NEW DELHI -- India, the world's most populous country and largest democracy, kicks off its weekslong, multiphase general elections on April 19, with popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a third straight five-year term in power.
About 970 million people in the South Asian country of more than 1.4 billion are eligible to vote, with ballot counting scheduled for June 4, three days after voting ends. Among those registered to vote are 18 million first-timers 18 or 19 years old, as well as 8.2 million people over 85.
Here are five things to know.
What is the general election process?
Elections are being held for 543 seats of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, whose full term is five years, with citizens 18 years old and above eligible to vote.
A party or coalition needs to win 272 seats to form a government. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to secure a simple majority in the last two elections, in 2019 and 2014, when it won 303 and 282 seats, respectively. The main opposition Congress party, which was able to achieve a simple majority seven times in elections held in post-independence India, has become a shadow of its former self as it bagged just 52 and 44 seats in 2019 and 2014, respectively.
In India's first-past-the-post electoral system, the candidate with the most votes wins. Voters do not directly elect a prime minister, with members of Parliament deciding on who should fill that position. Usually the leader of the party or coalition that holds the majority of seats in the Lok Sabha is elected as prime minister and then appointed by the president.
Why does polling last over a month?
The seven-phase general election runs from April 19 to June 1, with over 1 million polling stations set up and 15 million employees of federal and state governments conducting the nationwide polls in what is being seen as the biggest peacetime logistical exercise anywhere in the world. The gigantic exercise also involves 400,000 vehicles.
Poll officials cover the length and breadth of the country, sometimes using helicopters, boats, mules and even elephants to reach remote areas. Security forces are also being deployed to ensure violence-free polls and to help transport election officials and voting machines securely.
All this, according to Election Commission officials, takes time, so the polls are spread over weeks. The general election to the Lok Sabha is the "biggest festival of democracy in the world," said Rajiv Kumar, India's chief election commissioner.
People cast their ballots through electronic voting machines by pressing a button against the name of their preferred candidate and a party symbol. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)
How much will the elections cost?
There is a huge cost involved in conducting an election on this scale, with millions of government employees and voting machines part of the process. Most of India's eligible voters will cast their ballots using electronic voting machines (EVMs), about 5.5 million of which have been deployed for the colossal democratic exercise. Voters above age 85 and those with disabilities have the option to use a postal ballot system.
Voters can press a button against the name of a candidate and his party symbol to cast their ballot through an EVM. Allaying concerns that EVMs could be hacked or results manipulated, Kumar pointed out that about 40 times legal challenges against EVMs have been rejected by courts saying that allegations of tampering were baseless. "EVMs are 100% safe," the chief election commissioner added.
While the Election Commission has not revealed exactly how much it will cost to conduct the 2024 elections, an earlier study by New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Media Studies showed that more than 550 billion rupees ($6.6 billion now) was spent in the 2019 polls in India, almost double the 300 billion rupees in 2014. The amount included the expenditure by the Election Commission in organizing the polls as well as funds spent by political parties, mainly the BJP and Congress.
The 2024 elections are expected to be even more expensive.
Who are the major contenders and what are the main issues?
The 73-year-old Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP has far brighter prospects of winning than the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) -- a fledgling coalition of about two dozen opposition parties, including the Congress party. The alliance is scrambling to overcome differences among its members, legal challenges facing their key leaders and a huge funding gap with the cash-rich ruling party.
Modi, whose charisma and appeal with voters remain intact, is again the prime ministerial face of the BJP, but the opposition alliance has not named any such candidate. "The INDIA bloc has taken a decision to fight an ideological election [against the BJP]. The coalition will decide after winning the election as to who will be the leader and prime minister," senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told a media conference on April 5.
While Congress claims that democracy and the nation's constitution are under threat from the BJP administration, the ruling party has been boasting of its welfare schemes for the poor, infrastructure development and India's growth story under its rule.
Why does the BJP appear to have the edge?
According to an India TV-CNX opinion poll published in early April, the BJP is expected to win 342 seats, with just 38 for Congress. This comes amid repeated assertions by Modi in public rallies that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would cross 400 seats this time, with his own party alone securing over 370.
In the 10 years of its rule since 2014, the BJP has consolidated its Hindu vote bloc by fulfilling promises made to voters. In 2019, it scrapped the semi-autonomous status of the northern Kashmir region, while in January this year, Modi inaugurated the grand Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya on a site that was once a flashpoint of Hindu-Muslim conflict. Meanwhile, his government last month implemented a citizenship law that grants nationality to Hindus and people of some other faiths who flee neighboring countries, despite criticism of an anti-Muslim bias.
Modi also often cites India's development under his government despite the opposition routinely accusing it of failing to create enough jobs and favoring billionaires. India's economy grew 8.4% in the October to December quarter of the fiscal year that ended on March 31, far exceeding economists' expectations, amid brisk manufacturing and construction activity.
Brokerage house Jefferies predicted in February that India would become the world's third-largest economy by 2027. It pointed out that over the last decade -- since Modi assumed power -- India has achieved a 7% compound annual growth rate in dollar terms, with an economy worth $3.6 trillion, jumping from eighth to fifth globally. In the next four years, it added, India's GDP will likely reach $5 trillion thanks to favorable demographics as well as "improving institutional strength and improvement in governance."
"We, the BJP-NDA, are fully prepared for elections," Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the election schedule was announced last month. "We are going to the people on the basis of our track record of good governance and service delivery across sectors."
