site.btaBTA Sends Special Correspondent to Delhi to Cover Parliamentary Elections in India

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) has a special correspondent on the spot covering the parliamentary elections in India. The journalist from BTA's International News Department Nikolay Velev is already sending his first reports from Delhi. He will also report on the announcement of election results on June 4.

In 2023, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and Press Trust of India President and CEO Vijay Joshi signed a cooperation agreement, which provides for the exchange of journalists between the two agencies. Joshi visited Sofia in April 2024, and he and Valchev agreed on a PTI journalist to cover the European Parliament elections from Sofia and a BTA journalist to cover the parliamentary elections in New Delhi. 

The parliamentary elections in India, the world's most populated country, with a population of over 1.4 billion, began on April 19 and will end on June 1. They will last a total of 44 days, making them the longest elections in the world. Nearly 970 million people, more than a tenth of the world's population, are eligible to vote.

Of the 969 million registered voters, larger than the population of the European Union and the United States combined, 18 million are eligible to vote for the first time. Some 197 million are under the age of 30. There are 15 million people involved in the organization and security of the election process.

Election results are planned to be announced on June 4 - three days after the end of the "gigantic exercise in democracy", as political analysts call it. The elections will determine the new composition of the 545-member Lok Sabha. The people will effectively vote for 543 MPs and the remaining two will be appointed by the President.

In India, the upper house of Parliament, the 245-seat Rajya Sabha (Council of States), is elected by the legislative assemblies of the 28 states and eight union territories, with 12 of the senators appointed by the head of state.