Profile of the 18th Lok Sabha

The results of the election to the 18^th Lok Sabha were declared on 4^th June, 2024.  Results have been declared for all 543 constituencies.  This note looks at the profile of the newly-elected members of the 18^th Lok Sabha.

BJP is the largest party with 240 seats, followed by the INC with 99

Note: See party names in end note.  SS(UBT) was part of SS (18 seats in 2019), NCP-SP was part of NCP (five seats), and LJPRV was part of Lok Janshakti Party (six seats).  This chart only includes parties which won at least five seats, and independents.

• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the largest party in the 18^th Lok Sabha with 240 seats.  The next largest party is the Indian National Congress (INC) with 99 seats, followed by the Samajwadi Party (37 seats).
• Candidates from 41 parties have been elected.  In 2019, 36 parties were represented in Lok Sabha.  National parties have won 346 seats (64%).  Parties recognised as state parties in at least one state have won 179 seats (33%).     11 seats have been won by unrecognised parties, and seven by independents.

52% of newly-elected MPs are first-timers in Lok Sabha

• 262 MPs elected to the 18^th Lok Sabha have previously served as members of Lok Sabha.  Of the others, 16 have been members of Rajya Sabha.  Two MPs have served seven terms in Lok Sabha. [1]
   

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  216 sitting MPs were re-elected.  Of these, eight changed their constituency.  One MP was re-elected from two constituencies, including the earlier one.

• Nine re-elected MPs represented a different party in the 17^th Lok Sabha.  Eight others represented a party which split from their earlier party.
• Out of the 53 ministers who contested, 35 have won.

Parliament is getting older

• The average age of MPs elected to the 18^th Lok Sabha is 56 years; this was 59 years in the 17^th Lok Sabha.
• 11% of MPs are 40 years or younger, and 38% are between 41 and 55 years of age.  52% of MPs are older than 55 years.  The oldest MP is 82 years old.  Three MPs elected to the 18^th Lok Sabha are 25 years old.

14% of MPs are women, no significant change from 2019

• 74 MPs (14%) elected to the 18^th Lok Sabha are women.  This is marginally lower than in 2019, when 78 women were elected.  16% of these women MPs are below the age of 40.
• 41% of women MPs (30 MPs) have previously been members of Lok Sabha.  Of the others, one MP has been a member of Rajya Sabha.
• While there has been a slow increase in the number of women in Lok Sabha over the years, India still lags behind several countries.  For example, 46% of MPs in South Africa, 35% in the UK, and 29% in the USA are women.

78% of newly elected MPs have completed undergraduate education

• 78% of MPs of the 18^th Lok Sabha have completed at least undergraduate education.  This proportion is the same for newly-elected women MPs.
• The proportion of MPs who have completed undergraduate education increased steadily from the 1^st Lok Sabha till the 11^th (1996-98).  Since then, the proportion of MPs who have not attended college has increased.  However, this figure has decreased from 27% in the 17^th Lok Sabha to 22% in the 18^th Lok Sabha.
• 5% of MPs in the 18^th Lok Sabha have a doctoral degree, including three women MPs.

Many MPs declared agriculture and social work as their profession

Note: The sum of the column values in the above chart may not add to 100%, as several MPs have indicated more than one profession.  Each of these has been counted separately.

• Agriculture and social work are the most common professions among MPs elected to the 18^th Lok Sabha.
• 91% of MPs from Chhattisgarh, 72% in Madhya Pradesh, and 65% from Gujarat have indicated agriculture as one of their professions.
• 7% of MPs elected to the 18^th Lok Sabha are lawyers, and 4% are medical practitioners.

Note: BJP-Bharatiya Janata Party, INC-Indian National Congress, SP-Samajwadi Party, TMC-All India Trinamool Congress, DMK-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, TDP-Telugu Desam Party, JD(U)-Janata Dal (United), SS (UBT)-Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray), NCP-SP (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharatchandra Pawar), SS-Shiv Sena, LJPRV-Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), IND-Independents.

Sources: ECI; ‘Sixty Years of Lok Sabha: A Study’, Lok Sabha Secretariat; Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha websites; Inter-Parliamentary Union Parline database (https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking/?date_year=2024&date_month=04), data as on April 1, 2024; PRS.