The 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be held from April 19 in seven phases across the country. In Bihar, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh, voting will take place in all the seven phases. Assembly elections will also be held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. The last phase of voting will be on June 1 and counting will take place on June 4.

This parliamentary election will be the second longest polling exercise in India’s electoral history. The longest one was the country’s first general election, which was held over a five-month period from September 1951 to February 1952. But the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, for instance, were held in four phases – between April 20 and May 10 – they were over in 20 days. The 1998 elections took place in just three phases – on February 16, 22nd and 28th – over two weeks.

So what has changed between 1998 or 2004, and 2024 -- that we seem to have become so much slower?

Why does India need seven phases and one-and-a-half months to hold general elections? How do other big democracies like Indonesia manage it in one day? And what are the pros and cons of having a multi-phase election?

To discuss, we are joined by MG Devasahayam, a former IAS officer who is also Coordinator, Citizens Commission on Elections.