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.
India cannot join the First World if UP ( 200 million ) and Bihar ( 100 million ) remain backward. That also applies to India’s 200 million Muslims. There could be an overlap since both these states have large Muslim minorities. Going beyond the electoral value of Muslims, can we visualise a peaceful, prosperous India with majoritarianism, hate crimes a normal feature. If, as more analysts are pointing out, polarisation has reached its natural limits and limitations, there should be a lot of reflection. 2. The other fear is radicalisation, which fortunately is not so far a problem. Christians are fearful. Manipur. Stirrings of separatist sentiment in Punjab. India should not throw away its potential.