India 2024 Election: Largest Democratic Election in the World

KOMPAS.com – India, a country with a population of 1.4 billion people, will start the general election period (Election) on April 19 2024 to June 1 2024. The Indian election is predicted to be one of the largest elections in the world.

Plans for the 2024 elections in India were announced by Chief Election Commissioner of India (ECI) Rajiv Kumar on Saturday (16/3/2024).

Furthermore, the counting of votes for the Indian Election will begin on June 4 2024.

India’s elections are the largest elections in the world because of its population. India is also the largest democratic country in the world because it is the country with the largest population in the world that applies democratic principles.

So, how is the election process taking place in India?

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Who did the people of India elect?

As many as 969 million voting rights holders living in India will take part in the 2024 Lok Sbha election process.

The 2024 elections in India will be held to elect 543 politicians representing the upper house of the Indian parliament. Meanwhile, two members of the assembly were nominated without elections.

Quoted from the New York Times (16/3/2024), the party that controls the majority of seats in the upper house can form a government and appoint one of the winning candidates as prime minister.

Assembly elections in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will also take place at the same time as the national elections.

India’s election process will last for a total of 82 days with voting carried out in seven stages.

Indians can cast their votes on April 19, 2024, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1, 2024.

The vote will be held over seven days as the government will deploy a large number of security forces to check that the election is free from violence and attempts at fraud.

All voting results will be counted and announced on June 4, 2024.

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How Indians vote

The Indian people will cast their votes through 5.5 million electronic voting machines located at 1.05 million polling stations (TPS).

The places spread even to the snowy mountains of the Himalayas, the deserts of Rajasthan, and the inhabited islands of the Indian Ocean.

A total of 15 million officers were deployed at the polling stations. To reach each voter, officials will travel by various transportation methods including trains, helicopters, horses, elephants, camels and boats.

The Indian people will exercise their right to vote on the appointed day. A state can hold two polls on two different days to get the votes of all its citizens.

Voters will vote on around 2,660 political parties registered in India to win Lok Sabha assembly seats.

Currently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has the majority of parliamentary seats after winning the 2019 elections. Meanwhile, the Indian National Congress is the main opposition party.

To attract people’s votes, these parties are willing to spend more than seven billion US dollars in the 2019 elections as campaign capital. That spending is expected to double this year.

These conditions make the Indian election the most expensive election in the world.

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Rules in Indian elections

India enforces the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) which regulates the conduct of elections there from the date the polls are announced.

Reporting from the Indian Express (16/3/2024), the MCC contains provisions governing political parties and election candidates. Here are the contents.

Ruling parties at the center and states are prohibited from using their official positions for campaigning. The policies, projects or schemes implemented are prohibited from influencing voters.

Parties are prohibited from making advertisements that are detrimental to state finances and using official mass media to publicize achievements in order to increase their chances of winning elections.

Ministers may not combine official visits with election duties and are prohibited from using government transport for campaigning.

The government must ensure that public venues for election meetings and other facilities are provided to opposition parties on the same terms and conditions as the ruling party.

The government in power cannot appoint ad-hoc positions in government, public sector affairs, and so on that can influence voters.

Places of worship may not be used for campaigns. Bribery, intimidation or impersonation of voters is also prohibited.

Political parties are prohibited from holding public meetings during the 48-hour period before polls close.

Unfortunately, even if implemented, the Election Commissioner of India cannot use the MCC to prosecute election violations. This guideline is voluntary and without legal obligations.

However, the Election Commissioner of India can summon political parties or election candidates suspected of violating the MCC based on complaints from other parties.

The party summoned must respond to the allegations in writing. If found guilty, the Election Commissioner of India will issue written sanctions.

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2024-03-17 13:30:00
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