The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held from April 19 in seven phases, the Election Commission of India announced on Saturday. The results will be declared on June 4.
The poll schedule for Assembly elections in four states were also announced by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
Assembly elections will be held in Andhra Pradesh on May 13, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim on April 19. Odisha will vote in two phases on May 13 and May 20.
Bypolls on 26 Assembly seats will also be held along with the Lok Sabha polls.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in India, the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, secured a landslide victory, winning 303 seats out of the total 542 contested seats. The party's performance was particularly remarkable in states like Uttar Pradesh, where they won 62 out of 80 seats, and solidified its position as the dominant political force in the country.
On the other hand, the Congress tasted bitter defeat for the second time in a row and was reduced to only 52 seats. This time, the grand old party is part of the INDIA opposition bloc. While it has worked out seat-sharing pacts in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, it was left high and dry by alliance partners in West Bengal, Punjab and Bihar. In some key states like Maharashtra, seat-sharing is yet to be finalised.
Other parties and regional players also had varied performances in the last Lok Sabha elections. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) retained its dominance in West Bengal, winning 22 out of 42 seats. The DMK, led by MK Stalin, made significant gains in Tamil Nadu, securing 23 out of 38 seats. Meanwhile, Mayawati's BSP and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party lost their edge in Uttar Pradesh.
In the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, the YSR Congress stormed to power with 151 Assembly seats. The Telugu Desam Party, which was in power since June 2014, managed only 23.
In Sikkim, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), a relatively newer political force compared to the long-standing Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), emerged victorious, securing 17 seats out of the total 32. The Sikkim Democratic Front, which had been the ruling party since 1994, won 15 seats, a decrease of seven seats from their previous tally.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP and its allies emerged victorious, securing a majority by winning 41 out of the 60 seats. Other parties that participated in the election included the Janata Dal (United) and the National People's Party, which won seven and five seats respectively. The Congress, once a dominant force in the state, was reduced to just four seats.
