Lok Sabha elections 2024 refers to the general elections scheduled to take place starting 19 April in seven phases. The results of these election will give India its next government.
Lok Sabha elections or General Elections are conducted every five years in India. Held across 543 constituencies, Members of Parliament to the lower house are elected through these polls. The party with a majority in the Lok Sabha then forms the government at the Centre, so these elections eventually lead to the election of the Prime Minister and their cabinet.
The Lok Sabha, or the House of the People, is the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament. The upper house is called the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies.
The first Lok Sabha elections were held in 1951 when the Indian National Congress came to power with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister. The last such election was held in 2019, where the Bharatiya Janta Party came to power with an overwhelming majority with Narendra Modi as prime minister. The next elections are scheduled to take place in 7 phases starting 19 April 2024. The Election Commission of India is responsible for conducting these elections.
Foreign interference is a far-fetched notion. There is no reason to believe that foreign intelligence agencies are involved in influencing the mandate in India.
However, the absolutely atrocious and partisan reportage on Indian politics by the global mainstream media over the last 10 years is something that even the Modi govt’s worst critics will have to admit. The one-sided narrative peddled by the Left-liberal global media against BJP/RSS/Modi cannot be brushed under the carpet. It is there for everyone to see for themselves.
The global media’s coverage of India, of late, has resembled a rant of varied accusations, mostly falsehoods and half-truths. What is even worse is that Indian media stalwarts like Mr. Shekhar Gupta, while appearing on foreign media talk shows, have tacitly encouraged this false narrative setting enterprise. When questioned on Modi govt’s alleged crackdown on Indian media, he and others of his ilk have remained silent or answered diplomatically. As far as my understanding of the situation goes, nothing has been done by the Indian govt which can give outlets like The Print, DW News, etc. a reason to claim that the govt is hounding them.