Lok Sabha Election Schedule 2024

The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held between April 19 and June 1 across seven phases. The counting of votes cast in the polls will be held on June 4. The seven phases will cover 543 constituencies.

The 2024 Lok Sabha Elections are going to be held across 7 phases between April 19 - June 1. Starting with April 19, 21 states across the country, including Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal, will have polls in a total of 102 seats.

Phase two of polls will be on April 26 in 13 states in 89 seats; phase three will be on May 7 in 12 states in 94 seats; phase four will be on May 13 in 10 states in 96 seats; phase five will be on May 20 and cover 49 seats across eight states; phase six will be on May 25 in 57 seats in seven states; and phase seven on June 1 in eight states, across 57 seats.

The 17th Lok Sabha elections were held between April 11 and May 19, 2019 and the results for it were declared on May 23. This was the first general election where voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) units were used at all polling booths. Over 8,000 candidates were in the fray for 543 Lok Sabha seats across the country.

As per the provision of Article 79 of the Indian Constitution, the House of the People, the Lok Sabha is the lower House of the parliament. Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election based on adult suffrage. The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution is 552.

The country has been divided into 543 Parliamentary Constituencies for the purpose of constituting the Lok Sabha, with each constituency electing one member. Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by eligible voters. Additionally, the President of India can nominate a maximum of two members to represent the Anglo-Indian community if it is deemed that this community has not been adequately represented.

In the General Elections of 2019, the BJP-led NDA alliance secured a sweeping victory over opposition parties, clinching 353 of the total 543 official seats. The BJP alone claimed 303 seats, establishing a clear majority. Meanwhile, the main opposing party, the Indian National Congress experienced a modest increase in seat count, rising from 44 in 2014 to 52 in 2019.

The BJP-led NDA won 353 of the total 543 official seats in the 2019 General Elections with BJP alone winning 303 seats. It was 31 more than the required number of seats for the majority, i.e., 272. A total of 37 parties including National People's Party , Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), Janata Dal (Secular), Janata Dal (United) among others, came together under the NDA banner.

The Indian National Congress won 52 seats in 2019, slightly improving its tally from 44 in 2014. But, the party still failed to claim the status of leader of the opposition as they failed to secure the 10% of seats required for the status.