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All 543 seats in the Lok Sabha 272 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The next Indian general elections are expected to be held by May 2029 to elect the members of the 19th Lok Sabha.
The tenure of 18th Lok Sabha is scheduled to end in June 2029. [1] The previous general elections were held in April–May-June 2024. After the election, National Democratic Alliance, led by Bharatiya Janata Party, formed the union government, with Narendra Modi continuing in his third term as Prime Minister. [2]
The next Lok Sabha delimitation in India is due after the first census following the year 2026. According to the 84th Amendment to the Constitution of India, the current freeze on the delimitation of constituencies is set to continue until the results of the first census taken after the year 2026 are published. [3]
The introduction of women's reservation in the Lok Sabha is set to occur after the delimitation exercise based on the census following the year 2026. According to the 106th Amendment Act, 33% of the total seats will be directly allocated to women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies and Delhi legislative assembly. [4]
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has indicated that 2029 elections would be over by the end of April to prevent heat from affecting voter turnout. Until 2004, the general elections were conducted between the cooler months of December and March. [5]
All 543 elected MPs are elected from single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.
Eligible voters must be Indian citizens, 18 years or older, an 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. Some people convicted of electoral or other offences are barred from voting.
Article 83 of the Constitution of India requires elections to the Lok Sabha be held once every five years.
Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary secular democratic republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. It is based on the federal structure of government, although the word is not used in the Constitution itself. India follows the dual polity system, i.e. federal in nature, that consists of the central authority at the centre and states at the periphery. The Constitution defines the organizational powers and limitations of both central and state governments; it is well recognised, fluid and considered supreme, i.e. the laws of the nation must conform to it. India is officially declared a secular and socialist state as per the Constitution.
The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, and they hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Parliament House, New Delhi.
India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the union government and the states. India's democracy is the largest democracy in the world.
Elections in Kerala are regularly held to appoint government officials at various levels, both within the state of Kerala and in India as a whole. These elections encompass national elections as well as regional elections for local bodies and panchayats.
General elections were held in India between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952, the first national elections after India attained independence in 1947. Voters elected the 489 members of the first Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. Elections to most of the state legislatures were held simultaneously.
In India, a number of political positions and university posts are held for specific groups of the population, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and women in some cases.
The Delimitation Commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act, tasked with redrawing the boundaries of legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on the last census. The present delimitation of constituencies has been done on the basis of 2001 census under the provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002.
Rae Bareli is one of the 80 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is considered to be a bastion of the Indian National Congress. From 1967 to 1977, the seat was held by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and from 2004 until her appointment to the Rajya Sabha in 2024, by Sonia Gandhi.
The President of India is indirectly elected with Instant-runoff voting by means of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of the Parliament of India and the Legislative assemblies of the States of India and the Union territories. The number and value of votes are based on the population in 1971 rather than the current population, as a result of the 42nd Amendment, and extended by the 84th Amendment, with the intention to encourage family planning programs in the states by ensuring that states are not penalised for lowering their population growth and development.
Elections in the state of Bihar, India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Bihar creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India.
Elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India to elect the representatives of various bodies at national, state and district levels including the 114 seat unicameral Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Parliament of India. The first elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir took place between 28 November and 19 December 2020 in the form of by-elections to District Development Councils and municipal and panchayat level bodies. A fresh delimitation process for assembly constituencies began in February–March 2020.
Elections in Haryana, which is a state in India, have been conducted since 1967 to elect the members of state-level Haryana Legislative Assembly and national-level Lok Sabha. There are 90 assembly constituencies and 10 Lok Sabha constituencies.
The 2014 Indian general election in Andhra Pradesh were held on 30 April 2014 and 7 May 2014. In Andhra Pradesh there are 25 Lok sabha constituencies and were scheduled to go for voting on 7 May 2014 and results are announced on 16 May 2014, and the new state of Telangana was carved out from Andhra Pradesh on 2 June 2014.
General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and voter turnout was over 67 per cent – the highest ever, as well as the highest ever participation by women voters until 2024 Indian general election.
General elections were held in India from 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 4 June to form the 18th Lok Sabha. On 7 June 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed the support of 293 MPs to Droupadi Murmu, the president of India. This marked Modi's third term as prime minister and his first time heading a coalition government, with the Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh and Janata Dal (United) of Bihar emerging as two main allies.
To constitute India's 17th Lok Sabha, general elections were held in April–May 2019. The results were announced on 23 May 2019. The main contenders were two alliance groups of the Incumbent BJP leading National Democratic Alliance and the Opposition United Progressive Alliance and Indian National Congress respectively. The 2019 Indian general election was the largest democratic exercise in history at the time it was conducted, with around 912 million eligible voters.
The 18th Lok Sabha was formed after general elections were held in India over seven phases from 19 April to 1 June 2024, to elect all members from 543 constituencies of the Lok Sabha. The votes were counted, and the results were declared on 4 June 2024. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the majority seats with 240, followed by the Indian National Congress (INC) with 99 seats. With the required absolute majority being 272 seats, having 293 seats, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition formed the government. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (BJP) is the Leader of the House and Rahul Gandhi (INC) is the Leader of Opposition.
The 2024 Indian general election was held in West Bengal in seven phases between 19 April and 1 June 2024 to elect 42 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was announced on 4 June 2024.
The Constitution Act, popularly known as the Women's Reservation Bill, 2023, was introduced in Lok Sabha on 19 September 2023 during the special session of Parliament. This legislation seeks to allocate 33 percent of the seats in the directly elected Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies and Delhi legislative assembly for women.