India general elections: All you need to know about 2024 polls

India is gearing up for the world’s biggest general election in which nearly a billion people will cast their votes over six weeks this summer to elect a prime minister and members of parliament.

Registered Indians would cast their votes in seven phases from 19 April to 1 June, the Election Commission of India announced on Saturday.

The 44-day-long electoral process, the second longest in independent India’s history, would conclude with counting of the votes on 4 June.

Incumbent prime minister Narendra Modi is seeking a straight third term in office and faces little to no challenge from an alliance of opposition parties led by the Indian National Congress.

Almost 970 million Indians – 471 million of them women – would cast their ballots to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha or the more powerful lower house of parliament.

The 2024 general elections would be largely fought on the issues of unemployment, the country’s economic performance over the past decade, farmers, a controversial citizenship law, and the right-wing government’s push for a Hindu-first nation.

Critics of the Modi administration have raised concerns about his re-election to power amid reports of rising targeted hate incidents against Muslims and other minorities in the country.

When is India’s election?

Indians across 28 states and eight federal territories would vote in seven phases. The first phase of polling will take place on 19 April, the second on 26 April; third, fourth, fifth and sixth on 7, 13, 20, 25 May; and the final phase will be held on 1 June.

Every phase of the election will span a single day, during which numerous constituencies – encompassing a variety of states, bustling urban centres, and remote villages – will cast their ballots.

More than 2,400 political parties are expected to put up candidates for the general elections, which early opinion polls predict would be dominated by Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Organising the general election in India has been a mammoth challenge, mostly due to the vast terrain, which stretches from the Himalayas in the north to the desert in the west and the coastal regions in the south.

The Election Commission, which oversees the polling, has to make sure there is a voting booth available within 2km of every voter. The poll body has already roped in 15 million government employees, many of them teachers and junior workers, who would have to travel by boat, foot or even horseback, if required.

But India takes immense pride in the arduous task, which Mr Modi described as the “biggest festival of democracy” in his election blitzkrieg.

It is an expensive process too. In 2019, political parties and candidates spent an estimated $8.7bn in their campaigns, according to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

How will the election phases work?

While some states will cast their ballots in a day, voting elsewhere may take longer. Uttar Pradesh, the largest Indian state the size of Brazil with 200 million people, will vote on all seven days, along with West Bengal and Bihar in the east.

(EPA)

Elections in the western state of Maharashtra and the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir would be conducted over five dates, while Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand would vote in four phases.

Voters in the Indian states of Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh would simultaneously cast their ballots to elect members of state legislatures.

Muslim organisations in the southern state of Kerala have urged the poll body to not hold elections on Friday to avoid inconvenience to believers and disruption of prayers.

Why does voting take over six weeks?

The 2024 general elections would continue for over six weeks, making this year’s election the second-longest in 75 years of independent India.

It took nearly four months to complete the vote in India’s first elections in 1951-1952, after it gained independence from British rule in 1947.

In 2019, voting took 39 days.

(AP)

The staggered polling allows the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent political violence and transport electoral officials and voting machines.

During the last general elections, a team of polling officers trekked over 480km for four days to a single voter in a hamlet in the remote state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China.

India also has the highest recorded polling station in the world, made possible by a team of officials who hiked to install a booth at 15,256ft in the Himalayas.

This year as well, polling stations would be installed in remote places, including one inside a wildlife sanctuary in Kerala and another in a shipping container in Gujarat, the Associated Press reported.

Will Modi win a rare third term?

Early opinion polls suggest the 73-year-old prime minister and his right-wing party are on the path to win a third term in power, riding the waves of a slew of socialist projects and a push towards a Hindu majoritarian society.

Mr Modi and the BJP had been in campaign mode for months before the polling dates were announced. He has been flying around the country almost every day, inaugurating new projects, making announcements, taking part in religious events and addressing public and private meetings.

Mr Modi in his speeches has been highlighting economic growth during his two terms which has resulted in India becoming the fastest-growing major economy in the world at present. A main talking point has also been the inauguration of a grand temple to Lord Ram (Hindu deity) on the site of a 16th century mosque destroyed by members of right-wing groups.

He has set a target of 370 seats for the BJP and 400-plus for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – aiming for a four-decade-high number.

Who are the contenders?

Mr Modi’s main opposition, the Congress party, has formed a 28-party alliance called INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) to jointly fight the BJP.