party and its leaders declined an invitation to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, saying that the event was politicised into a 'BJP-RSS event'.^[117] Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the invitation was an opportunity for the Congress to 'reduce its sin', and that history would continue to judge it as 'anti-Hindu'.^[118] The four Shankaracharyas also declined attending the event, stating that the ceremony was politicised as a campaign event at the half-built temple.^[119][120]

During a campaign rally in Rajasthan on 21 April, Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of prioritizing Muslim access to national wealth and planning to distribute resources among “those who have more children” and "infiltrators" once it was in power, which reflected stereotypes about Muslims reproducing in greater numbers and conspiracy theories pushed by the BJP that Muslims were planning to outnumber Hindus. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge called Modi's remarks a panic-filled "hate speech" and a ploy to divert attention from the opposition outperforming the BJP during the first phase of the election, while officials in Rajasthan received complaints from the Azad Adhikar Sena and a non-profit organisation demanding Modi's arrest and for his campaign to be suspended.^[121][122]

A complaint letter by the Samvidhan Bacchao Nagrik Abhiyan (Save the Constitution Citizens' Campaign) organisation to the Election Commission of India, signed by over 17,400 people, alleged that Modi had violated the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of the People Act, 1951 by making a speech "aiming at not only appealing to 'communal feelings' but also instigating and aggravating hatred in the Hindus against Muslims".^[123][124]

Electoral Bonds

On 15 February 2024, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the Electoral Bond system of campaign financing that was introduced by the Modi government in 2017 which allowed individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without limits was unconstitutional, saying that the process allowed donors to assert "influence over policymaking".^[125] On 18 March, the court ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide all records regarding the electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India by 21 March in order to match electoral donors with their recipients and rejected a plea by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India from divulging the identities of donors. Initial reports suggest that among the leading donors to political parties were some of India's largest firms such as Vedanta Limited, Bharti Airtel, RPSG Group and Essel Mining. It also found that the BJP was the recipient of nearly half of all recorded donations.^[126]

In total, the top five political parties in terms of electoral bonds received are the BJP, which received Rs 6,060.5 crore, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which received Rs 1,609.5 crore, the Congress Party, with Rs 1,421.8 crore, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which received Rs 1,214.7 crore, and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which received Rs 775.5 crore.^{[127][128][129]} The biggest buyer of electoral bonds was found to be Santiago Martin, the Tamil Nadu-based head of the lottery firm Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited, who bought bonds worth 13.68 billion rupees ($163 million) between 2020 and 2024 and made donations to the TMC, the BJP, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which rules Tamil Nadu. The biggest single donor to any political party was Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), a construction firm based in Hyderabad that bought electoral bonds worth over 12 billion rupees ($144 million) between 2019 and 2024 and made donations to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the BJP, and the Congress Party, who alternated in ruling Telangana during that time.^[130]

Some politicians from the opposition have termed Electoral Bonds a "scam" and an "extortion racket".^{[131][132][133]} In response to allegations regarding the electoral bonds, BJP spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam denied that the party had done any wrongdoing and said that its electoral bonds were gained "on merit".^[130] However, Indian political observers have reached the conclusion that either Indian businessmen have been regularly bribing their way out of trouble, or that the BJP-controlled government has been using government agencies to extort them. From the data released by the SBI, it was found that companies gave donations around the time they received major government contracts. Close to half of the top 30 corporate donors were facing investigations by government agencies around the time they purchased electoral bonds.^{[134][135][136]}

Congress Party fund predicament

On 16 February 2024, the Congress Party alleged that the Income Tax Department (IT) ordered the freezing of bank accounts by the Congress Party containing 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) as part of an ongoing legal dispute.^[137] The Congress Party's treasurer Ajay Maken later added that tax authorities imposed a 2.1-billion rupee ($25 million) lien on 13 February, "virtually sealed" its bank accounts and confiscated 1.1 billion rupees ($14 million). The party's leader Rahul Gandhi complained that the restrictions had rendered the party unable to campaign properly, adding that "Our entire financial identity has been erased." Gandhi also accused Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of conducting a "criminal action" against the party, which the BJP denied. His mother and former Congress leader Sonia Gandhi also alleged that the tax issues are "part of the systemic efforts to cripple" the party. An appeal is currently pending in the Supreme Court.^[138]

According to the IT Department's official sources, it has recovered ₹135 crore from the Congress for breaking the legislation exempting political parties from paying taxes, rather than freezing the party's bank accounts as the opposition party had claimed.^[139] The party received notices from the IT department again on 29 March asking it to pay ₹1,823.08 crore (US$228 million). The Congress accused the BJP of engaging in "tax terrorism" and alleged that the BJP is in serious violation of income-tax laws and that the IT department should raise a demand of ₹4,617.58 crore (US$578 million) crore from the BJP for such violations.^[140]

Investigations into opposition leaders

The election period also coincided with investigations by authorities into state officials belonging to opposition parties, such as Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, who is under investigation for alleged corruption in the allocation of liquor licences, and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested in February 2024 for allegedly facilitating an illegal land sale. The Enforcement Directorate is also investigating four chief ministers not allied with the BJP on various charges, while investigations have been closed on former opposition politicians who have since joined the BJP. Hartosh Singh Bal, a journalist for the current affairs magazine The Caravan told Agence France-Presse that the move by government agencies indicated their behavior as "handmaidens of the ruling party to cow down the political opposition".^[137]

The BJP-led government has been known to use Enforcement Directorate raids to target opposition politicians critical of it, with 95% of cases registered being against opposition leaders.^{[141][142][143]} Since 2014, 25 opposition leaders facing corruption charges have joined the BJP, with 23 of them having their inquiries closed or frozen after joining the ruling party.^[144]

Following Kejriwal's arrest on 21 March over the liquor license scam charges, Delhi's finance minister Atishi Singh accused the BJP of orchestrating a "political conspiracy" against Kejriwal.^[145] His arrest also led to clashes between party leaders, supporters and the police on 22 March.^[146] Rahul Gandhi, reacting to Kejriwal's arrest, said that a "scared dictator" wants to create a "dead democracy", without naming anyone.^[147]

Bharatiya Janata Party

The national executive meeting of the BJP held on 16 and 17 January 2023 saw the party reaffirm its faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and extend the tenure of BJP national president J. P. Nadda.^[148]

Charting out the BJP's strategy for the upcoming polls, Modi said in a speech to party workers that they should reach out to every section of society, including the marginalised and minority communities, "without electoral considerations".^[149]

Following the 2023 Legislative Assembly elections, Modi debuted the slogan "Modi Ki Guarantee" for the 2024 polls.^[150]

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance

The bloc's first joint rally was held in Patna, Bihar on 3 March 2024. The rally saw, among others, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, and senior Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja. Kharge attacked Kumar for frequently changing alliances and criticised the BJP for not fulfilling its promise of jobs and neglecting the country's poor and the majority.^[151]

The alliance jointly held a rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on 17 March, a day after the end of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. The rally was attended by Gandhi, SS(UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, NCP(SP) leader Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, and DMK leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. K. Stalin, among many others.^[152] At the rally, Gandhi said that he was compelled to launch his yatra due to rising inflation and unemployment in the nation.^[153]

A few days after arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor scam on 22 March,^[154] the opposition alliance held a protest rally against the same in Ramlila Maidan, Delhi on 31 March, where opposition leaders alleged the corruption case on him and his subsequent arrest to be a "fabrication with political motives" and a "witch hunt".^{[155][156][157]} At the rally, named "Loktantra Bachao" (Save Democracy), amid current events, the opposition tried to frame the election as being "democracy vs dictatorship".^[158]

Shiv Sena

After an intraparty dispute that led to the splitting of the Shiv Sena party based in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court of India barred the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction which joined the I.N.D.I.A. alliance from using the party's historic bow-and-arrow symbol as its electoral symbol in balloting and awarded it instead to the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena wing which supported the BJP. This led the UBT faction to adopt a torch as its electoral symbol.^[174]

Party manifestos

Opinion polls

Observers

On 14 April 2024, the BJP invited foreign diplomats posted in the country as well as 25 overseas political parties including the Conservative and Labour parties of the United Kingdom, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Awami League of Bangladesh to observe the party's electoral campaign.^[273][274]

This initiative is part of the "Know BJP" campaign, aimed at external outreach and familiarisation with the election process. As part of this program, the BJP president met with envoys from 13 countries.^[275][276]

Voting

The Phase 1 voting began on 19 April 2024, with a voting percentage of 68.29%. The highest voter turnout during polling under Phase 1 was recorded in Lakshadweep at 83.88%, with Bihar witnessing the lowest turnout at 48.88%.^[277][278] Re-polling in 11 polling stations of Inner Manipur was held in 22 April due to violence on 19 April.^[279][280] Re-polling was also ordered for eight polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh due to reports of violence and EVM damage.^[281][282]

Incidents

During Phase I of the election, violence broke out outside a polling station in Thamanpokpi in Manipur.^[283][284] Clashes between BJP and TMC party workers were reported in the Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri constituencies of West Bengal,^[285][286] and one CRPF personnel was found dead in a polling booth in Cooch behar.^[287][288] In Chhattisgarh, one CRPF personnel was killed during polling.^[289][290] Clashes between VCK and BJP cadres were reported in Chidambaram constituency in Tamil Nadu, where two VCK cadres and one BJP cadre were injured.^[291][292]

Phase-wise

State-wise

Results by alliance or party