Lok Sabha elections, formally known as the General Elections in India, are the national democratic elections held to elect members to the Lok Sabha (House of the People), the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by being voted upon by all adult citizens of India, from a set of candidates who stand in their respective constituencies. Every adult citizen of India can vote only in their registered constituency. Candidates who win the Lok Sabha elections are called 'Member of Parliament' (MP) and hold their seats for five years, or until the body is dissolved by the President of India on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
The elections are administered and conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI), an autonomous constitutional authority. The Lok Sabha currently has 543 parliamentary constituencies distributed across all states and union territories. To form a majority government, a political party or coalition must secure at least 272 seats. India follows a first-past-the-post electoral system.
The first elections to the Lok Sabha took place during 1951–52, following the adoption of the Constitution of India. Over the decades, these elections have grown into the largest democratic exercises in human history. The voting process relies extensively on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) equipped with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail systems to ensure transparency.
Electoral system Article 83 of the Constitution of India mandates that elections to the Lok Sabha be held at least once every five years. The country is currently divided into 543 single-member parliamentary constituencies.
Certain constituencies are reserved for historically disadvantaged communities: as of the 2024 election, 84 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 47 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). Following the passing of the 106th Amendment Act (Women's Reservation Bill) and future delimitation exercises scheduled post-2026, 33% of the total seats will be reserved for women. The two seats formerly reserved for the Anglo-Indian community were abolished by the 104th constitutional amendment in 2020.
List of Lok Sabha general elections in India
Election year Lok Sabha Total Seats Turnout Party in government Seats won by the ruling party Margin of majority Vote Percentage of majority Seats controlled by coalition Prime Minister 1951–52 First 489 45.67% 364 120 74.48% — Jawaharlal Nehru 1957 Second 494 45.44% 371 123 75.10% — 1962 Third 55.42% 361 113 73.08% —Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964–1966) 1967 Fourth 520 61.04% 283 22 54.42% — Indira Gandhi 1971 Fifth 518 55.27% 352 92 67.95% — 1977 Sixth 542 60.49% 295 23 54.98% 345 Morarji Desai — — — 248Charan Singh 1980 Seventh 529 56.92% 353 88 64.76% — Indira Gandhi 1984 Eighth 541 64.01% 414 143 76.52% — Rajiv Gandhi 1989 Ninth 529 61.95% 143 –112 27.03% — V. P. Singh 64 –201 12.10% —Chandra Shekhar 1991 Tenth 534 56.73% 244 –24 45.69% 263 P. V. Narasimha Rao 1996 Eleventh 543 57.94% 161 –111 29.65% 187Atal Bihari Vajpayee (16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996) 46 –226 8.47% 192H. D. Deve Gowda (1 June 1996 – 21 April 1997)I. K. Gujral (21 April 1997 – 19 March 1998) 1998 Twelfth 61.97% 182 –90 33.39% 276 Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1999 Thirteenth 59.99% 182 –90 33.39% 304 2004 Fourteenth 58.07% 145 –127 26.70% 218 Manmohan Singh 2009 Fifteenth 58.21% 206 –66 37.80% 262 2014 Sixteenth 66.44% 282 10 51.74% 336 Narendra Modi 2019 Seventeenth 67.40% 303 31 55.80% 353 2024 Eighteenth 66.33% 240 –32 44.19% 293
See also Elections in India List of Indian presidential elections List of Indian vice presidential elections List of Rajya Sabha elections List of Indian state legislative assembly elections Government of India Parliament of India Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
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