Election dates for the Lok Sabha in 2024: April 19–May 13 for Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Telangana; results on June 4

According to the parliamentary poll schedule released by the Election Commission of India on Saturday, the Lok Sabha elections in southern India will take place from April 19 to May 13. Karnataka will vote in two phases on April 26 (14 seats) and May 7 (14 seats), while Tamil Nadu will vote on April 19 and Andhra Pradesh on May 13. Kerala will vote on April 26 and Telangana on May 13. On April 19, the Union Territory of Puducherry will cast its ballot. When the ballots are counted nationwide on June 4, the Lok Sabha election results for 2024 will be announced.

On May 13, Andhra Pradesh will have simultaneous assembly elections. On June 4, 2024, the results of those elections will be tallied concurrently with the general elections.

In an attempt to unseat him, the opposition has formed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which is vying to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a record third term. But the alliance hasn’t chosen a candidate for prime minister yet. In the lower house, the BJP now has 290 seats, while the Congress, which is its main adversary, only has 48.

Of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats, 130 are held by the five southern states plus the Union Territory of Puducherry, which has one constituency. Karnataka has 28 seats in the Lower House of Parliament, compared to 39 for Tamil Nadu. Kerala has twenty Lok Sabha seats, whereas Andhra Pradesh has twenty. 17 MPs from Telangana are sent to the Lower House.

With the exception of Puducherry, the BJP was unable to secure any seats in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, or Kerala in 2019. However, it had swept Karnataka, taking 25 of the state’s 28 seats, and made significant progress in Telangana, taking four of the state’s 17 seats for the first time.

Thirty-two of Tamil Nadu’s 39 Lok Sabha seats are open, while seven are set aside for candidates from Scheduled Castes. With 38 of the 39 seats won in the 2019 elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance emerged victorious.

The state’s political environment has changed dramatically ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with the DMK joining the INDIA group and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) losing the backing of the AIADMK.

Following the Congress’s victory in the 2023 Assembly elections, the BJP is currently putting up a vigorous fight to reclaim the lost position in Karnataka.

In the last elections, the BJP secured the victory of an independent candidate backed by the party in Mandya, winning 25 of the 28 seats available. With just one seat each, the then-ruling Congress-JD(S) partnership had collapsed.

For JD(S), which formed an electoral alliance with the BJP after joining the NDA in September of last year, it is a kind of role reversal. It is anticipated that the regional party would run for three seats: Kolar, Hassan, and Mandya.

Together, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena, the TDP, and the BJP are running for both the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. Jana Sena was an external ally of the TDP and BJP during their 2014 electoral battle.

The TDP will compete for 17 parliamentary seats and 144 state seats, while the BJP will fight for six Lok Sabha seats and ten Assembly seats in accordance with their seat-sharing agreement for 2024. The agreement states that Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena would run for 21 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats. The state has 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats.

With 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats and 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly, the YSR Congress easily won the 2019 elections. Its vote percentage in the Assembly was an astounding 49.9%, while in the Lok Sabha it was 49.1%.

Three of Telangana’s seventeen Lok Sabha seats were won by the Congress in 2019. The current chief minister, A Revanth Reddy, is one of the three MPs that ran and won in the most recent assembly elections. 2019 saw the BRS, headed by K Chandrashekar Rao, win nine seats while the BJP only managed four. The AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi has held onto one seat.

In the 2019 elections, the Congress won 15 seats in Kerala. The two main established parties in state politics are the UDF, headed by Congress, and the LDF, led by CPI (M).

However, this time around, the BJP has accepted well-known Christians into its fold, including Anil K. Antony, the son of Congress veteran A. K. Antony, and seasoned politician P. C. George from Kerala. The party is also highlighting development agendas suited to the needs of Kerala by capitalising on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regular trips to the state.