— Ch. 1 · The Scale Of The Vote —
2024 Indian general election.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
More than 968 million people out of a population of 1.4 billion were eligible to vote in the 2024 Indian general election. This figure represented 70 percent of the total population and marked an increase of about 150 million voters compared to the 2019 election. The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for these elections on the 16th of March 2024, setting the stage for a massive logistical undertaking. Voting took place across seven phases from the 19th of April to the 1st of June 2024 to elect all 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on the 4th of June to form the 18th Lok Sabha.
Six hundred forty-two million voters participated in the election, with 312 million of these being women. This high female participation rate set a new record for any single election in history. The process lasted 44 days, making it the second-longest election period after the 1951, 52 Indian general election. In Arunachal Pradesh, a polling station was established for the only registered voter in the village of Malogam. Electoral laws stipulate that voting booths must be within one kilometer of any settlement. A polling station was also set up inside the Gir Forest in Gujarat to cater for a single voter, a priest at a Hindu temple.
Alliances And Candidates
The incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi ran for a third consecutive term as leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His party had enjoyed an absolute majority in the 2014 and 2019 elections but faced a primary opposition from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). This coalition formed in 2023 by the Indian National Congress (INC) and many regional parties aimed to challenge the BJP's dominance. Six national parties contested the 2024 election including the BJP, INC, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Bahujan Samaj Party, National People's Party, and Aam Aadmi Party.
The BJP announced its first list of 195 candidates on the 2nd of March 2024 and released subsequent lists through May 10. For the first time since 1996, the BJP did not field candidates in the Kashmir division due to popular backlash over the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy in 2019. The Congress released its first list of 39 candidates on the 8th of March 2024 with final lists published by the 7th of May. The All India Trinamool Congress announced its list of 42 candidates for West Bengal parliamentary seats on the 10th of March. The Left Front's CPI(M) announced its first list of 44 candidates contesting from 13 different states on the 28th of March.