General Information
At stake in this election:
- 543 seats in the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President A.P.J. Abdul KALAM *
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE
- Assembly: India has a bicameral Parliament (Sansad) consisting of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) with 250 seats and the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha) with 545 seats.
* The electoral college consists of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states.
Description of electoral system:
- The President is elected by an electoral college to serve a 5-year term.
- In the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) 250 members are to serve 6-year terms*. In the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha), 543 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms and 2 members are appointed by the president.
* Up to 12 seats are appointed by the president and the remaining members are chosen by elected members of the state and territorial assemblies
Main parties in the electoral race:
- Party: India National Congress (INC)
- Leader: Sonia GANDHI
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 145
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 114
- Party: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
- Leader: Shri Atal Bihari VAJPAYEE; Shri M. Venkaiah NAIDU
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 138
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 182
- Party: Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI)
- Leader: Dipankar BHATTACHARYA
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 43
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 33
- Party: Socialist Party (SP) / Samajwadi Party
- Leader: Mulayam Singh YADAV
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 36
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 26
- Party: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
- Leader: Shri Laloo Prasad YADAV
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 21
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 4
- Party: Majority Society Party / Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
- Leader: MAYAWATI
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 19
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 14
- Party: Dravida Progressive Federation / Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
- Leader: M. KARUNANIDHI
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 16
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 12
- Party: Shiva Sena / (SHS)
- Leader: Bal THACKERAY
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 12
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 15
- Party: Communist Party of India (CPI)
- Leader: Shri A.B. BARDHAN
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 10
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 4
- Party: People's Party-United / Janata Dal (JDU)
- Leader: N/A
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 8
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 21
- Party: Telugu Land Party / Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
- Leader: N/A
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 5
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 29
- Party: Others
- Leader: N/A
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 90
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: N/A
Last Parliamentary election:
- Parliamentary elections were last held in India on September 5 through October 3, 1999.
Population and number of registered voters:
- Population: 1,126,419,321 (2004)
- Registered Voters: 671,487,930 (2004)
Gender Data:
· Female Population: 542,673,946 (2004)
· Is India a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (30 July 1980)
· Has India ratified CEDAW: Yes (9 July 1993)
· Gender Quota: No
· Female candidates in this election: Yes
· Number of Female Parliamentarians: 45 (following the 2004 elections)
· Human Development Index Position: 130 (2014)
· Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)
Disability Data:
· Is India a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
· Has India ratified CRPD: Yes (1 October 2007)
· Population with a disability: 168,962,898 (est.)