A simple guide to India's general election
Recent opinion polls suggest Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies will win the election for the Lok Sabha – the lower chamber of India’s parliament – for a third time running.
The Lok Sabha chooses the prime minister, who in turns chooses government ministers.
In the 2019 election the BJP won 303 seats, and the coalition of parties it is in, the National Democratic Alliance, took 352 seats overall.
The main challenge in 2024 comes from a coalition of political parties headed by the Indian National Congress, the biggest opposition party.
