Elections 2024

Elections 2024 – India

The 2024 Indian General Election was held to elect members of the 18th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The election was conducted by the Election Commission of India in seven phases between 19 April and 1 June 2024, with counting of votes taking place on 4 June 2024.

The election covered 543 parliamentary constituencies across India. According to the Election Commission of India, the election involved approximately 97.98 crore registered electors and 8,360 contesting candidates. The final voter turnout recorded in the Election Commission's 2024 Atlas was 66.10%, excluding the uncontested Surat constituency from the turnout calculation.

2024 Lok Sabha Election at a Glance

Election: Indian General Election 2024
Election: 18th Lok Sabha
Polling: 19 April – 1 June 2024
Counting: 4 June 2024
Total Parliamentary Constituencies: 543
Total Electors: 97.98 crore
Total Contesting Candidates: 8,360
Polling Stations: 10,52,664
Total Votes Polled: 64.64 crore including postal votes
Voter Turnout: 66.10%

The Election Commission recorded 74 elected women MPs in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Seven-Phase Election

The 2024 Lok Sabha election was conducted in seven phases to cover the country's large geographical area and administrative requirements.

Phase 1

19 April 2024

Phase 2

26 April 2024

Phase 3

7 May 2024

Phase 4

13 May 2024

Phase 5

20 May 2024

Phase 6

25 May 2024

Phase 7

1 June 2024

The Election Commission published separate notifications, schedules and election information for each phase.

Major Political Alliances

The 2024 election featured several national and regional political parties and alliances.

The two major national-level alliance groupings included:

National Democratic Alliance (NDA)

The NDA was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and included several regional and national parties.

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)

The INDIA alliance brought together the Indian National Congress and several opposition parties, although the participating parties contested different constituencies according to state-level seat-sharing arrangements.

Apart from these alliances, several regional parties and independent candidates contested the election.

Major Parties

Important parties participating in the 2024 Lok Sabha election included:

• Bharatiya Janata Party

• Indian National Congress

• Samajwadi Party

• All India Trinamool Congress

• Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

• Telugu Desam Party

• Janata Dal (United)

• Shiv Sena

• Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)

• Nationalist Congress Party

• Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar

• Aam Aadmi Party

• Biju Janata Dal

• Communist Party of India (Marxist)

• Rashtriya Janata Dal

• Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation

• Other state parties, registered political parties and independent candidates

2024 Lok Sabha Results

The 2024 election produced a Lok Sabha in which no single political party won a majority of the 543 seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won 240 seats, while the Indian National Congress won 99 seats.

Several regional parties also won substantial numbers of seats and became important components of the parliamentary political landscape.

The final seat distribution can be examined party-wise, state-wise and constituency-wise using the Election Commission's official statistical reports.

Formation of the Government

Following the election results, the National Democratic Alliance formed the government.

Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister for a third consecutive term on 9 June 2024.

The government was formed with support from NDA alliance partners represented in the 18th Lok Sabha.

State-Wise Elections

The 2024 Lok Sabha election was conducted across India's states and Union Territories.

Important states and Union Territories participating in the election included:

• Andhra Pradesh

• Arunachal Pradesh

• Assam

• Bihar

• Chhattisgarh

• Goa

• Gujarat

• Haryana

• Himachal Pradesh

• Jharkhand

• Jammu & Kashmir

• Karnataka

• Kerala

• Madhya Pradesh

• Maharashtra

• Manipur

• Meghalaya

• Mizoram

• Nagaland

• Odisha

• Punjab

• Rajasthan

• Sikkim

• Tamil Nadu

• Telangana

• Tripura

• Uttar Pradesh

• Uttarakhand

• West Bengal

• Delhi

• Chandigarh

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands

• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

• Ladakh

• Lakshadweep

• Puducherry

Elections Held Alongside the Lok Sabha Election

Several states also held Legislative Assembly elections during 2024.

Assembly elections were held in:

• Andhra Pradesh

• Arunachal Pradesh

• Odisha

• Sikkim

The Election Commission also conducted several Assembly by-elections during the year.

Voter Participation

The 2024 General Election involved one of the world's largest electorates.

The Election Commission recorded approximately 97.98 crore electors. More than 64 crore votes were counted when EVM and postal votes were considered together.

The Election Commission's final 2024 Atlas records an overall turnout of 66.10%.

Female voter participation was also significant. The Election Commission recorded 65.78% female turnout and 65.55% male turnout when calculating turnout excluding postal votes.

Women Candidates and MPs

Women participated as candidates across the country in the 2024 election.

The Election Commission recorded:

Women candidates: 800
Women elected as MPs: 74

The highest number of women candidates in a state was recorded in Maharashtra, with 111 women contesting. West Bengal recorded the highest number of women winning parliamentary seats, with 11 elected women MPs.

Important Features of the 2024 Election

The 2024 General Election included several notable electoral features:

Large Electorate

Nearly 98 crore electors were registered for the election, making voter management a major administrative exercise.

Seven Phases

Polling was conducted in seven phases between April and June 2024.

Extensive Polling Infrastructure

The Election Commission reported 10,52,664 polling stations across the country.

Large Number of Candidates

A total of 8,360 candidates contested the election across the 543 parliamentary constituencies.

Uncontested Election in Surat

The Surat parliamentary constituency in Gujarat was declared uncontested after the withdrawal and other developments involving the candidates. Consequently, the Election Commission excludes Surat when calculating the overall polling turnout.

How the 2024 Election Worked

India uses the first-past-the-post electoral system for Lok Sabha constituencies.

Each parliamentary constituency elects one Member of Parliament. The candidate receiving the highest number of valid votes in that constituency is declared elected.

The party or alliance that is able to command majority support in the Lok Sabha can form the Union government.

2024 Election Result Information

For detailed election analysis, readers can examine:

• State-wise results

• Constituency-wise results

• Party-wise seats

• Candidate-wise votes

• Vote share

• Winning margins

• Voter turnout

• NOTA votes

• Women candidates

• Women MPs

• Reserved constituencies

• Alliance performance

• State-wise political trends

• Parliamentary constituency profiles

The Election Commission provides official election results, statistical reports and constituency-level information.

Importance of the 2024 General Election

The 2024 General Election determined the composition of the 18th Lok Sabha and the political representation of India's parliamentary constituencies.

The results also shaped the composition of the Union government and the parliamentary balance among national and regional political parties.

The election provides an extensive dataset for understanding India's electoral participation, constituency-level voting, party performance and regional political representation.

Conclusion

The 2024 Indian General Election was a nationwide parliamentary election conducted across 543 constituencies in seven phases. With approximately 97.98 crore registered electors and 8,360 candidates, it was a major exercise in democratic participation.

The election resulted in a Lok Sabha with representation from national parties, regional parties and independent candidates. The results led to the formation of the Union government under the National Democratic Alliance, with Narendra Modi beginning his third consecutive term as Prime Minister on 9 June 2024.

For readers studying Indian politics, the 2024 election can be understood through constituency-level results, state-wise voting patterns, party performance, voter turnout, alliances and parliamentary representation.