At stake in this election:

• 543 seats in the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Pratibha PATIL *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH
• 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 last People's Assembly election: 145
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 206
• Party: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
  • Leader: Rajnath SINGH
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 138
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 116
• Party: Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPIM)***
  • Leader: Prakash KARAT
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 43
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 16
• Party: Socialist Party (SP) / Samajwadi Party
  • Leader: Mulayam Singh YADAV
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 36
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 23
• Party: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
  • Leader: Laloo Prasad YADAV
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 21
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 4
• Party: Majority Society Party / Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
  • Leader: Mayawati KUMARI
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 19
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 21
• Party: Dravida Progressive Federation / Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
  • Leader: M. KARUNANIDHI
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 16
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 18
• Party: Shiva Sena / (SS)
  • Leader: Bal THACKERAY
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 12
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 11
• Party: Communist Party of India (CPI)
  • Leader: Shri A.B. BARDHAN
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 10
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 4
• Party: Telugu Land Party / Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
  • Leader: N. Chandrababu NAIDU
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 5
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 6
• Party: Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK)
  • Leader: K MANI
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 6
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 0
• Party: Telangana Rashtra Samithi / (TRS)
  • Leader: K. Chandrashekar RAO
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 5
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 2
• Party: Jharkhand Liberation Front (JMM) / Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
  • Leader: Shibu SOREN
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 5
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 2
• Party: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)
  • Leader: V. GOPALSAMY
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 4
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 1
• Party: Biju Janata Dal (BJD)
  • Leader: Naveen PATNAIK
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 11
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 14
• Party: Akali Religous Party (SAD) / Shiromani Akali Dal
  • Leader: Parkash Singh BADAL
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 8
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 4
• Party: Janata Dal - United (JDU)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 8
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 20
• Party: Lok Jan Shakti Party
  • Leader: Ram Vilas PASWAN
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 4
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 0
• Party: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
  • Leader: Sharad PAWAR
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 9
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 9
• Party: Janata Dal - Secular / (JD(S))
  • Leader: H.D. Deve GOWDA
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 19
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 3
• Party: All India Forward Bloc
  • Leader: D.D. SHASTRI
  • Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 0
  • Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 2

*** The Communist Party of India - Marxist formed a Third Front alliance with the Communist Party of India, The Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, the Forward Bloc, Janata Dal (Secular), the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and the Telugu Desam Party.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 1,214,182,182 (2009)
• Registered Voters: 716,985,101 (May 2009 est.)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 584,561,312 (2009)

·         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: 59 (following the 2009 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: 182,127,327 (est.)