General Information
At stake in this election:
- 543 seats in the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President Kicheril Raman NARAYANAN *
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Atal Behari 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: National Democratic Alliance (NDA)*
- Leader: Atal Bijari VAJPAYEE, George FERNANDES, Ramakrishna HEDGE
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 182
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 194
- Party: Indian National Congress (INC)
- Leader: Sonia GANDHI
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 112
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 141
- Party: Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)
- Leader: Harkishan Singh SURJEET
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 32
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 32
- Party: Telegu Desam Party (TDP)
- Leader: N. Chandrababu NAIDU
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 29
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 11
- Party: Samajwadi Party (SP)
- Leader: Mulayam Singh YADAV
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 26
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 20
- Party: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
- Leader: Laloo Prasad YADAV
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 20
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 17
- Party: Shiv Sena
- Leader: Bal THACKERAY
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 15
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 6
- Party: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
- Leader: K. KARUNANIDHI
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 12
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 6
- Party: All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)
- Leader: JAYALALITHA
- Seats won in this People's Assembly election: 10
- Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 18
* The NDA is composed of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Samata Party, and the Lok Shakti Party
Last Parliamentary election:
- The last elections to the Lok Sabha last were held on February 16 to March 7, 1998.
Population and number of registered voters:
- Population: 1,034,976,626 (1999)
- Registered Voters: 605,880,192 (1998)
Gender Data:
· Female Population: 498,925,038 (1999)
· 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: 49 (following the 1999 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: 155,246,493 (est.)