2024 Indian general election

General elections were held in India from 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 4 June to form the 18th Lok Sabha. On 7 June 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed the support of 293 MPs to Droupadi Murmu, the president of India. This marked Modi's third term as prime minister and his first time heading a coalition government, with the Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh and Janata Dal (United) of Bihar emerging as two main allies.

More than 968 million people out of a population of 1.4 billion people were eligible to vote, equivalent to 70 percent of the total population. 642 million voters participated in the election; 312 million of these were women, the highest ever participation by women voters. This was the largest-ever election, surpassing the previous election, and lasted 44 days, second only to the 1951–52 Indian general election. The legislative assembly elections in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim were held simultaneously with the general election, along with the by-elections for 25 constituencies in 12 legislative assemblies.

Incumbent prime minister Narendra Modi, who completed a second term, ran for a third consecutive term. His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had enjoyed an absolute majority—a minimum of 272 seats—in the 2014 and 2019 elections. The primary opposition was the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a coalition formed in 2023 by the Indian National Congress (INC) and many regional parties. The election was criticised for lack of action on hate speeches by Modi's BJP, reported electronic voting machine (EVM) malfunctioning, and suppression of political opponents of the BJP.

Opinion surveys of mainstream media outlets projected a decisive victory for the BJP and its coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). However, the BJP won 240 seats, down from the 303 it had secured in 2019, and lost its singular majority in the Lok Sabha, although the NDA overall secured 293 of the house's 543 seats. The INDIA coalition outperformed expectations, securing 234 seats, 99 of which were won by the Congress, garnering the party the official opposition status for the first time in 10 years. Seven independents and ten candidates from non-aligned parties also won seats in the Lok Sabha.

According to the national data from the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) – Lokniti National Election Studies published in The Hindu, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) maintained a 3 percentage point lead in the overall national vote share (43% to 40%) over the INDIA alliance. The NDA maintained its strongest age advantage among young voters aged 18–25, capturing 46% of their vote compared to 33% for the INDIA bloc, The INDIA alliance performed best among non-literate voters, leading the NDA by 42% to 38%, whereas the NDA's support scaled up with higher education and economic affluence, peaking at 45% among graduates and 46% among the wealthiest class. Geographically, the spatial divide showed the NDA dominating large metropolitan cities and urban zones with a 45% vote share, but while the NDA bloc surged into a lead in small, semi-urban towns (42% to 41%), rural villages remained highly competitive with the NDA retaining a narrow 42% to 41% edge overall. In terms of communities, the NDA maintained a massive upper-caste Hindu anchor (61%) and held comfortable margins among Other Backward Classes (OBCs), while Scheduled Castes (Dalits) tied perfectly at 31% for both coalitions. Religious minorities, esoecially Muslims, heavily consolidated behind the opposition, with 65% of Muslims voting for the INDIA alliance,