India 2009: World’s Biggest Elections

India, described as world’s biggest democracy, goes to the polls to elect 543 members to the 15th Lok Sabha (lower house of the Parliament) in five phases (beginning April 16, and ending on May 13, 2009). The results of the election will be announced on May 16, 2009.

India has 714 million registered voters (of the total 1,161,460,000 population). See here… And here…

Indian authorities are stepping up security for political leaders, fearing possible militant attacks as a general election approaches, Home Ministry officials and police said. More here…

To get an idea of the complex election battle, the key players and the important political parties in the fray, The Economist makes a brave attempt to provide a primer to its readers. See here…

Illustration above courtesy The BBC.