GENERAL ELECTION 2024
---
General Elections 2024
❖ The 2024 General Elections in India concluded with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) securing 293 out of the 543 seats (42.5% votes) in the Lok Sabha, thus forming the government once again. The BJP itself won 240 seats (36.56% votes), a decrease from its previous tally of 303 in the 2019 elections.
❖ The main opposition, the Indian National Congress (19.49%), and its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) won 234 seats (40.6% votes). Within this alliance, the INC secured 99 seats.
❖ Key regional parties that contributed to the overall seat distribution included the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav (37 seats), All India Trinamool Congress (29 seats), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (22 seats), and the Telugu Desam Party (16 seats), among others.
❖ Simultaneously elections were also held in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim.
❖ The BJP won the Assembly elections in Odisha with 78 seats, while the incumbent BJD could only secure 51 seats. The 24-year-long tenure of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik came to an end. The halfway mark for forming the government is 74 in the 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly.
❖ In Andhra Pradesh, NDA popularly referred to as Kutami, led by the Telugu Desam Party won the election in a landslide, winning 164 of the 175 seats. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) won 135 out of 144 contested seats, while the Jana Sena Party (JSP) won all the 21 seats it contested with and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning 8 out of 10 contested seats. The incumbent YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) only won 11 seats. N. Chandrababu Naidu is all set to be sworn as the 18th CM of AP.
❖ In Sikkim, incumbent CM Prem Singh Tamang scored a second term as his party the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) registered a mammoth victory by winning 31 out of 32 assembly seats. The main opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) won one seat. BJP and Congress contested on 31 and 12 seats, respectively. The two leading parties covered all the seats, giving no space to national parties like BJP and Congress in the state once again.
❖ The state of Arunachal Pradesh, comprised of 60 Legislative Assembly seats. The incumbent state government of BJP retained their government and won 46 seats in the 2024 elections, which is 5 more than their numbers in 2019. The National People’s Party secured the second position with 5 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) got 3, the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) got 2, the Indian National Congress got just 1. Other were claimed by Independent candidates. Incumbent, Pema Khandu will continue as CM.
---
Modi’s Third Term ❖ The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Narendra Modi has returned to power for a historic third straight term at the Centre. 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. • NDA coalition comprises of 38 parties notable of which are, BJP, Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] led by Nitish Kumar, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Chandrababu Naidu, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) by Chirag Paswan, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) by Jayant Chaudhary, National People's Party (NPP) by Conrad Sangma, Jana Sena Party by Pawan Kalyan, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction). • Only two out of these, BJP and NPP are recognised as National Parties. • The NDA has lost a few allies, such as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu and, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Haryana, and the Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) in Manipur. • Modi contested from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat and won by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes. ❖ 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. • Majority mark to form government is 272 Seats in Lok Sabha. ❖ Recommendations of Commissions on Coalition: Punchhi Commission Recommendation: The Punchhi Commission established clear rules for how Governors should handle appointing Chief Ministers in hung assemblies. These guidelines hold true for President as well: • In case no party or pre-poll coalition has a clear majority, Governor should select the Chief Minister in the order preference indicated here. • The group of parties which had pre-poll alliance commanding the largest number • The largest single party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others • A post-electoral coalition with all partners joining the government • A post-electoral alliance with some parties joining the government and the remaining including independents supporting the government from outside ❖ The Sarkaria Commission had found that problems in Indian federalism came from a lack of consultation and dialogue between the Centre and states.
Other Development in 2024 General Election
❖ Women: 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. • Trinamool Congress will send the highest percentage of women to Lok Sabha (37.9%). ❖ 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. • The NOTA option was introduced for the first time in the general elections in 2014. ❖ 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. ❖ This election saw some of the youngest candidates becoming Members of Parliament at the tender age of 25 years. Pushpendra Saroj and Priya Saroj from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Shambhavi Choudhary from Lok Janshakti Party (RV), and Sanjana Jatav from Indian National Congress (INC) are the four candidates who managed to clinch victory at the age of 25 years. ❖ DMK candidate TR Balu won Sriperumpudur constituency of Tamil Nadu state consecutively for the third time at the age of 82 years. With this he became the oldest candidates to be elected in this Lok Sabha Election. ❖ The average age of the 18th Lok Sabha is 56 years, which is lower than 59 which was the average age of the 17th Lok Sabha. ❖ Priyanka Jarkiholi contested from the Chikkodi seat of Karnataka on the ticket of Indian National Congress won the elections and become the first tribal women to win on a general category parliament seat. 4 ❖ The party with the second highest number of seats and not a part of the government can nominate its leader as the leader of opposition. The minimum number of seats required for a party to be eligible to nominate opposition leader is 55 (10% of the total seats) in case of Lok Sabha. • Incumbent: Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha and Mallikarjun Kharge in Rajya Sabha. • Inaugural Holders: Ram Subhag Singh (LS) and Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra (RS). ❖ 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. ❖ 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. ❖ BJP won at least one Lok Sabha seat in every state of India except for Tamil Nadu in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election. ❖ 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. ❖ Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) & National People’s Party (NPP) are the only two national parties which did not win a single seat. • Currently there are 6 national parties in India: BJP, INC, Communist party of India (Marxist), AAP, Bahujan Samaj Party and NPP. ❖ 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 18th 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. ❖ The only time a single party has managed 400 paar was in 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi won 414 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 is situated . • After 20 years, Congress won the Allahabad Lok Sabha constituency again. The grand old party's last MP from Allahabad was Amitabh Bachchan.
LOK SABHA (HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE)
Article 81 of the Indian Constitution outlines the composition of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. ❖ Article 81 also mandates that the number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a state would be such that the ratio between that number and the population of the state is, as far as possible, the same for all states. This is to ensure that every state is equally represented. However, this logic does not apply to small states whose population is not more than 60 lakh. ❖ It is the Lower House (First Chamber or Popular House and it represents the people of India as a whole. ❖ The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 550 out of which 530 members are to be the representatives of the states and 20 of the UTs. ❖ The current strength of Lok Sabha is 543, out of which 530 members represent the states and 13 represent the UTs. o The first House constituted in 1952 had 497 seats and the second Lok Sabha elected in 1957 had 503 members. ❖ Earlier, the President also nominated two members from the Anglo-Indian community, but by the 95th Amendment Act, 2009, this provision was valid till 2020 only. ❖ This number has remained unchanged since the 1971 census due to a freeze on the reallocation of seats until the first census after 2026. ❖ The 42nd Amendment Act (1976) introduced a freeze on the reallocation of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies until the year 2000. ❖ This was extended by the 84th Amendment Act (2001) until the first census after 2026. ❖ The primary reason for the freeze was to ensure that states that had implemented family planning programs effectively were not penalized by a reduction in their number of seats. 5 ❖ The representatives of states are directly elected by the people from the territorial constituencies in the states. By the Union Territories (Direct Election to the House of the People) Act, 1965, the members of Lok Sabha from the UTs are chosen by direct election. ❖ One of the most important functions of the Lok Sabha is to select the executive, a group of persons who work together to implement the laws made by the Parliament. ❖ Powers: Decisions in Joint Sitting: Any ordinary law needs to be passed by both the Houses. However, in case of any difference between the two Houses, the final decision is taken by calling a joint session of both the Houses. Due to a larger strength, the view of the Lok Sabha is likely to prevail in such a meeting. ❖ Power in Money Matters: Lok Sabha exercises more powers in money matters. Once the Lok Sabha passes the budget of the government or any other money related law, the Rajya Sabha cannot reject it. ❖ The Rajya Sabha can only delay it by 14 days or suggest changes in it, however, the former may or may not accept these changes. ❖ Power over Council of Ministers: The Lok Sabha controls the Council of Ministers. If the majority of the Lok Sabha members say they have ‘no confidence’ in the Council of Ministers, all ministers including the Prime Minister, have to quit. ❖ Qualifications: S/He should be not less than 25 years of age. ❖ S/He should declare through an oath or affirmation that s/he has true faith and allegiance in the Constitution and that a/he will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India. ❖ S/He must possess such other qualifications as may be laid down by the Parliament by law and must be registered as a voter in any constituency in India. ❖ Person contesting from the reserved seat should belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe as the case may be. ❖ Must not be convicted by the court with imprisonment of Two or more years ❖ Disqualifications: On Constitutional Grounds: o If s/he holds any office of profit under the Union or state government (except that of a minister or any other office exempted by Parliament). o If s/he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court. o If s/he is an undischarged insolvent. o If s/he is not (or not anymore) a citizen of India. o If s/he is disqualified under any law made by Parliament. ❖ On Statutory Grounds (Representation of People Act, 1951): o Found guilty of certain election offences/corrupt practices in the elections. o Convicted for any offence resulting in imprisonment for two or more years (detention under a preventive detention law is not a disqualification). o Has been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the State. o Convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offence of bribery. o Punished for preaching and practising social crimes such as untouchability, dowry and sati. ❖ Tenure: Lok Sabha: The normal term of Lok Sabha is five years. But the President, on the advice of the Council of Ministers, may dissolve it before the expiry of five years. In the case of national emergency, its term can be extended for one year at a time. But it will not exceed six months after the emergency is over. ❖ Tenure: The presiding officer of Lok Sabha is known as Speaker. S/He remains the Speaker even after Lok Sabha is dissolved till the next House elects a new Speaker in her/his place. o Ganesh Mavlankar (Dada Saheb) was the first speaker of the Lok Sabha. He is considered as the father of Lok Sabha. o In the 17th Lok Sabha, Om Birla was the Speaker. o M. A. Ayyangar was the first deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha. ❖ In the speaker’s absence, a Deputy Speaker (elected by the House) presides over the meetings.