More than 968 million voters had registered ahead of India’s 2024 general election, for which voting was held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1 to constitute the 18th Lok Sabha.

At the end of the tabulation on June 4 and June 5, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with 240 seats, fell short of the majority mark of 272 seats needed to win a clear majority even though the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the BJP-led alliance, won enough votes to form the government at the centre. The 293 seats won by the NDA was shy of the 400 seats targeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a wide margin, but it paved the way for Modi to come to power as the prime minister of India for a third consecutive term. BJP alone had won 303 seats in 2019 elections.

The INDIA coalition outperformed expectations, securing 234 seats, 99 of which were won by the Congress, garnering the party the official opposition status for the first time in 10 years.

 Seven independents and ten candidates from non-aligned parties also won seats in the Lok Sabha

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), India has the largest electorate in the world. The ECI used about 15 million government employees and security personnel—who were turned into election officials temporarily—to conduct the 2024 election.

In Arunachal Pradesh, a polling station would be set up for the only registered voter in the village of Malogam, as electoral laws stipulate that voting booths need to be within two kilometres (1.2 mi) of any settlement.

A polling station was also set up inside the Gir Forest in Gujarat to cater for a single voter, a priest at a Hindu temple. Polling stations were also set up inside a wildlife sanctuary in Kerala, in a shipping container in Gujarat, and 320 relief camps hosting nearly 59,000 people displaced during violence in Manipur.

No voter should have to travel more than 1.24 miles (2 km) to vote. This mandate, along with the difficult terrain in some places, posed a challenge for election officials. Polling officers trekked for 24 miles (39 km) in difficult terrain to reach a single voter in Malogam, a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh near the China border, in the first phase of the 2024 elections. ECI also facilitated home voting for voters over 85 years and for persons with disabilities in the 2024 elections.

Average voter turnout was 66.63%. which was higher than 65.79% recorded in 2019.

Six parties recognized as national parties contested the 2024 Indian general elections: the BJP, the INC, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), National People’s Party (NPP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with all except the BSP being a part of one of the two alliances.

642 million people voted in the election including 312 million women voters, making it the highest ever participation in a single election.

BJP won at least one Lok Sabha seat in every state of India except Tamil Nadu.

NOTA received 63,71,839 votes (0.99%) in 2024, and transgender voter turnout stood at 27.09%.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, there were 47,63,11,240 female electors (48.62% of total electors), up from 43,85,37,911 (48.09%) in 2019.

Dhubri (Assam) recorded the highest turnout at 92.3%, while Srinagar (J&K) had the lowest at 38.7%, (up from 14.4% in 2019).

India elected 74 women MPs to Lok Sabha in the 2024 general election four less than in 2019 and 52 more than in India’s first elections in 1952.

These 74 women make just 13.63% of the elected strength of the Lower House compared to 46% of MPs in South Africa, 35% in the UK, and 29% in the US.

14% candidates declared serious criminal cases including charges related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, etc.

744 parties fielded candidates in this election.  Of these, six have been recognised by the ECI as national parties.  16% of candidates were fielded by national parties, 6% by state parties, and 47% of candidates are independents. 

BSP fielded the highest number of candidates (488).  Among state parties, the Samajwadi Party (71) and the Trinamool Congress (48) have fielded the highest number of candidates.  Of the six national parties, the National People’s Party has fielded the fewest candidates (three), followed by the AAP (22).    

The average age of candidates contesting this election was 48 years.  The average age of candidates also varies significantly across states.  The average age of candidates in Telangana was 44 years, whereas that in Kerala was 55 years.

69% of candidates from major parties have at least an undergraduate degree.  4% of candidates have a doctoral degree. 

Six individuals of the third gender contested elections.  Of these, four candidates were independents, and two contested as candidates of unrecognised parties.  There were six third gender candidates in the 2014 and 2019 elections as well.

Electoral Bonds

On 15 February 2024, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the Electoral Bond system of campaign financing that was introduced by the Modi government in 2017 which allowed individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without limits was unconstitutional, saying that the process allowed donors to assert “influence over policymaking”.

 On 18 March, the court ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide all records regarding the electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India by 21 March in order to match electoral donors with their recipients and rejected a plea by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India from divulging the identities of donors. Initial reports suggest that among the leading donors to political parties were some of India’s largest firms such as Vedanta Limited, Bharti Airtel, RPSG Group and Essel Mining. It also found that the BJP was the recipient of nearly half of all recorded donations.

In total, the top five political parties in terms of electoral bonds received are the BJP, which received Rs 6,060.5 crore, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which received Rs 1,609.5 crore, the Congress Party, with Rs 1,421.8 crore, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which received Rs 1,214.7 crore, and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which received Rs 775.5 crore.