Lok Sabha Election 2024 Overview

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set to form the government at the Centre for the third consecutive term, following the Lok Sabha Election 2024.

Overview of Lok Sabha Election 2024

• The Lok Sabha Election 2024 happened in seven phases.
• The Lok Sabha consists of 543 Members of Parliament (MPs), each elected from individual constituencies through a first-past-the-post voting system.
• Following the 104th constitutional amendment, the two seats reserved for the Anglo-Indian community have been eliminated
• This was be the first general election after landmark events such as the abolition of Article 370, the creation of the Temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya and the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
• 1.8 million VVPAT systems, and 1.7 million control units were deployed across 1.05 million polling stations in the 2024 Election.
• Over 26 lakh vials of indelible ink were provided to the Election Commission of India by Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd.
• Over 642 million voters participated in the election of which 312 million were women.

Coalition Government Returns in Lok Sabha

• For the first time since 1962, a government has returned for a third term after completing two consecutive terms spanning a decade
• However, the result signifies the end of single-party dominance and heralds the return of a true coalition government at the Centre.
• Coalition government is defined as when several political parties join hands to form a government and exercise political power based on a common agreed programme.
• Coalitions usually occur in modern parliaments when no single political party gets clear majority.
• A coalition implies the existence of at least two parties to form government.

Women’s Representation in the 18th Lok Sabha

• India has 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.
• Indira Gandhi has been India’s first and only woman Prime Minister.

Key Outcomes from the Lok Sabha Election 2024

• After 20 years, Congress won the Allahabad Lok Sabha constituency The grand old party’s last MP from Allahabad was the OG Angry Young Man and tweet-numbering enthusiast Amitabh Bachchan.
• Samajwadi Party had its best Lok Sabha poll ever with 37 seats and is the third-largest party in Parliament.
• BJP managed only 33 seats in 2024 in Uttar Pradesh. It was their worst performance since 2009 when they managed only 10 seats.
• BJP’s Lallu Singh lost the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency, by over 50,000 votes to SP’s Awadhesh Prasad which includes Ayodhya where the Ram Mandir ceremony was held on January 6.
• Congress won its first Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat since 2009. It had drawn a blank in 2014 and 2019.
• 13 Union Ministers lost in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election.
• Shankar Lakhwani registered the highest margin in this Lok Sabha election with a margin of 11.72 lakh votes in Indore when he beat NOTA. The INC candidate dropped out and joined the BJP. In Indore, NOTA received over 2 lakh votes.
• Shiv Sena (SS) candidate Ravindra Dattaram Waikar won the closest victory of the 2024 battle when he edged out his SS(UBT) rival by 48 votes in North-West Mumbai.
• Not accounting for UTs, Congress failed to win a single seat in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Sikkim, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir.
• BJP won at least one Lok Sabha seat in every state of India except for Tamil Nadu in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election.
• In Maharashtra, the NDA (now with Shiv Sena and NCP), only managed a total 17 of seats. This was far poorer than their performance in 2019 when they managed 43 of the 48 seats.
• SP’s Pushpendra Saroj, born on March 1, 1999, is the youngest Lok Sabha MP at just 25. Meanwhile, Shambhavi Chowdhury from Samastipur will become the youngest female Lok Sabha MP. She was born on 15 June 1998. The oldest MP is TR Baalu of DMK.
• Two individuals, in jail for terror charges, have won their seats. In Punjab, Amritpal Singh won from Khadoor Sahib. In Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdul ‘Engineer’ Rashid, also beat his closest rival.
• Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, an Independent candidate, won in Faridkot. His father Beant Singh was one of the bodyguards who killed Indira Gandhi in 1984.
• 7 Independent candidates won in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election.
• Despite sweeping the assembly elections in Punjab, AAP only managed to win 3 seats.
• BSP failed to win a single seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha election despite contesting 424 seats
• BJP had managed to win 77 of the Reserved Seats in 2019 but only managed to win 32 in 2024.
• The NDA in Andhra Pradesh, spearheaded by Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and bolstered by Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena, won 21 of the 25 seats. The BJP managed to win its first seat in Kerala.
• Of the 19 seats in Union Territories, BJP managed to win 12 seats.
• Mahua Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha in December 2019, won by the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha Constituency that she represented earlier.
• TMC’s Lok Sabha MPs include a former 1983 World Cup-winning star, a former Bihari silver screen superstar, and a Gujarati who won the IPL with KKR.
• The Trinamool Congress managed its second-best performance in West Bengal with 29 seats. In 2014 it had managed to win 34.
• The INC delivered its best performance (99) since 2009 when it managed to win 206 seats.
• In 286 seats where BJP and Congress faced off, the saffron party won 180 seats, a win percentage of 60.2%. In 2019, BJP had managed to win 257 of the 374 seats, a strike rate of 68%.
• Congress’ best performance was in Kerala where it won 14 seats.
• The INDIA Bloc’s best performances were in Uttar Pradesh (43), Maharashtra (30), West Bengal (39), Tamil Nadu (39, Kerala (19) and Punjab (10).
• The NDA’s best performances were in Bihar (30), MP (29), Gujarat (25), Andhra Pradesh (21), Odisha (20), Karnataka (19), Rajasthan (14) and Assam (11).
• Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, the TDP candidate from Guntur will become the richest Lok Sabha MP with an asset of Rs 5700 crore. Jyotirmay Singh Mahato from Bengal (BJP) at with assets worth Rs 5 lakh was the poorest candidate.
• Some actors who will be seen in the 18^th Lok Sabha include Kangana Ranaut, Arun Govi, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan, Suresh Gopi, Deepak ‘Dev’ Adhikari, Rachana Banerjee and June Malia.
• BJP managed to win all 10 seats in the hilly states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• BJP won 20 of the 21 seats in Odisha, their best performance by far in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election.
• For the first time in his political career, PM Narendra Modi will not head a single-party majority in Parliament or Assembly.
• The only time a single party has managed 400 paar was in 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi won 414 seats.

Recap of the 17th Lok Sabha (2019–2024)

• The 17th Lok Sabha, which met from June 2019 to February 2024, conducted a noteworthy total of 274 sessions, lasting for 1,354 hours, and achieved a commendable work productivity rate of approximately 97%.
• 179 Bills (excluding Finance and Appropriation Bills) were passed. The Ministries of Finance and Home Affairs piloted the highest number of Bills (15% each), followed by Law and Justice (9%), and Health and Family Welfare (9%)
• Notable bills include: The Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, The J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2019, The Appointment of CEC Bill, 2023, Three Labour Codes, The Digital Data Protection Bill, 2023, Three Farm laws (which were later repealed). Three Bills replacing the IPC, 1860, the CrPC, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
• As many as 729 Private Members’ Bills were introduced in this Lok Sabha.
• During the 17th Lok Sabha, 26,750 papers were laid by Ministers.
• Parliamentary Standing Committees presented a total of 691 reports and more than 69% of Committee recommendations were accepted by the government.
• The 17th Lok Sabha held 274 sittings. Only four previous Lok Sabhas have had fewer sittings, all of which were dissolved before completing the five-year term. 11 out of the 15 sessions held during this Lok Sabha were adjourned early.
• Article 93 of the Constitution requires that Lok Sabha elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker ‘as soon as may be’. This is the first time Lok Sabha did not elect the Deputy Speaker for its entire duration.
• Most Bills introduced during the term of the 17th LS ( 58% of the Bills) were passed within two weeks of their introduction

Dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister recommended the dissolution of the 17^th Lok Sabha.
• According to Article 83(2) of the constitution, the completion of five years from the first day of its meeting amounts to the dissolution of the Lower House of Parliament.
• A dissolution ends the very life of the existing House and a new House is constituted after general elections are held.
• However, the Lower House can also be dissolved earlier by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
• It can also be dissolved if the President feels that no viable government can be formed after the resignation or fall of the previous government.
• Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution

The First Lok Sabha Election (1951–52)

• Independent India’s first general elections were held between 25th October 1951 and 21st February 1952.
• It was a humongous exercise in which a sixth of the world’s population was going to vote, making it the largest election conducted in the world at the time.
• Ultimately, 32 crore voters from across the country (excluding Jammu and Kashmir) were enrolled, and 45% were women.
• The Parliament enacted the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951 laying down the groundwork for voter qualifications, election machinery, and other electoral processes.
• The Election Commission of India (ECI) was set up in January, 1950, with Sukumar Sen as the Chief Election Commissioner.
• Coloured ballot boxes and ballot papers the size of a Re 1 currency note were used to aid the largely illiterate electorate.
• There were 53 political parties, of which 14 were ‌national. These included the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Socialist Party, the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, and Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, among others.
• The Indian National Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, emerged as the dominant political force, securing 318 out of 489 Lok Sabha seats, consolidating its position as the ruling party.
• The Communist Party of India (CPI) emerged as the runner-up in the first Lok Sabha election, followed by the Socialist Party and other political parties.

Major Electoral Reforms in Lok Sabha History

• The 61^st Constitutional Amendment Act of 1984 reduced the voting age from 21 years to 18 years for the Lok Sabha as well as the assembly elections.
• In 1985, a provision was made that the officers and the staff engaged in the preparation, revision and correction of electoral rolls for elections are deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission for the period of such employment. These personnel, during that period, would be under the control, superintendence and discipline of the Election Commission.
• In the early years of Indian elections, individual coloured ballot boxes were used for each candidate. Voters would cast their votes by dropping paper ballots into the respective boxes. The introduction of ballot papers marked a crucial step towards streamlining the voting process.
• In 1989, a provision was made to facilitate the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in elections.
• In 1989, a provision was made for adjournment of poll or countermanding of elections in case of booth capturing. Booth capturing includes: seizure of a polling station and making polling authorities surrender ballot papers or voting machines
• T.N. Seshan’s tenure as CEC was one the most influential periods for the ECI, marked by his efforts to enforce the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) with greater efficacy.
• Under a 2003 provision, the Election Commission should allocate equitable sharing of time on the cable television network and other electronic media during elections to display or propagate any matter or to address the public.
• According to a 2009 provision, conducting exit polls and publishing results of exit polls would be prohibited during the election to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
• In 2013, a provision was made for online filing of applications for enrolment in the electoral roll. For this purpose, the Central Government, after consulting the Election Commission, made the rules known as the Registration of the Electors (Amendment) Rules, 2013.

NOTA

• In Indore the “None Of The Above” (NOTA) received more than 2 lakh votes.
• This is the highest-ever NOTA number for any Lok Sabha constituency ever.
• NOTA was used for the first time in the 2013 Assembly elections in five states of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh and later in the 2014 General Elections.
• It was introduced into the electoral process following the 2013 Supreme Court directive in the PUCL vs Union of India Case.
• NOTA has no legal consequence attached to it as even if the highest number of votes in a seat are polled for NOTA, the second most successful candidate wins.
• In Haryana, NOTA has been treated as a fictional candidate

Conclusion

The Lok Sabha Election 2024 marks a watershed moment in Indian political history. With the end of single-party dominance, the resurgence of coalition politics, and shifts in voter dynamics, the 18th Lok Sabha opens a new chapter in democratic governance. As India’s largest democratic exercise continues to evolve, the role of the Lok Sabha remains central to shaping the nation’s future.

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