Overview of Indian Elections
General Elections (Lok Sabha)
India conducts two key types of elections: general and assembly elections. General Elections, held every five years, elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. India is divided into 543 constituencies, each of which elects one MP through a first-past-the-post voting system. The political party or coalition with the most seats forms the central government, and its leader becomes the Prime Minister
Assembly Elections (Vidhan Sabha)
Assembly Elections elect MLA to state governments. These elections also occur every five years but vary by state. Each constituency within a state elects one MLA, & the majority party forms the state government, with its leader becoming the CM. Both types of elections allow citizens to elect their representatives and play a crucial role in India’s democratic governance, ensuring representation at both the national & state levels.
Current Elections
The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections for 2024 will be held in a single phase on November 20, with results announced on November 23. Key dates include the election notification on October 22 and the last date for nominations on October 29. There are approximately 96.3 million voters across 118,600 polling centers, including provisions for senior citizens to vote from home. The political landscape features the Mahayuti alliance (BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar) opposing the Congress-led alliance (Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP). The Election Commission has introduced a “Sewa Portal” app for voter complaints and monitoring. Strict regulations will govern cash transportation during the election period, and measures are in place to combat misinformation on social media.