India's Historic 2024 Lok Sabha Elections: A Record-Breaking Milestone with Reforms

In 2024, India witnessed a historic electoral milestone as 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participated in the Lok Sabha elections. The period marked significant progress towards electoral reforms with a bill for simultaneous elections to the lower House and state assemblies introduced amidst various challenges and allegations.

India entered the record books in 2024, as 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections. This year brought a major development in electoral reforms, with the introduction of a bill advocating simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

Jammu and Kashmir held elections after a decade, alongside new governments in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand. The 44-day election period was the second longest since the first general elections in 1951-52. Despite the historic turnout, the process was marred by controversies, including allegations of poll malpractice.

The Election Commission faced criticism for allegedly biased practices and the efficacy of electronic voting machines was questioned. The Supreme Court reaffirmed the reliability of these machines, while Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar emphasized the need to complete future elections before summer due to heat-related fatalities among polling personnel.

(With inputs from agencies.)