Election dates: Lok Sabha Election Dates: Election Commission sets date & time to announce general election schedule
With elections slated to take place some time around April-May 2024, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to come back to power for the third consecutive term, having bagged the majority in 2014 and 2019.
Campaigning for the upcoming polls are already underway, with the BJP confidently claiming that the party would clinch over 400 seats in the 543-seats strong Lok Sabha.
In 2019, the BJP managed to corner 37.36 per cent of the votes, effectively achieving the highest vote share by any political party in India since the 1989 general election. BJP alone won 303 seats, with the tally going up to 353 seats for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Rahul Gandhi-led Indian National Congress secured 52 seats, with the tally inching up to 98 for the party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
The Election Commission had announced that nearly 97 crore Indians will be eligible to vote in this year’s Lok Sabha elections, reflecting a 6 per cent increase in registered voters since 2019. The electoral rolls were published in all States/UTs across the country in early February after an intensive Special Summary Revision 2024 process.
Efforts are also underway to explore the feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections across the country. A High-Level Committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind recently submitted recommendations of the panel to Prsident Droupadi Murmu. The ‘One Nation One Election‘ team also held consultations with former Chief Justices Deepak Mishra and SA Bobde.Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, are preparing to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the coming months.
