India kicked off elections for its lower house of parliament on 19 April. The sheer scale of the process – which involves nearly a billion voters – means elections will take 44 days, with the results expected on 4 June.

Although the size and diversity of the electorate imply a noisy democracy, elections generally pass without incident, and results are broadly accepted. We expect this to continue. There are more than 2,500 registered political parties, but the national contest will be between the ruling BJP-led coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), an opposition coalition led by the Indian National Congress.

The NDA is widely expected to secure a third five-year term in office, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the central government for a third time, taking the BJP’s incumbency to 15 consecutive years by 2029.

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