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.[b] Votes were counted and the result was declared on 4 June.
More than 968 million people out of a population of 1.4 billion people were eligible to vote, equivalent to 70% of the total population. 64.2 crore (642 million) voters participated in the election and 31.2 crore (312 million) of them were women, making it the highest ever participation by women voters.
The legislative assembly elections in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim were held simultaneously with the general election, along with the by-elections for 25 constituencies in 12 legislative assemblies.
The Election Commission of India has declared results for 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, with the BJP winning 240 seats and the Congress 99.
Experts predicted a third term for PM Narendra Modi. The BJP-led NDA won 292 seats and prevailed over the Opposition alliance – INDIA, which bagged 233 seats. The BJP’s Uttar Pradesh dominance, however, faced a tough challenge from the INDIA bloc. The contest between the BJP and INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha polls is a reflection of a broader ideological battle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed BJP workers at party headquarters in New Delhi and asserted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was strongly headed to form government for the third time.
The Cabinet will meet tomorrow morning and the single agenda item is the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha. A note has been moved by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and with this, the stage is set for the formation of a new government.
President Droupadi Murmu will dissolve the 17th Lok Sabha once the cabinet recommendation is received. The President will then start the process of constituting the 18th Lok Sabha once the Election Commission submits the list of MPs to her.
The President will then call the single-largest party to form the government at the Centre. In this case, the NDA will form a government and by convention prove its majority on the floor of the Lok Sabha within a month or less.
Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc is trying to reach out to like-minded parties and form a coalition government. It is also trying to woo NDA parties like Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu.
