Elections 2019: Why popularity is not a guarantee for winning seats

Party with fewer votes can get more seats and win elections

In the cut-throat election contest in India, political parties are focused on turning votes into winning seats. The reason -- history shows that a party can form a government by garnering support from just a quarter of the total electorate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Rahul Gandhi’s main opposition Congress party are trying to raise vote shares -- the percentage of total votes polled -- in their favour as the country's election moves into its final phase.

In India's first-past-the-post system, with a large number of contenders for each seat, the winner just needs to get enough