World’s largest democratic election

As many as 969 million Indians – of which 470 million are women and 18 million are first-time voters – will decide who gets to sit in India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha

Himachal Pradesh
Telangana 
Karnataka

Bharatiya Janata Party: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s (above) BJP is in power in 12 states and is in ruling coalition in four others

969 million voters: 10% of world’s population will elect 543 members of Lok Sabha

Unemployment: Jobless rate among ages 15-29 is 16.5% while overall rate is 6.5%

Citizenship Amendment Act: Allows non-Muslim religious minorities from surrounding countries to apply for Indian citizenship, but excludes Muslim minorities who also face persecution

Non-BJP: Rahul Gandhi’s Indian National Congress has three states – Telangana, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh

Election Commission: 5.5 million electronic voting machines deployed at 1m polling stations

Economy: Four in 10 people are dependent on farming, accounting for 15% of GDP

Foreign policy: Modi has pushed New Delhi’s role as leader of group of developing countries known as Global South. On wide range of issues – from wars in Ukraine and Gaza – India has avoided coherent policy stand


Sources: Associated Press, Carnegie Endowment, The Diplomat, Economic Times,
Business Standard Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS