A really simple guide to India’s general election

[NANO]

It is an election like no other. Those eligible to vote in India’s upcoming polls represent more than 10% of the world’s po[CENSORED]tion and they will take part in the largest democratic exercise in history. India held its first elections in 1951-2 after the country gained independence from the UK in 1947. This year there are more than 900 million eligible voters – nearly four times as many as the United States – the next largest democracy. Hide Voters will choose representatives for the Indian parliament, and in turn decide if Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi will run the country for another five years. What is at stake? Whoever wins these elections and forms a government will control the destiny of the world's largest democracy. While they are in charge, India’s economy is likely to overtake the UK’s and become the world’s fifth-largest. Its po[CENSORED]tion meanwhile - at more than 1.34bn people - is predicted to soon surpass China’s 1.39bn. Hundreds of millions of Indians have escaped poverty since the turn of the millennium but huge challenges remain. Unemployment is a major concern and is especially high among young people. Millions of farmers are angry about low crop prices. How the nuclear-armed country engages with the outside world – and manages a tricky relationship with its neighbour Pakistan – is also of immense importance to international security.Who is being elected? Indians are voting for members of parliament and the job of prime minister tends to go to the leader of the party or coalition with most seats. The current PM is Narendra Modi. His main rival is opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. Parliament has two houses: the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The lower house – Lok Sabha – is the one to watch. It has 543 elected seats and any party or coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a government. At the last election in 2014, Mr Modi’s BJP won 282 seats. Mr Gandhi’s Congress Party only took 44 seats in 2014 – down from 206 in 2009.