India elections 2024: When are they, why do they matter and who can vote?

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waits to welcome leaders of the G20 in New Delhi on 9 September, 2023.

The largest poll in history will take place in India in six weeks, starting on April 19 and ending on June 1.

Opposition parties claim that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is elected, Indians will lose some privileges if they continue to rule. However, Prime Minister Modi is hopeful of winning a third successive term.

Which political events are challenging Narendra Modi’s BJP?

Recent polls indicate that Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) and its allies will win the Lok Sabha, India’s lower chamber, for the third time in a row.

The Lok Sabha chooses the prime minister, who in turns chooses government officials.

In the 2019 election the BJP won 303 seats, and the partnership of events it is in, the National Democratic Alliance, took 352 seats nevertheless.

Graph showing which parties hold how many seats in the Lok Sabha

The Hindu feet man who rose to the position of prime minister

A coalition of political parties led by the largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, poses the biggest obstacle for the alliance in 2024.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance ( or” India” ) is a group of more than 20 parties that have joined it.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as their sisters Rahul and Priyanka, whose father was former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, are among the prominent politicians in this group.

Although their mother, Sonia Gandhi, is a prominent opposition figure, she is not expected to work as tough as she did in 2019.

Delhi’s governing Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP ) is part of the coalition, along with several important regional parties.

Three Initiative officials have been lately arrested, accused of corruption. The BJP and Mr. Modi are accused of staging a political grudge against the organization, which the BJP denies.

What are the main problems, and why is it important to vote in India?

Mr. Modi may assert that thanks to its expanding business and closer ties with the US, which wants India to serve as its alliance against China, the country’s reputation has improved.

He has recently introduced generous welfare schemes, such as providing free grain to 800 million of India’s poorest, and a monthly stipend of 1, 250 rupees ($ 16, £12 ) to women from low- income families.

Supporters of the "India" coalition with placards bearing the face of opposition politician Rahul Gandhi

Congress makes the claim in its statement that younger people are still unemployed.

Additionally, it promises more internships for school graduates, three million more government jobs, and increased security payments for women.

It even promises that it will prevent India’s” glide into autocracy”.

Minority groups claim that under Mr. Modi’s rule, they frequently face discrimination and problems, and that they have been forced to live as” second-class” people. The BJP refutes this claim.

Journalists and others who criticize the BJP authorities are increasingly being harassed, according to Freedom House, a campaign group for foreign civil rights. It describes India as only being “partly free.”

What are the polling day times, and why is it so much to vote?

Voting is taking position in different parts of India on seven electoral time: 19 April, 26 April, 7 May, 13 May, 20 May, 25 May and 1 June.

On June 4th, the benefits will be released.

Voting is erratic to allow election security personnel to patrol electoral locations throughout the nation.

Thousands of electronic voting machines will be used, allowing voters to choose between “none of the above” individuals.

Who is eligible to cast a ballot in the Lok Sabha elections?

India is the world’s most populous state, with 1.4 billion citizens, and 969 million of them can ballot in this year’s election- around one in eight of the global community.

Voters may be American members, 18 years of age or older and be on the electoral record. Additionally, they require current vote identification accounts.

Indian women queue to vote at a polling station

The 13.4 million American people who reside worldwide are eligible to cast ballots, but they must record and go back to India to do so.

A single party or coalition needs at least 272 votes to form a majority in the Lok Sabha, where there are 543 elected Members.

People of the Lok Sabha are elected for a five-year word to indicate a single district, with the winner being the one who receives the most seats.

There are 131 chairs reserved for MPs from thus- called “scheduled castes” and “scheduled nations”. These are organizations formally recognised as impoverished, and make up about a third of India’s inhabitants.

A second of the tickets will be given to women under a law passed in India, but this will not go into effect for several years.

How are all the seats gathered in India?

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India is 1.3 million square kilometers ( 3.3 million square miles ) in place, and electoral guidelines say there must be a voting booth close to every human settlement.

For the one man who lives in the Gir National Park in Gujarat, a voting booth was set up in a remote woodland area.

In the 2024 elections, officials will trek 24 miles ( 39km ) to a village in Arunachal Pradesh state in north- east India, to collect the vote of a single female voter.