Indian General Election

Indian general election, 1951
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1945
25 October 1951 to
21 February 1952
1957
All 489 seats in the Lok Sabha

245 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party
Leader
Party
Leader's seat
Seats won
Popular vote
Percentage
Jawaharlal
Nehru
Shripad Amrit
Dange
INC
CPI
Phulpur
Bombay City
North
364
16
47,665,875
3,484,401
44.99
3.29
Prime Minister before election

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC
Elected Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC
The Indian general election of 195152 elected the first Lok Sabha since India became independent in
August 1947. Until this point, the Indian Constituent Assembly had served as an interim legislature. Polling
was held between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952. The very first votes of the election were cast in
the tehsil(district) of Chini in Himachal Pradesh.[1]
The Indian National Congress (INC) won a landslide victory, winning 364 of the 489 seats and 45% of the
total votes polled. This was over four times as many votes as the second-largest party. Jawaharlal
Nehru became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country. Voter turnout was 45.7%.[2]
Parties
Before Independent India went to the polls, two former cabinet colleagues of Nehru established separate
political parties to challenge the INC's supremacy. While Shyama Prasad Mookerjee went on to found the
Jana Sangh in October 1951, Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar revived the Scheduled Castes Federation (which
was later named the Republican Party). Other parties which started coming to the forefront included the
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Parishad, whose prime mover was Acharya Kripalani; the Socialist Party which had
Ram Manohar Lohia and Jay Prakash Narayan's leadership to boast of and the Communist Party of India.
However, these smaller parties could not stand against Congress.
Constituencies
The first general elections, which were conducted for 489 seats in 401 constituencies, represented 26 Indian
states. At that time, there were 314 constituencies with one seat, 86 with two seats and one with three seats.
[3]
The multi-seat constituencies were abolished in the 1960s. There were also 2 nominated Anglo-Indian
members.
Results
Party
Akhil Bharatiya
Hindu Mahasabha
Abbr.
Votes
ABHM
Ram Rajya Parishad RRP
Bharatiya Jana
Sangh
BJS
Bolshevik Party of
India
BPI
Communist Party of
CPI
India
3,246,288
3,484,401
Seats
0.95
1.97
3.06
0.02
3.29
16
Forward Bloc
(Marxist)
FB(M)
0.91
Forward Bloc
(Ruiker)
FB(R)
0.13
Indian National
Congress
INC
44.99
364
1.41
5.79
47,665,875
Krishikar Lok Party KLP
Kisan Mazdoor
Praja Party
KMPP
6,156,558
Party
Abbr.
Votes
Seats
Revolutionary
Communist Party of RCPI
India
0.06
Revolutionary
Socialist Party
RSP
0.44
Scheduled Caste
Federation
SCF
2.38
Socialist Party
SP
10.59
12
All India
Republican Party
REP
0.04
All India
Republican Party
RPP
0.05
All India United

Kisan Sabha
UKS
0.06
All Manipur
National Union
AMNU
0.02
All People's Party
APP
0.03
Chota Nagpur
Santhal Parganas
Janata Party
CNSPJP
0.22
Cochin Party
CP
0.01
0.31
Commonweal Party CWP
11,266,779
Party
Abbr.
Votes
Seats
Ganatantra Parishad GP
0.91
Gandhi Sebak Seva GSS
0.01
Hill Peoples Party
0.02
Historical Research HR
0.00
Hyderabad State
Praja Party
HSPP
0.01
Jharkhand Party
JKP
0.71
Justice Party
JP
0.06
Kamgar Kisan
Paksha
KKP
0.13
Kerala Socialist
Party
KSP
0.1
Khasi-Jaintia
Durbar
KJD
0.03
Kisan Janata
Sanyukta Party
KJSP
0.01
Kisan Mazdoor
Mandal
KMM
0.01
Kuki National
Association
KNA
0.01
HPP
Party
Abbr.
Votes
Seats
Lok Sevak Sangh
LSS
0.29
Madras State
Muslim League
Party
MSMLP
0.08
National Party of
India
NPI
0.00
Peasants and
Workers Party of
India
PWPI
0.94
Peoples Democratic
PDF
Front
1.29
Praja Party
PP
0.02
Punjab Depressed
Class League
PDCL
0.01
Pursharathi
Panchayat
PURP
0.01
Revolutionary
Socialist Party
(Uttar Pradesh)
RSP(UP)
0.02
Shiromani Akali
Dal
SAD
0.99
S.K. Paksha
SKP
0.13
Saurashtra Khedut
Sangh
SKS
0.03
Party
Abbr.
Votes
Seats
Tamil Nadu Toilers

TNTP
Party
0.84
Tamil Nadu
Congress Party
TNCP
0.03
Tribal Sangha
TS
0.11
Travancore Tamil
Nadu Congress
Party
TTNC
0.11
0.2
0.27
16,817,910
15.9
37
105,944,495
100
489
Uttar Pradesh Praja

UPP
Party
Zamindar Party
ZP
Independents
Nominated Anglo-Indians
Total
Notable losses[edit]
Scheduled Caste leader and the creator of the constitution B. R. Ambedkar was defeated in the Bombay
constituency by a little-known Kajrolkar.[4] B.R Ambedkar lost by just 10 votes for the constituency.
Government formation[edit]
The Speaker of the first Lok Sabha was Shri G.V. Mavalankar. The first Lok Sabha also witnessed 677
sittings (3,784 hours), the highest recorded count of the number of sittings. The Lok Sabha lasted its full
term from 17 April 1952 until 4 April 1957.
Duration[edit]
Although the majority of votes were cast in February 1952, voters in the state of Himachal Pradesh were
given the chance to vote in October 1951 because the heavy snowfall, primitive roads, and mountainous
terrain of that state made it likely that polling stations would be largely unreachable during a February
election.[5]

1951
24 February to 14 March 1957
1962

First party Second party
Leader
Jawaharlal
Nehru
Shripat Amrit
Dange
INC
CPI
Phulpur
Bombay City
Central
Seats won
371
27
Seat change
+7
+11
Popular vote
57,579,589
10,749,475
47.78
8.92
Party
Leader's seat
Percentage

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC
The Indian general election of 1957 elected the 2nd Lok Sabha of India. The election was
held from 24 February to 14 March, just over five years after the previous general election.
[1]
There were 494 seats elected using first past the post voting system. Out of the 403
constituencies, 91 elected two members, while the remaining 312 elected a single member.
[2]
The multi-seat constituencies were abolished before the next election.
Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress easily won a
second term in power, taking 371 of the 494 seats. They gained an extra seven seats (the
size of the Lok Sabha had been increased by five) and their vote share increased from
45.0% to 47.8%. The INC won nearly five times more votes than theCommunist Party, the
second largest party. In addition, 19.3% of the vote and 42 seats went to independent
candidates, the highest of any Indian general election.
Contents
[hide]
1 Results
1.1 Results by Party
2 See also
3 References
Results[edit]
Results by Party[edit]
Lok Sabha elections 1957
Electoral participation: 55.42%
Won
(total 494)
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
BJS
5.97 4
Communist Party of India
CPI
8.92 27
Indian National Congress
INC
47.78 371
Praja Socialist Party
PSP
10.41 19
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha
ABHM 0.86 1
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad
RRP
0.38 0
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party CNSPJP 0.42 3
Forward Bloc (Marxist)
AIFB
0.55 2
Ganatantra Parishad
GP
1.07 7
Jharkhand Party
JKP
0.62 6
Peasants and Workers Party of India
PWPI
0.77 4
People's Democratic Front
PDF
0.87 2
Praja Party
PP
0.12 0
Revolutionary Socialist Party
RSP
0.26 0
Scheduled Castes Federation
SCF
1.69 6
Independents
19.32 42

1957
1925 February 1962
1967

First party
Second party
Jawaharlal Nehru
Shripat Amrit Dange
INC
CPI
Phulpur
Bombay City Central

South
Seats won
361
29
Seat change
-10
+2
Percentage
44.72
9.94
Leader
Party
Leader's seat
Jawaharlal Nehru
INC
Jawaharlal Nehru
INC
The Indian general election of 1962 elected the 3rd Lok Sabha of India and was held from
19 to 25 February. Unlike the previous two elections but as with all subsequent elections,
each constituency elected a single member.[1]
Jawaharlal Nehru won another landslide victory in his third and final election campaign.
The Indian National Congress took 44.7% of the vote and won 361 of the 494 seats. This
was only slightly lower than in the previous two elections and they still held over 70% of the
seats in the Lok Sabha.
Contents
[hide]
1 Results
2 See also
3 References
Results[edit]
Won
(total 494)
BJS
6.44 14
CPI
9.94 29
INC
44.72 361
PSP
6.81 12
Socialist Party
SSP
2.69 6
Swatantra Party
SP
7.89 18
Akali Dal
AD
0.72 3
ABHM 0.65 1
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad
RRP
0.6
All India Forward Bloc
AIFB
0.72 2
All Party Hill Leaders Conference
APHLC 0.08 1
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party CNSPJP 0.41 3
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
DMK
2.01 7
Ganatantra Parishad
GP
0.3
Indian Union Muslim League
IUML
0.36 2
PWPI
0.1
Republican Party of India
RPI
2.83 10
Haryana Lok Samiti
HLS
0.1
Lok Sevak Sangh
LSS
0.24 2
Nutan Maha Gujarat Janata Parishad
NMGJP 0.17 1
RSP
0.39 2
Independents
11.05 20

1962
1721 February 1967
1971

First party
Second party
Indira Gandhi
C. Rajagopalachari
INC
Swatantra Party
Rae Bareli
None
Seats won
283
44
Seat change
-78
+26
Leader
Party
Leader's seat

Indira Gandhi
INC

Indira Gandhi
INC
The Indian general election of 1967 elected the 4th Lok Sabha of India and was held from 17 to
21 February. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 520 single-member
constituencies (an increase of 26).[1]
Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian National Congress won a fourth consecutive term in
power and over 54% of the seats, while no other party won more than 10% of the votes or seats.
However, the INC's victory was significantly lower than the results they had achieved in the previous
three elections under Jawaharlal Nehru. By 1967, economic growth in India had slowed the 1961
1966 Five-Year Plan gave a target of 5.6% annual growth, but the actual growth rate was 2.4%.
Under Lal Bahadur Shastri, the government's popularity was boosted after India prevailed in the 1965
War with Pakistan, but this war (along with the previous 1962 War with China) had helped put a strain
on the economy. Internal divisions were emerging in the Indian National Congress and its two popular
leaders Nehru and Shastri had both died.Indira Gandhi had succeeded Shastri as leader, but a rift had
emerged between her and Deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who had been her rival in the 1966
party leadership contest.[2]
The decline in support for Congress was also reflected by the fact it lost control of six state
governments in the same year. The party's electoral losses led to Gandhi becoming assertive and
opting for a series of choices that put her against the rest of the party establishment, eventually leading
to a split in the party.
Results[edit]
Code
Won
(total 520)
BJS
9,31
35
CPI
5,11
23
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
CPI(M)
4,28
19
INC
40,78 283
PSP
3,06
13
Samyukta Socialist Party
SSP
4,92
23

Code
Won
(total 520)
Swatantra Party
SP
8,67
44
Akali Dal Master Tara Singh
ADM
0,13
Akali Dal Sant Fateh Singh
ADS
0,66
AIFB
0,43
Bangla Congress
BC
0,83
DMK
3,79
25
Democratic National Conference
DNC
0,02
IUML
0,28
Kerala Congress
KC
0,22
Naga Nationalist Organisation
NNO
0,00
PWPI
0,71
RPI
2,47
Won
Code
United Goans (Furtado Group)
UG(F)
0,00
United Goans (Sequiera Group)
UG(S)
0,07
Jana Kranti Dal
JKD
0,13
NC
0,14
Independents
13,78 35
Jammu & Kashmir National

Conference
(total 520)

1967
March 110, 1971[1]
1977

First party
Second party
Leader
Indira Gandhi
Morarji Desai
Party
INC (R)
NCO
Alliance
INC (R)
NDF
Rae Bareli
Surat
Seats won
352
51
Seat change
+73
-65
Percentage
43.68
24.34
Leader's seat
Indira Gandhi
INC
Indira Gandhi
INC (R)
India held general elections to the 5th Lok Sabha in March 1971. This was the fifth election since
independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518
constituencies, each with a single seat.[2] Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian National
Congress (R) led a campaign which focussed on reducing poverty and won a landslide victory,
overcoming a split in the party and regaining many of the seats lost in the previous election.
During her previous term, there had been internal divisions in the Indian National Congress between
Indira Gandhi and the party establishment, especially Morarji Desai. In 1969, she was expelled from
the party, causing a split. Most of the Congress MPs and grassroots support joined Gandhi's Indian
National Congress (R) faction, which was recognized by the Election Commission as being the
successor to the previous party. 31 MPs who opposed Gandhi became the Indian National Congress
(Organization) party. Despite the split, the Ruling faction gained votes and seats to win a strong
majority, whereas the Organization faction lost half of their seats.
On 12 June 1975, the Allahabad High Court invalidated the result in Gandhi's constituency on the
grounds of electoral malpractices. Instead of resigning, Indira Gandhi called a state of emergency,
suspending democracy and outlawed political opposition. After democracy was restored in 1977, the
opposition Congress faction formed a coalition of parties called the Janata Party, which would go on
to inflict the Congress' first electoral defeat.
Contents
[hide]

o
o
1 Results
1.1 Results by alliance
2 See also
3 References
Results[edit]
Results by alliance[edit]
ed
Summary of the 1971 March Lok Sabha election results of India

Sources: [1][2]
Alliances
Party
Indian National Congress (R)

Seats: 350
Seat Change: +93
Popular Vote %: 43.68
National Democratic Front

(Alliance)
Seats: 51
Seat Change: -65
Left Parties
Seats: 48
Seats
Change
won
Popular
Votes %
352
+93
43.68

(Organisation)
16
17
10.43
22
-22
7.37
Swatantra Party
-15
3.07
-10
2.43
-17
1.04

(Marxist)
25
-6
5.13
23
4.73
Others
Seats: 66
Others
67
Electoral participation: 55,27%
Won
(total 545)
BJS
7.35
22
CPI
4.37
23
CPI(M) 5.12
25
INC(R) 43.68 352
Indian National Congress (Organization)
INC(O) 10.43 16
PSP
1.04
SSP
2.43
Swatantra Party
SP
3.07
All Party Hill Leaders Conference
APHLC 0.06
AIFB
0.66
Bangla Congress
BC
0.35
-12
22.16
Won
(total 545)
Bharatiya Kranti Dal
BKD
2.18
DMK
3.84
23
IUML
0.28
Jana Congress
JC
0.04
JP
0.09
Kerala Congress
KC
0.37
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party
MGP
0.04
Naga Nationalist Organisation
NNO
0.04
PWPI
0.51
RSP
0.49
Shiromani Akali Dal
SAD
0.87
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata

Party
Won
(total 545)
United Front of Nagaland
UFN
0.06
United Goans (Sequiera Group)
UG(S) 0.04
Vishal Haryana
VH
0.24
Jharkhand Party
JP
0.19
RPI
0.1
Telangana Praja Samithi
TPS
1.28
10
Utkal Congress
UC
0.72
Independents
8.38
14

1971
1620 March 1977[1]
1980

First party
Second party
Morarji Desai
Indira Gandhi
Janata Party
INC
Lok Dal (Janata Secular)
INC+
Surat
Rae Bareli
(lost)
Seats won
345
189
Seat change
+233
-217
Percentage
51.89
40.98
Leader
Party
Alliance
Leader's seat
Indira Gandhi
INC(I)
Morarji Desai
In a major turn of events, the ruling Congress lost control of India for the first time in
independent India in theIndian general election, 1977. The hastily formed, Janata alliance
of parties opposed to the ruling Congress party, won 298 seats. Morarji Desai was chosen as
the leader of the alliance in the newly formed parliament and thus became India's first nonCongress Prime Minister on 24 March. The Congress lost nearly 200 seats. Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi and her powerful son Sanjay Gandhi both lost their seats.
The election came after the end of The Emergency that Prime Minister Gandhi had imposed
in 1975; it effectively suspended democracy, suppressed the opposition, and took control of
the media with authoritarian measures. The opposition called for a restoration of democracy
and Indians saw the election results as a repudiation of the Emergency.[2]
Contents
[hide]
o
o
1 Background
2 Voter behaviour
3 Results
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
Background[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve
this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (November 2012)
India held general elections to the 6th Lok Sabha. This sixth general elections, which were
conducted for 542 seats from 542 constituencies, represented 27 Indian states and union
territories.[3] These 542 constituencies remained same until Indian general elections, 2004 for
the 14th Lok Sabha.
The Emergency declared by the Indira Gandhi led Congress government was the core issue
in the 1977 elections. Civil liberties were suspended during the national emergency from 25
June 1975 to 21 March 1977 and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assumed vast powers.
Gandhi had become extremely unpopular for her decision and paid for it during the elections.
Mrs. Gandhi, on 23 January, called for fresh elections and released all political prisoners.
Four Opposition parties, the Congress (Organisation), the Jan Sangh, the Bharatiya Lok Dal
and the Socialist Party, decided to fight the elections under a single banner called the Janata
alliance. The alliance used the symbol allocated to Bhartiya Lok dal as their symbol on the
ballot papers.
Janata Party Election Symbol
The votes were cast from March 16 to March 19. The counting of votes started on 20-March
and the results started coming in from that day's evening.
The Janata alliance reminded voters of the excesses and human rights violations during the
Emergency, like compulsory sterilisation and imprisonment of political leaders. The Janata
campaign said the elections would decide whether India would have "democracy or
dictatorship." The Congress looked jittery. Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Babu Jagjivan
Ram quit the party in the first week of February; other notable Congress stalwarts who
crossed the floor with Jagjivan Ram before the election were Hemvati Nandan
Bahuguna and Nandini Satpathy.
Voter behaviour[edit]
The elections in the largest state Uttar Pradesh, historically a Congress stronghold, turned
against Mrs. Gandhi. Dhanagare says the structural reasons included the emergence of a
strong and united opposition, disunity and weariness within the Congress, an effective
opposition and the failure of Mrs. Gandhi in controlling the mass media, which was under
censorship during the Emergency. The structural factors allowed voters to express their
grievances, notably their resentment of the emergency and its authoritarian and repressive
policies. One grievance often mentioned was the 'Nasbandi' (vasectomy) campaign in rural
areas. The middle class also emphasised on the curbing of freedom of speech throughout
the country.[4] Meanwhile, Congress hit an all-time low in West Bengal, according to the
Gangulys, because of poor discipline and factionalism among Congress activists as well as
numerous defections that weakened the party. Opponents emphasised the issues of
corruption within the Congress and appealed to a deep desire by the voters for fresh
leadership.[5] The Congress, however, did well in Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The results were mixed in the Western states of
Maharashtra and Gujarat, however, the Janata Front won all the seats in Mumbai.
Results[edit]
Source: Keesings[6]
ed
Summary of the 1977 March Lok Sabha election results of India, using alliances under Morarji
Government from 1977-79
Sources: [1]
Alliances
Party
Seats
won
Change
Popular
Votes %
298
+245
43.17
22
-3
4.30
Shiromani Akali Dal
+8
1.26
0.55
+2
n/a
+2
0.34
Janata Alliance
Janata Party / Congress for Democracy
Seats: 345
Seat Change: +233

(Khobragade)
+1
0.51
-22
1.76
Independents
153
197
34.52
19
2.9
-16
2.82

Conference
0.26
-2
0.3
Kerala Congress
-1
0.18
Revolutionary Socialist
Party (breakaway)
-1
Independents
19
Congress Alliance
Indian National Congress (Indira)
Seats: 189
Seat Change: -217
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Others
Seats: 19
Others
Won
(total 545)
Bharatiya Lok Dal/Janata Party
BLD
41.32 295
CPI
2.82 7
CPI(M)
4.29 22
INC(I)
34.52 154
Congress For Democracy (Jagjivan Ram)
CFD (with Janata Party) 5.28 13
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK
2.9
18
AIFB
0.34 2
DMK
1.76 2
IUML
0.3
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
NC
0.26 2
Kerala Congress
KC
0.18 1
MGP
0.06 1
Manipur Peoples Party
MPP
0.06 0
Muslim League (Opposition)
ML(O)
0.17 0
PWPI
0.55 5
RSP
0.45 4
Shiromani Akali Dal
SAD
1.26 9
United Democratic Front
UDF
0.07 1
Vishal Haryana
VH
0.1
Jharkhand Party
JP
0.07 1
Republican Party of India (Khobragade)
RPI(K)
0.51 2
Independents
5.5

1977
January 3 and 6, 1980
1984

First party
Second party
Leader
Indira Gandhi
Charan Singh
Party
INC(I)
JNP(S)
Alliance
INC+
Lok Dal (Janata

Secular)
Leader's seat
Medak
Baghpat
Seats won
374
41
Seat change
+286
-36

Charan Singh

Indira Gandhi
INC+
India held general elections to the 7th Lok Sabha in January,1980. The Janata Party alliance
came into power after the elections to the 6th Lok Sabha held in 1977, riding the public
anger against the Congress and the Emergency but its position was weak. The loose
coalition barely held on to a majority with only 295 seats in the Lok Sabha and never quite
had a firm grip on power.
Bharatiya Lok Dal leader Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram, who had quit the Congress, were
members of the Janata alliance but they were at loggerheads with Prime Minister Morarji
Desai. The tribunals the government had set up to investigate human rights abuses during
the Emergency appeared vindictive and a witch-hunt against Congress leaderIndira Gandhi,
who lost no opportunity of portraying herself as a harassed woman.
Finally, the Janata Party, an amalgam of socialists and nationalists, split in 1979 when
several coalition members such as the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) withdrew support to the
government. Subsequently, Desai lost a trust vote in parliament and resigned. Charan Singh,
who had retained some partners of the Janata alliance, was sworn in as Prime Minister in
June 1979. Congress promised to support Singh in parliament but later backed out. He
finally called for elections in January 1980 and is the only Prime Minister of India never to
have faced parliament. The fight between Janata Party leaders and the political instability in
the country worked in favour of Indira Gandhi's Congress (I), that reminded voters of the
strong government of Indira Gandhi during campaigning.
In these elections, the Congress (I) won 353 Lok Sabha seats and the Janata Party, or what
remained of the alliance, won only 31 seats, whereas Charan Singh's Janata Party (secular)
won 41 seats. The Janata Party alliance continued to split over the subsequent years but
recorded important landmarks in the political history of India: it was the first coalition to
govern India, and proved that the Congress could be defeated.
Contents
[hide]
o
o
1 Results
2 See also
3 References
Results[edit]
Source: Election of India[1]
ed
Summary of the 1980 January Lok Sabha election results of India

Sources: [1]
Alliances
Party
Congress (I) Alliance

Seats: 374
Seat Change: +286
Popular Vote %:
Janata Alliance
Seats: 34
Seats
Change Popular Votes %
won
351
+271
16
+15

Conference
+1
+1
Kerala Congress (Joseph)
-1
31
-172
Janata Party
Seat Change: -194

Popular Vote %:
Left Front
Seats: 53
Seat Change: +17
Popular Vote %:
Others and
Independents
Seats: 63
Seat Change: -120
Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
-15
Shiromani Akali Dal
-7
35
+13
11
+4
Kerala Congress (Mani)
41
-36
Indian National Congress (Urs)
13
-43
Independents
-27
Others
-14
Won
(total 545)
CPI
2,49 10
CPI(M)
6,24 37
INC
42,69 353
Indian National Congress (Urs)
INC(U)
5,28 13
Janata Party
JP
18,97 31
Janata Party (Secular)
JP(S)
9,39 41
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK 2,36 2
AIFB
0,51 3
All India Muslim League
AIML
0,1
DMK
2,14 16
IUML
0,24 2
NC
0,25 3
Kerala Congress
KC
0,18 1
MGP
0,06 1
MPP
0,02 0
Peoples Party of Arunachal
PPA
0,04 0
Peoples Conference
PC
0,03 0
PWPI
0,24 0
RSP
0,65 4
Shiromani Akali Dal
SAD
0,71 1
Sikkim Congress (Revolutionary)
SC(R)
0,01 0
Sikkim Janata Parishad
SJP
0,02 1
Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti
TUJS
0,06 0
UDF
0,07 0
Jharkhand Party
JKP
0,13 1
Independents
6,43 9

1980
December 24, December 27 and

December 28, 1984 [1]
1989

First party
Second party
Rajiv Gandhi
N.T. Rama Rao
Party
INC
TDP
Alliance
INC+
Leader
Leader's seat
Amethi
None
Seats won
414
30
Percentage
50.70
4.31%
Rajiv Gandhi
INC+
Rajiv Gandhi
INC+
General elections were held in India in 1984 soon after the assassination of previous Prime
Minister, Indira Gandhi, though the vote in Assam and Punjab was delayed until 1985 due to
ongoing fighting.
The election was won convincingly by the Indian National Congress of Rajiv Gandhi (son of
Indira), who claimed 414 seats in a 533 seat parliament, the majority being 267. The Telugu
Desam Party of N. T. Rama Rao, a regional political party from the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh, was the second largest party, winning 30 seats, thus achieving the distinction of
becoming the first regional party to become a national opposition party.
Contents
[hide]
1 Results
1.1 Delayed elections in Assam and Punjab
2 See also
3 References
Results[edit]
Party
Congress(I)
Acronym
% of votes
Seats[2][3]
Congress(I)
49.01%
414
TDP
4.31%
30
CPI(M)
5.87%
22
AIADMK
1.69%
12
JP
6.89%
10
CPI
2.71%
Indian Congress (Socialist)
IC(S)
1.52%
Lok Dal
LD
5.97%
RSP
0.5%
NC
0.43%
Bharatiya Janata Party
BJP
7.74%
DMK
2.42%
AIFB
0.45%
MUL
0.28%
Telugu Desam Party
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Janata Party
Party
Kerala Congress (Joseph)
Acronym
% of votes
Seats[2][3]
KC(J)
0.25%
ICJ
0.64%
PWPI
0.2%
PPA
0.3%
KC(M)
0.11%
All India Muslim League
AIML
0.1%
MPP
0.06%
Naga National Democratic Party
NNDP
0.05%
MGP
0.04%
Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Conference
JKP
0%
Independents
7.29%
100%
506
Indian Congress (J)
Total
Republic of India
This article is part of a series on the

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V
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Delayed elections in Assam and Punjab[edit]

Party
Congress (I)
Shiromani Akali Dal
Acronym % of votes Seats
Congress(I)
32.14%
10
SAD
17.9
CPI(M)
3.21%
IC(S)
3.18%
JP
2.92%
CPI
2.57%
PTCA
2.15%
BJP
1.83%
Lok Dal
LD
0.32%
33.78%
100%
27
Janata Party
Plain Tribals Council of Assam
Independents
Total

[1]
1984
November 22, and November 26,

1989[2]
1991

First party
Second party
Leader
V. P. Singh
Rajiv Gandhi
Party
Janata Dal
INC
NF
INC+
None
Amethi
Seats won
143
197
Percentage
40.66%
39.53%
Alliance
Leader's seat

Rajiv Gandhi
INC+

V. P. Singh
NF
General elections were held in India in 1989 to elect the members of the 9th Lok Sabha.
The result was a loss for theIndian National Congress and Rajiv Gandhi, because all the
opposition parties formed together a minority government under V. P. Singh and the National
Front. The National Front was able to secure the first minority government, since1947
Independence, with the help of the Left Parties and Bharatiya Janata Party. The Communists
and the BJP declined to serve in the government, preferring to support it from outside.
Contents
[hide]
o
o
1 Background
2 Fight for Prime Ministership
2.1 V.P. Singh as Prime Minister
2.2 Chandra Sekhar as Prime Minister
3 1989
4 See also
5 References
Background[edit]
The 1989 Indian general election were held because the previous Lok Sabha has been in
power for a five years, and the constitution allowed for new elections. Even though Rajiv
Gandhi had won the last election by a landslide, this election saw him trying to fight off
scandals that had marred his administration.
The Bofors scandal, rising terrorism in Punjab, the civil war between LTTE and Sri Lankan
government were just some of the problems that stared at Rajiv's government. Rajiv's
biggest critic was Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who had held the portfolios of the finance
ministry and the defence ministry in the government. During Singh's term as defence
minister it was rumoured that he possessed damaging information about the Bofors defence
deal that could ruin Rajiv's reputation.
But Singh was soon sacked from the Cabinet and he then resigned from his memberships in
the Congress and the Lok Sabha. He formed the Jan Morcha with Arun Nehru and Arif
Mohammad Khan and re-entered the Lok Sabha from Allahabad.
Fight for Prime Ministership[edit]

V.P. Singh as Prime Minister[edit]
In a dramatic meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament on 1 December, V. P. Singh proposed
the name of Devi Lal as Prime Minister, in spite of the fact that he himself had been clearly
projected by the anti-Congress forces as the 'clean' alternative to Rajiv and their Prime
Ministerial candidate. Devi Lal, a Jat leader from Haryana stood up and refused the
nomination, and said that he would prefer to be an 'elder uncle' to the Government, and that
Singh should be PM.[3] This last part came as a clear surprise to Chandra Shekhar, the
former head of the erstwhile Janata Party, and Singh's greatest rival within the Janata Dal.
Shekhar, who had clearly expected that an agreement had been forged with Lal as the
consensus candidate, stormed out of the meeting and refused to serve in the Cabinet.
Chandra Sekhar as Prime Minister[edit]

Chandra Shekhar broke away from the Janata Dal with 64 MPs and formed the Samajwadi
Janata Party in 1990, becoming the 8th Prime Minister of India. He got outside support from
the Congress and became the 11th Prime Minister of India. He finally resigned on March 6,
1991, after the Congress alleged that the government was spying on Rajiv Gandhi.
Republic of India

India
Elections[show]
Other countries
Atlas
V
T
E
1989[edit]
Won
(total 545)
BJP
11.36 85
CPI
2.57 12
CPI(M)
6.55 33
IC(S)
0.33 1
INC
39.53 197
Janata Dal
JD
17.79 143
Janata Party
JP
1.01 0
Lok Dal (Bahuguna)
LD(B)
0.2
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK 1.5
11
AIFB
0.42 3
DMK
2.39 0
Indian Congress (J) Trikha Group
ICJ(TG)
0.0
MUL
0.32 2
NC
0.2
Jammu & Kashmir Panthers Party
JPP
0.0
Kerala Congress
KC
0.02 0
Kuki National Assembly
NC
0.04 0
MGP
0.04 1
MPP
0.05 0
Mizo National Front
MNF
0,02 0
Nagaland Peoples Council
NPC
0.08 0
PPA
0.3
PWPI
0.21 0
RSP
0.62 4
Shiromani Akali Dal
SAD
0.03 0
Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)
SAD(B)
0.14 0
Sikkim Sangram Parishad
SSP
0.03 1
Telugu Desam Party
TDP
3.29 2
ABHS
0,07 1
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimen
AIMIM
0,21 1
Bahujan Samaj Party
BSP
2,07 3
Gorkha National Liberation Front
GNLF
0,14 1
Indian Peoples Front
IPF
0,25 1
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
JMM
0,34 3
KC(M)
0,12 1
Marxist Coordination Committee
MCO
0,08 1
Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann) SAD(M)
0,77 6
Shiv Sena
SS
0,11 1
Independents
5,25 12
9th Lok Sabha constituted.

1989
May 20, June 12, and June 15, 1991[1]
1996

First party
Leader
Second party
Third party
P. V. Narasimha Rao Lal Krishna Advani
V.P. Singh
Party
INC
BJP
Janata Dal
Alliance
INC+
BJP+
NF
Nandyal
Gandhinagar
Fatehpur
Seats won
244
120
69
Percentage
35.66
20.04
11.77 (JP)
Leader's seat
Chandra Sekhar
SJP
P.V. Narasimha Rao

INC+
The result of the election was that no party could get a majority, so a minority government
(Indian National Congress with the help of left parties) was formed, resulting in a stable
government for the next 5 years, under the new Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.
Contents
[hide]
o
o
o
1 Background
1.1 Mandal-Mandir Issue
1.2 Rajiv Gandhi Assassination
1.3 Impact of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination on 1991 Election Results and India
2 1991
3 See also
4 References
Background[edit]
The 1991 Indian general election were held because the previous Lok Sabha had been
dissolved just 16 months after government formation. The elections were held in a polarized
environment and are also referred to as the 'Mandal-Mandir' elections after the two most
important poll issues, the Mandal Commission fallout and the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri
Masjid issue.
Mandal-Mandir Issue[edit]
While the Mandal Commission report implemented by the VP Singh government gave 27 per
cent reservation to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in government jobs, it led to
widespread violence and protests across the country by the forward castes. Mandir
represented the hallmark of this election, where there was a debate over the disputed Babri
Masjid structure at Ayodhya, which the Bharatiya Janata Party was using as its major
election manifesto.
The Mandir issue led to numerous riots in many parts of the country and the electorate was
polarized on caste and religious lines. With the National Front was falling apart, the
Congress managed to make the most of the polarization, by getting the most seats and
forming a minority government.
Rajiv Gandhi Assassination[edit]

A day after the first round of polling took place on May 20, former prime minister Rajiv
Gandhi was assassinated while campaigning for Margatham
Chandrasekar atSriperembudur. The remaining election days were postponed until mid-June
and voting finally took place on June 12 and June 15. Voting was the lowest ever in
parliamentary elections with just 53 per cent of the electorate exercising their right to vote.
Impact of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination on 1991 Election Results and

India[edit]
Since the assassination took place after first phase of polling in 211 of 534 constituencies
and the balance constituencies went to polls after the assassination, the 1991 results were
a curate's egg. The congress party did poorly in the pre-assassination constituencies and
swept the post-assassination constituencies. The end result was a minority congress led
government led by Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, a politician who had announced his retirement
from politics.
Mr. Narasimha Rao and the finance minister Mr. Manmohan Singh then changed the course
of Indian economics by liberalizing the economy and bringing an end to old style socialist
politics.
Republic of India

India
Elections[show]
Other countries
Atlas
V
T
E
1991[edit]
Electoral participation: 55,71%. No elections held in Jammu and Kashmir.
In Punjab elections were held in 1992.
Won
(total
545)
Janata Dal
JD
11.77 69
CPI(M)
6.14 35
CPI
2.48 14
IC(S)
0.35 1
INC
35.66 244
BJP
20.04 120
Janata Dal (Secular)
JD
0,0
Janata Party
JP
3,34 5
Lok Dal
LD
0,06 0
AIADMK
1,61 11
AIFB
0,41 3
Asom Gana Parishad
AGP
0,54 1
Bahujan Samaj Party
BSP
1,8
MUL
0,3
Jammu & Kashmir Panthers Party
JPP
0,0
JMM
0,53 6
KC(M)
0,14 1
MPP
0,06 1
Nagaland Peoples Council
NPC
0,12 1
RSP
0,63 5
Shiv Sena
SS
0,79 4
SSP
0,04 1
Telugu Desam Party
TDP
2,96 13
United Minorities Front, Assam
UMFA
0,07 1
AIMIM
0,16 1
Autonomous State Demand Committee
ASDC
0,5
Haryana Vikas Party
HVP
0,12 1
Janata Dal (Gujarat)
JD(G)
0,5
Independents
4,01 1
10th Lok Sabha constituted. Congress formed the government with P. V. Narasimha Rao to
become Prime Minister. He was the second Congress PM from outside the NehruGandhi family. He introduced Economic reforms in India.

1991
27 April, 2 May, and 7 May

1996
1998

First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
H. D. Deve Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Gowda
Party
Janata Dal
BJP
INC
UF
BJP+
INC+
Lucknow
Gandhinagar(vacated)
Berhampur
Alliance
Leader's seat Karnataka

(Rajya
Sabha)
P. V. Narasimha
Rao
Seats won
192
187
140
Seat change
n/a
67
-92
Popular vote 97,113,252
67,945,790
96,443,506
Percentage
29%
20.29%
28.80
Swing
n/a
+0.18
-7.46
11th/12th-Prime Minister
P. V. Narasimha Rao
INC+
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP)

H. D. Deve Gowda
UF
The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in
two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998. The United Front, was created and
got support from 332 members out of the 545 seats in the Lok Sabha, resulting inH.D. Deve
Gowda from the Janata Dal being the 12th Prime Minister of India.
Contents
[hide]
o
o
o
o
1 Background
2 Campaign
3 Results
3.1 Results by Pre-Poll Alliances
3.2 United Front Post-Poll Alliance
3.3 Support for formation of United Front-led Government (under Deve Gowda)
3.4 Support for formation of United Front-led Government (under I.K. Gujral)
4 See also
5 References
Background[edit]
The Indian National Congress government of Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao came into
the election on the back of several government scandals and accusations of mishandling.
Seven cabinet members had resigned during the previous term, and Rao himself faced
charges of corruption. The Congress Party more generally had been plagued in recent years
by a series of splits, issues conflicts and factional disputes that had seen various key
regional parties and figures abandon the party. In particular, the high profile May 1995
defection of Arjun Singh and Narayan Dutt Tiwari to form the new All India Indira Congress
(Tiwari) party underscored the internal divisions within the INC.
The government was further weakened by a series of major scandals breaking less than 12
months from the election. In July 1995 it was found a former Congress youth leader had
murdered his wife and tried to destroy the evidence by stuffing her corpse into a tandoor. In
August 1995 the Vohra Report was finally released to the parliament, decrying that a
politician-criminal nexus was "virtually running a parallel government, pushing the state
apparatus into irrelevance".[1]Government credibility fell further still when in late 1995 when
violence significantly worsened in the Kashmir region, and sporadic fighting and ethnic
tensions boiled over in Punjab province. As a result of the scandals, the Rao government
went into the 1996 election at a low of ebb of public support. [2]
Campaign[edit]
The elections triggered a significant realignment of political forces in India, with all-India
parties attempting to construct widespread regional coalitions with minor parties in order to
secure a central majority. Such political negotiations were to become an increasingly

necessary process in Indian politics over the next two decades as the dominance of the INC
declined and smaller, ethnic and regional parties took its place. The Bharatiya Janata Party,
led by Lal Krishna Advani attempted to add several regional coalition partners - most notably
the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Bahujan Samaj Party, but was
ultimately unsuccessful in overcoming ideological differences. Yet it did join with several
strong regional partners - Shiv Sena, Haryana Vikas Party, and the Samata Party. The
Congress party attempted to form regional allies as well, most notably with the All India Anna
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which would later cause further rifts within the party as well as
the collapse of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu in 1996.[3][4]
The so-called "Third Force" during the 1996 elections was the National Front (NF). After its
collapse in 1990, the coalition had chopped and changed before reuniting in the run up to the
1996 election. Three main parties grouped back together in September 1995 in hopes of
presenting a viable political choice - the Left Front, Janata Dal and the Telugu Desam Party.
It attempted to build a wider coalition of regional partners and state parties, however
negotiations repeatedly broke down, and no consensus could be arrived at on a 'common
minimum program' - a platform of issues on which all parties could agree upon. A split in the
Uttar Pradesh government in December 1995 divided the front further. Finally, lacking a
strong leader or common set of principles, the main three parties joined with the Samajwadi
Party in a common goal of simply denying power to either the Congress or BJP. Thus a
characteristic of the 1996 elections was a large number of strong regional and state parties
declined to form an alliance with any of the three major contenders for government. [5]
In January only a few months before the election, a major scandal erupted:
the Jain hawala scandal. Jain, an industrialist in the steel and power sectors, was revealed to
have given US$33 million in bribes to politicians from nearly all major parties in return for
favours. Further shocking the public, Jain had also channelled money to Kashmiri Muslim
militants. In the first wave of names implicated were three Rao cabinet members, Arjun
Singh from the breakway Congress (T) party, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna
Advani, Sharad Yadav (leader of the Janata Dal Parliamentary Party), and former Congress
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Almost 115 names would eventually be released, and
numerous candidates and ministers were forced to resign in the aftermath. Most significantly
was the forced resignation of L.K. Advani, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee taking over as leader of
the BJP.[6]
The BJP ran a campaign centred around a four point plan which aimed for probity of public
life, self-reliance in the economy, social harmony and greater security. It strongly advocated
an economic plan which would significantly scale back government intervention and
encourage capital investment and creation. It stressed the role of Hindutva in its vision for
India, creating a more Hindu orientated state by banning cow slaughter, introducing a
uniform civil code and removing the special status of Kashmir. The Congress Party
attempted to campaign on its foreign policy record, its handling of the numerous natural and
ethnic crises that had emerged over the past five years, and on better concessions for ethnic
minorities and separated state governments. It additionally stressed the economic gains
already made by the government without the strong economic liberalization plans set out by
the BJP, many of which had been the work of future Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Janata
Dal and the National Front campaigned on maintaining a strong public sector though with
some commitment to deregulation and anti-corruption measures. It pushed other more
populist measures as well, such as more state-run infrastructure projects, subsidized
fertilizer, and increased education investment.[7]
Results[edit]
The election delivered an unclear mandate and resulted in a hung parliament. The result was
the worst result for the INC in history to that date, with commentators blaming the poor result
on the personal unpopularity of Prime Minister Rao and the numerous internal divisions that
had dogged the party. The BJP became the largest party within the Lok Sabha, a first for a
non-Congress party, although it secured neither a significant increase in the popular vote or
enough seats to secure a parliamentary majority.[8]
Following Westminster custom, Indian President Shankar Dayal Sharma invited Atal Bihari
Vajpayee as leader of the BJP to form a government. Sworn in on 15 May, the new Prime
Minister was given two weeks to prove majority support in parliament. In the weeks leading
up to the first confidence vote on 31 May, the BJP attempted to build a coalition by
moderating positions to garner support from regional and Muslim parties, however sectarian
issues and fears of certain nationalist policies of the BJP hampered efforts. On 28 May,
Vajpayee conceded that he could not arrange support from more than 200 of the 545
members of parliament, and thus resigned rather than face the confidence vote, ending his
13 day government.[9]
The second largest party, the Indian National Congress, declined to attempt to form a
government, instead choosing to support one headed by Janata Dal, and
chose KarnatakaChief Minister H. D. Deve Gowda to assume the Prime Minister post.
Janata Dal and a bloc of smaller parties thus formed the United Front which would form the
government coalition for the next two years. However, the United Front was beset by internal
tensions, accommodating as it did parties with ideologies from free market to
unreconstructedMarxist, and would spend the next two years balancing delicate coalition
arrangements and appeasing this uneasy alliance. This arrangement would prove impossible
to sustain, and within 18 months Indians would go back to the polls. [8]
The Congress party, which was supporting the United Front government from outside,
decided to withdraw support, which led to the collapse of the government in April 1997. In
order to avoid elections, a compromise was reached. The Congress party agreed to support
another United Front government under a new leader, provided its concernssuch as not
being consulted before taking important decisions and being marginalizedwere addressed.
The United Front elected I. K. Gujral as new leader and he was sworn in as Prime Minister
on 21 April 1997.So he was the first prime minister from Rajya Sabha.
Gujral inherited the bitterness between the Congress Party and the United Front from his
predecessor, H.D. Deve Gowda. However he maintained good relations with the Congress
Party, which supported his government from outside. Within a few weeks in office, Gujral
faced trouble, not from the Congress party but within his own Janata Dal. The Central
Bureau of Investigation asked for the permission from the governor of Bihar A. R. Kidwai to
prosecute the state chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in a corruption case related to the
purchase of fodder for the cattle (the Fodder Scam). The state governor granted the
permission for the prosecution of the chief minister and demand for the resignation of Yadav
was raised both from within and out of the United Front. However, Yadav sternly rejected the
demand. Prime Minister Gujral just exhorted Yadav to step down without actually taking any
action against his government. When Gujral transferred the CBI director Joginder Singh, who
was investigating the case against Yadav, many people considered this as an attempt on the
part of Prime Minister to protect Yadav. When Yadav felt that he no longer enjoyed a
commanding position in Janata Dal, he left the party and formed his own 'Rashtriya Janata
Dal' (RJD) on 3 July 1997. Out of 45 Janata Dal members of parliament, 17 left the party and
supported Yadav. However, the new party continued in the United Front and Gujral's
government was saved from immediate danger. Prime Minister Gujral continued in the office
for over 11 months, including 3 months as caretaker Prime Minister.
Results by Pre-Poll Alliances[edit]

Republic of India

India
Elections[show]
Other countries
Atlas
ed
V
T
E
Summary of the AprilMay, 1996 Lok Sabha Election
Parties and Alliances
Votes
Change Seats Change
67,950,851 20.29
+0.18
161
+41
BJP Affiliated Parties
Samata Party
Shiv Sena
Haryana Vikas Party
13,402,402
4.01
26
7,256,086
4,989,994
1,156,322
2.17
1.49
0.35
+0.69
+0.23
8
15
3
+11
+2
96,455,493 28.80
-7.46
140
-92
47,991,407 14.33
79
National Front
Janata Dal
Samajwadi Party
Telugu Desam Party
27,070,340
10,989,241
9,931,826
8.08
3.28
2.97
-3.76
-0.02
46
17
16
-13
+3
30,464,034
9.10
52
20,496,810
6,582,263
2,105,469
1,279,492
6.12
1.97
0.63
0.38
-0.04
-0.52
-0.01
-0.04
32
12
5
3
-3
-2
+1
Tamil Maanila Congress
7,339,982
2.19
20
7,151,381
2.14
+0.05
17
+17
13,453,235
4.02
+2.41
11
+9
14,227,635
4.23
28
2,534,979
2,560,506
4,903,070
757,316
340,070
180,112
337,539
124,218
109,346
382,319
1,287,072
581,868
129,220
0.76
0.76
1.46
0.23
0.10
0.05
0.10
0.04
0.03
0.11
0.38
0.17
0.04
+0.46
+0.22
-0.08
-0.06
-0.45
-0.16
+0.02
8
5
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
+8
+4
+1
+1
+1
+1
-5
+1
Left Front

Bahujan Samaj Party

Other Seated Parties
Shiromani Akali Dal

Asom Gana Parishad
All India Indira Congress (Tiwari)
Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress
Sikkim Democratic Front
United Goans Democratic Party
Karnataka Congress Party
Unseated Parties
15,395,309
4.61
Independents
21,041,557
6.28
+2.12
+8
Total
334,873,286 100%
545
Source: Electoral Commission of India, Statistical Report on General Elections, 1996 to the 11th Lok Sabha [10]
United Front Post-Poll Alliance[edit]

Alliance
Party
United Front
National Front
Seats: 192
% Votes:~28.52%
Seat
s
%
Votes
79
14.33
Left Front
52
9.10
20
2.19
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 17
2.14
Asom Gana Parishad
0.76
Other Minor Parties
19
n/a
Source: Muse Journal[11]
Support for formation of United Front-led Government (under Deve

Gowda)[edit]
Political Parties/Alliances supporting the government
United Front (192)

Indian National Congress (140)
Total: 332 votes (61.1%)
Support for formation of United Front-led Government (under I.K. Gujral)

[edit]
United Front (178)

Indian National Congress (140)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please

help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2007)
1996
members
February 16, February 22, and

February 28, 1998

First party
Leader
Second party
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sitaram Kesri
Party
BJP
INC
Alliance
NDA
INC+
Leader's seat
Lucknow
Bihar
(Rajya Sabha)
1999
members
Seats won
254
144
Seat change
+25
+1
Popular vote
139,701,871
98,140,471
37.21%
26.14%
Percentage

Inder Kumar Gujral
UF

Atal Bihari Vajpayee
NDA
General elections were held in India in 1998, after the government elected in 1996
collapsed and the 12th Lok Sabha was convened. New elections were called when Indian
National Congress (INC) left the United Frontgovernment led by I.K. Gujral, after they
refused to drop the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party from the government
after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the
killing of Rajiv Gandhi.[1] The outcome of the new elections was also indecisive, with no party
or alliance able to create a strong majority. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal Bihari
Vajpayee retained his position of Prime Minister getting support from 286 members out of
545, the government collapsed again in late 1998 when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam, with its 18 seats, withdrew their support, leading to new elections in 1999. It also
marked the first time since independence that India's traditional governing party, the INC,
failed to win two consecutive elections.
Turnout was 61.97%.
Contents
[hide]
o
o
1 Results
1.1 Summary
1.2 Results by state
1.2.1 States
2 See also
3 References
Results[edit]
Republic of India

India
Elections[show]
Other countries
Atlas
V
T
E
Party
Acronym
Alliance
BJP
NDA
25.59%
182
INC
Congress
25.82%
141
CPI(M)
United Front
5.4%
32
% of votes Seats
Samajwadi Party
SP
4.93%
20
AIADMK
NDA
1.83%
18
Rashtriya Janata Dal
RJD
Jan Morcha
2.78%
17
Telugu Desam Party
TDP
2.77%
12
Samata Party
SAP
NDA
1.76%
12
CPI
United Front
1.75%
Biju Janata Dal
BJD
NDA
1%
Shiromani Akali Dal
SAD
NDA
0.81%
WBTMC
NDA
2.42%
JD
United Front
3.24%
2.37%
All India Trinamool Congress
Janata Dal
Independents
Shiv Sena
SS
NDA
1.77%
DMK
United Front
1.44%
Bahujan Samaj Party
BSP
Jan Morcha
4.67%
RSP
Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya)
HLD(R)
Pattali Makkal Katchi
PMK
United Front
NDA
0.55%
0.53%
0.42%
0.37%
RPI
TMC(M)
United Front
1.4%
LS
NDA
0.69%
MDMK
NDA
0.44%
0.21%
Lok Shakti
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhhagam
NC
AIFB
United Front
0.33%
Muslim League Kerala State Committee
MUL
Congress
0.22%
AC
0.05%
-%
Arunachal Congress
All India Rashtriya Janata Party
AIRJP
Jan Morcha
0.56%
Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)
SJP(R)
Jan Morcha
0.32%
HVP
NDA
0.24%
Haryana Vikas Party
AIMIM
0.13%
All India Indira Congress (Secular)
AIIC(S)
United Front
0.12%
Janata Party
JP
NDA
0.12%
KC
Congress
0.1%
United Minorities Front, Assam
UMFA
0.1%
PWPI
0.07%
ASDC
0.05%
Manipur State Congress Party
MSCP
0.05%
SDF
0.03%
JMM
Jan Morcha
0.36%
Asom Gana Parishad
AGP
United Front
0.29%
Hill Peoples' Democratic Party
HPDP
0.2%
NDA
0.1%
United Front
0.09%
0.06%
NTR Telugu Desam Party (Lakshmi Parvathi) NTRTDP(LP)
Kerala Congress
United Democratic Party
KC
UDP
United Goans Democratic Party
UGDP
0.04%
MPP
0.03%
MGP
0.02%
Mizo National Front
MNF
0.02%
100%
545
Total
NDA
Summary[edit]
Alliance
% of votes Seats
National Democratic Alliance
46.61%
254
Congress & allies
26.42%
144
United Front
11.74%
64
Jan Morcha
4.40%
24
10.82%
59
100%
545
Others
Total
Results by state[edit]
States[edit]
(Please help expand this section with correct data) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won
the election. Its constituents were Bharatiya Janata Party, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Telugu
Desam, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK of Jayalalithaa) et al.
Constituents of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) were Congress, Lalu Janata Dal,
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP of Sharad Pawar), Kerala Muslim League, et al.
Andhra Pradesh (Total seats - 42) Congress - 22, Telugu Desam - 12, BJP - 4
Assam (Seats - 13) Congress - 10

Bihar (Total - 54) BJP (Part of NDA) - 19, Samata Party (Part of NDA) - 10, Rashtriya Janata
Dal (Lalu Yadav) - 17, Congress - 4
Gujarat (Total seats - 26) Bharatiya Janata Party - 19, Congress - 7
Karnataka (Seats - 28) BJP - 13, Congress - 9
Madhya Pradesh (Seats in MP - 40) BJP - 30, Congress - 10
Maharashtra (Seats - 48) BJP - 4, Shiv Sena - 6, Congress (Part of UPA) - 31, RPI (Part of
UPA) - 6,
Rajasthan (Total - 25) BJP - 5, Congress - 19
Tamil Nadu AIADMK (Part of NDA) - 18, BJP (NDA) - 3, DMK - 5, Tamil Manila Congress - 3
Uttar Pradesh (Seats in UP - 85) BJP - 58, Congress - Zero, Samajwadi Party (Mulayam
Singh Yadav) - 19, BSP (Mayawati) - 4
West Bengal (Total - 42) CPI(M) - 24, CPI - 3, Trinamool Congress - 7, Congress - 1, BJP - 1

1998
members
5 September,
11 September,
18 September,
25 September
and 3 October 1999
2004
members

Leader
Party
First party
Second party
Sonia Gandhi
BJP
INC
Alliance
NDA
INC+
Leader since
16 May 1996
19 March 1998
Leader's seat
Lucknow
Amethi
Seats won
270
156
Seat change
+16
Popular vote
135,103,344
103,120,330
Percentage
37.06%
28.30%
Swing
-0.15%
+2.48%
Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA Coalition, in coalition with Telugu

Desam, secured a large majority in the Lok Sabha. Results of
the National and Regional parties.
Prime Minister before

election
NDA

NDA
General Elections were held in India from 5 September to 3 October 1999, a few months
after the Kargil War. The 13th Lok Sabha election is of historical importance as it was the first
time a united front of parties managed to attain a majority and form a government that lasted
a full term of five years, thus ending a period of political instability at the national level that
had been characterised by three general elections held in as many years.
Contents
[hide]
1 Background
1.1 1999 Lok Sabha Vote of Confidence
2 Campaign
3 Results
3.1 Results by state
3.1.1 States

4 References
5 External links
6 See also
Background[edit]
1999 Lok Sabha Vote of Confidence[edit]
On 17 April 1999, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) coalition government led by prime
minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee failed a to win a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha (India's
lower house), falling short a single vote due to the withdrawal of one of the government's
coalition partners the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The leader of
the AIADMK, J. Jayalalitha, had consistently threatened to withdraw support from the ruling
coalition if certain demands were not met, in particular the sacking of the Tamil
Nadu government, control of which she had lost three years prior. The BJP accused
Jayalalitha of making the demands in order to avoid standing trial for a series of corruption
charges, and no agreement between the parties could be reached leading to the
government's defeat.[1]
Sonia Gandhi, as leader of the opposition and largest opposition party (Indian National
Congress) was unable to form a coalition of parties large enough to secure a working
majority in the Lok Sabha. Thus shortly after the no confidence motion,President K. R.
Narayanan dissolved the Parliament and called fresh elections. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
remained caretaker prime minister till the elections were held later that year.[2]
Campaign[edit]
The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) went into the election as the head of
the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a coalition of over 20 parties. Several other parties
in the election not part of the NDA also committed themselves to supporting a BJP led
government on matters of confidence. The main opposition league was led by Sonia
Gandhi's Indian National Congress, the long-traditional leftist dominant party in India. The
opposition coalition comprised far fewer parties, and its alliances were generally weaker than
those of the NDA. A so-called "third front" of left-wing, socialist and communist parties was
also present, although this was not a strong electoral alliance so much as a loose grouping
of parties that shared similar ideological viewpoints and had some inter-party cooperation.
There were also nearly one thousand candidates of unaffiliated parties, independent
candidates and parties who were unwilling to take part in coalitions that stood in the election.
[3]
The campaign coalesced around a few key issues. Sonia Gandhi was a relative newcomer
to the INC (having been elected to the presidency in 1998) and her leadership had recently
been challenged by Maharastrian INC leader Sharad Pawar, on the grounds of her Italian
birth. This led to an underlying crisis within the INC that persisted during the election and
was capitalised upon by the BJP, which contrasted the "videsi" (foreign) Gandhi versus the
"swadesi" (home-grown) Vajpayee. Another issue running in the BJP's favour was the
generally positive view of Vajpayee's handling of the Kargil War, which had ended a few
months earlier and had affirmed and strengthened the Indian position in Kashmir. During the
past two years India had posted strong economic growth on the back of economic
liberalisation and financial reforms, as well as a low rate of inflation and higher rate of
industrial expansion. The BJP campaigned strongly on the back of these achievements, as
well as cultivating some sympathy for the predicament which had led to the government's
downfall.[4][5]
Perhaps most decisive though in the BJP's campaign was the solid alliance it had cultivated
and the relatively strong performance it was able to deliver on regional and local issues.
The 1991, 1996, and 1998 elections saw a period of consistent growth for the BJP and its
allies, based primarily on political expansions in terms of cultivating stronger and broader
alliances with other previously unaffiliated parties; and regional expansion which had seen
the NDA become competitive and even the largest vote takers in previously Congress
dominated areas such as Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Assam. These final factors were to
prove decisive in the election outcome of 1999. [6][7]
The voting was conducted over five days. Elections were conducted in 146 seats on the
Eastern coast of the country on 5 September, in 123 Central and Southern seats on 11
September, in 76 Northern and Upper-Central seats on 18 September, in 74 North Western
seats on 25 September, and in the 121 Western seats on 3 October. Despite some fears of
voter fatigue, electoral turnout was comparable with previous elections at 59.99%. Over 5
million election officials conducted the election over 800,000 polling stations, with vote
counting commencing on 6 October.[8][9]
Results[edit]
Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA Coalition, in concert with the Telugu Desam Party, secured a large majority in the
Lok Sabha.
The results were decisively in favour of the BJP and the NDA, with the formal NDA picking
up 269 seats, and a further 29 seats taken by the Telugu Desam Party, which gave support
to the BJP-led government but was not strictly party of its alliance. The Congress party lost
23 seats, and its two key regional allies performed worse than expected, however it did
regain ground in some states such as Uttar Pradesh (where it had been virtually wiped out in
1998). The leftist parties fortunes continued to decline, with the Communist Party of India
dropping to just four seats and losing its official status as a "national party". [10]
The result for the Indian National Congress was the worst in nearly half a century, with party
leader Sonia Gandhi calling upon the party to take a frank assessment of itself "the result
calls for introspection, frank assessment and determined action. We will attend to this in the
coming days. In the meantime, we accept unhesitatingly the verdict of the people". For the
BJP, this marked the first occasion where a non-INC party had secured a stable government
coalition. Previous non-INC governing coalitions had been formed in 1977, 1989 and 1996;
however none of these administrations had been able to maintain a stable coagulation for
more than a couple of years. One Senior BJP figure commented in the aftermath "It will
certainly be a government of stability...I expect that Mr Vajpayee, with all his experience, will
be able to handle our coalition partners." [11]
Results by state[edit]
States[edit]
States
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Alliance
Telugu Desam
29
39.85
BJP affiliated
parties
9.90
National
Democratic
Alliance
42.79
Indian National
Congress
Independent
1.41
None
Others
6.05
None
Indian National
Congress
56.92
Indian National
Congress
Arunachal Congress
16.62
National
Democratic
Alliance
16.30
National
Democratic
Alliance
National Congress Party
7.77
None
Others
2.39
None
States
Assam
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Indian National
Congress
10
38.42
Indian National
Congress
29.84
National
Democratic
Alliance
Asom Gana Parishad
11.92
National
Democratic
Alliance
Independent
9.36
None
Others
10.46
None
23
23.01
National
Democratic
Alliance
Janata Dal (United)
18
20.77
National
Democratic
Alliance
28.29
None
8.81
None
Others
19.12
None
51.49
National
Bihar
Goa
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Alliance
Democratic
Alliance
39.01
None
Nationalist Congress Party 0
3.79
None
20
52.48
National
Democratic
Alliance
45.44
None
Independent
0.67
None
0.52
None
29.21
National
Democratic
Alliance
Indian National Lok Dal
28.72
National
Democratic
Alliance
34.93
None
Haryana Vikas Party
2.71
None
Gujarat
Haryana
States
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Others
4.43
None
46.27
National
Democratic
Alliance
Haryana Vikas Party
12.37
None
39.52
None
Independent
0.48
None
Others
1.36
None
Jammu & Kashmir

National Conference
28.94
National
Democratic
Alliance
31.56
National
Democratic
Alliance
17.83
None
Independent
9.63
None
Others
12.04
None
Indian National
18
45.41
Indian National
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Congress
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Alliance
Congress
27.19
National
Democratic
Alliance
Janata Dal (United)
13.28
National
Democratic
Alliance
10.85
None
Others
3.27
None
Indian National
Congress
39.25
Indian National
Congress

8
(Marxist)
27.90
None
Communist Party of India 0
7.57
None
6.56
None
Others
18.62
None
29
46.58
National
Democratic
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
11
43.91
None
Bahujan Samaj Party
5.23
None
Samajwadi Party
1.37
None
Others
2.91
None
Shiv Sena
15
16.86
National
Democratic
Alliance
13
21.18
National
Democratic
Alliance
10
29.71
None
21.58
None
Others
10.67
None
Manipur State Congress

1
Party
24.89
National
Democratic
Alliance
13.49
16.25
Maharashtra
Manipur
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Orissa
Alliance
Biju Janata Dal
10
33.00
National
Democratic
Alliance
24.63
National
Democratic
Alliance
36.94
None
Shiromani Akali Dal
10
25.58
National
Democratic
Alliance
n/a
National
Democratic
Alliance
23.13
Marumalarchi Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam
n/a
National
Democratic
Alliance

(Marxist)
n/a
None
Punjab
Indian National
Congress
Tamil Nadu
States
MGR Anna Dravida

Munnetra Kazhagam
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Alliance
MGR Anna Dravida

Munnetra Kazhagam
n/a
National
Democratic
Alliance
Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam
12
23.13
National
Democratic
Alliance
All India Anna Dravida

Munnetra Kazhagam
10
25.58
INC affiliated
parties
8.21
National
Democratic
Alliance
n/a
National
Democratic
Alliance
Munnetra Kazhagam
n/a
National
Democratic
Alliance
n/a
Indian National
Congress

1
(Marxist)
n/a
None
National
Democratic
Alliance
n/a
States
Party
Seats
won
% of Votes
Alliance
Uttar Pradesh
29
27.64
National
Democratic
Alliance
Bahujan Samaj Party
14
22.08
None
Samajwadi Party
12
24.06
None
10
14.72
Indian National
Congress
Akhil Bharatiya Lok

Tantrik Congress
1.51
None
Rashtriya Lok Dal
2.49
None
Independent
3.62
None
Samajwadi Janata Party

(Rashtriya)
0.46
None
Communist Party of
India (Marxist)
21
35.57
None
26.04
National
Democratic
Alliance
West Bengal
All India Trinamool

Congress
States
Party
Alliance
3.47
None
13.29
Indian National
Congress
Party (India)
4.25
None
3.45
None
11.13
National
Democratic
Alliance

% of Votes
Republic of India
India
Seats
won
Elections[show]
Other countries
Atlas
ed
V
T
E
Summary of the SeptemberOctober 1999 Lok Sabha Election
Parties and Alliances
Votes
Change Seats Change
National Democratic Alliance (NDA)

Janata Dal (United)
Shiv Sena
Biju Janata Dal
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
Shiromani Akali Dal
Rashtriya Lok Dal
Lok Shakti
Asom Gana Parishad
135,103,344 37.06
86,562,209
23.75
11,282,084
3.10
5,672,412
1.56
6,298,832
1.73
4,378,536
1.20
9,363,785
2.57
2,377,741
0.65
2,002,700
0.55
1,620,527
0.44
454,481
0.12
2,502,949
0.69
1,364,030
0.37
40,997
0.01
1,182,061
0.32
-0.15
270
+16
1.84
*
-0.21
+0.29
+0.20
+0.15
+0.23
*
-0.09
-0.12
*
-0.68
-0.03
182
21
15
12
10
8
5
5
4
4
2
2
0
0
*
+9
+6
+1
+1
*
+1
+1
-6
*
-3
+0.88
29
+12
Other BJP Affiliated Parties
Telugu Desam Party
13,297,370
3.65
103,120,330 28.30
+2.48
114
27
Other INC Affiliated Parties
18,753,722
5.15
+4.83
21
+18
7,046,953
10,150,492
365,313
357,402
833,562
1.93
2.79
0.10
0.10
0.23
+0.10
+0.01
+0.01
+0.01
10
7
1
1
2
-8
-7
+1
19,695,767
5.40
+0.24
33
+1
Samajwadi Party (Socialist Party)
13,717,021
3.76
1.17
26
+6
Bahujan Samaj Party (Majority Society Party)
15,175,845
4.16
0.51
14
+9
24,826,373
6.79
30
8,260,311
5,395,119
1,500,817
1,288,060
818,713
3,332,702
1,220,698
692,559
2.27
1.48
0.41
0.35
0.22
0.91
0.33
0.19
0.12
0.11
0.08
0.08
0.08
*
-0.27
-0.14
+0.02
*
*
+0.08
*
-0.01
+0.03
+0.01
-0.24
+0.01
0.07
0.06
0.03
+0.05
+0.01
8
4
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
*
-5
-2
*
*
+1
*
+1
+1
+1
10,751,176
2.99
9,996,386
2.74
+0.37

Kerala Congress
Muslim League Kerala State
Committee
Other Seated Parties
Nationalist Congress Party

Akhil Bharatiya Lok Tantrik Congress
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
Liberation
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha
MGR Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann)
Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)
Himachal Vikas Congress
Manipur State Congress Party
448,165
396,216
298,846
297,337
282,583
264,002
222,417
107,828
Unseated Parties
Independents
Total
364,437,294 100%

545
1999
members
April 20, April 26, May 5

and May 10, 2004
2009
members

First party
Second party
Sonia Gandhi
Party
INC
BJP
Alliance
UPA
NDA
Leader since
19 March 1998
16 May 1996
Leader's seat
Rae Bareli
Lucknow
Last election
156 seats, 28.3%
270 seats, 37.1%
Seats won
218
181
Seat change
+83
-89
Popular vote
138,312,337
128,931,001
Percentage
35.4%
33.3%
Swing
+7.1%
-3.76%
Leader
Results of the National and Regional parties.
Prime Minister before

election
NDA
Prime Minister-designate
Manmohan Singh
UPA
Legislative elections were held in India in four phases between April 20 and May 10, 2004.
Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the 14th Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha, or "House of the People," is the directly electedlower house of
the Parliament of India.
On May 13, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance National Democratic
Alliance conceded defeat. The Indian National Congress, which had governed India for all
but five years from independence until 1996, returned to power after a record eight years out
of office. It was able to put together a comfortable majority of more than 335 members out of
543 with the help of its allies. The 335 members included both the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance, the governing coalition formed after the election, as well as external
support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Kerala Congress (KC)
and the Left Front. (External support is support from parties that are not part of the governing
coalition).
Congress President Sonia Gandhi surprised observers by declining to become the
new prime minister, instead asking formerFinance Minister Manmohan Singh, a respected
economist, to head the new government. Singh had previously served in the Congress
government of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in the early 1990s, where he was seen as one
of the architects ofIndia's first economic liberalization plan, which staved off an impending
national monetary crisis. Despite the fact that Singh had never won a Lok Sabha seat, his
considerable goodwill and Sonia Gandhi's nomination won him the support of the UPA allies
and the Left Front.
Seven states also held assembly elections to elect state governments along with the
parliamentary elections.
Contents
[hide]
o
o
o
o
o
o
1 Organisation
2 Political background
3 Pre-poll alliances
4 Forecast and campaigns
5 Results
5.1 Support for formation of UPA-led Government
5.2 Results by states and territories
5.2.1 States
5.2.2 Territories
5.3 Results by Parties
5.4 Results by alliances
5.5 Elected MPs
5.6 Results by post-alliance/allies
6 Analysis
7 Impact
8 Events
9 See also
10 Further reading
11 References
12 External links
Organisation[edit]
The election dates for the parliamentary elections were:
April 20 - 141 constituencies
April 26 - 137 constituencies
May 5 - 83 constituencies
May 10 - 182 constituencies
Counting began simultaneously on 13 May. Over 370 million of the 675 million eligible
citizens voted, with election violence claiming 48 lives, less than half the number killed during
the 1999 election. The Indian elections were held in phases in order to maintain law and
order. A few states considered sensitive areas required deployment of the armed forces. The
average enrollment of voters in each constituency is 1.2 million, although the largest
constituency has 3.1 million.
The Election Commission of India is responsible for deciding the dates and conducting
elections according to constitutional provisions. The Election Commission employed more
than a million electronic voting machines for these elections.
According to the magazine India Today, 115.62 billion rupees (approx USD 2.6 billion) were
expected to have been spent in campaigning for the elections by all political
partiescombined. Most of the money was spent on the people involved in the election.
The Election Commission limited poll expenses to Rs. 2.5 million (USD 57,000 approx.)
perconstituency. Thus, the actual spending is expected to have been approximately 10 times
the limit. About 6.5 billion rupees (approx. USD 150 million) are estimated to have been
spent on mobilising 150,000 vehicles. About a billion rupees are estimated to have been
spent on helicopters and aircraft.
Political background[edit]
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had recommended premature dissolution of the 13th Lok
Sabha (in accordance with a provision of the Constitution) to pave the way for early elections
apparently in view of the recent good showing of the BJP in the Assembly elections in four
states. The two "major parties" in India are the BJP (led by Vajpayee) and the Congress (led
by Sonia Gandhi).
The Chief Election Commissioner who conducted the 2004 general elections in India was
T.S.Krishnamurthy
Pre-poll alliances[edit]
In these elections, compared to all the Lok Sabha elections of the 1990s, the battle was
more of a head-to-head contest in the sense that there was no viable third front alternative.
Largely the contest was between BJP and its allies on one hand and Congress and its allies
on the other. The situation did, however, show large regional differences.
The BJP fought the elections as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), although
some of its seat-sharing agreements were made with strong regional parties outside of the
NDA such as Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu.
Ahead of the elections there were attempts to form a Congress-led national level joint
opposition front. In the end, an agreement could not be reached, but on regional level
alliances between Congress and regional parties were made in several states. This was the
first time that Congress contested with that type of alliances in a parliamentary election.
The left parties, most notably the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist
Party of India, contested on their own in their strongholds West Bengal, Tripura andKerala,
confronting both Congress and NDA forces. In several other states, such
as Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, they took part in seat sharings with Congress. In Tamil
Naduthey were part of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Democratic Progressive
Alliance.
Two parties refused to go along with either Congress or BJP, Bahujan Samaj
Party and Samajwadi Party. Both are based in Uttar Pradesh, the largest state of India.
Congress made several attempts to form alliances with them, but in vain. Many believed that
they would become the 'spoilers' that would rob Congress of an electoral victory. The result
was a four-cornered contest in UP, which didn't really hurt or benefit Congress or BJP
significantly.
Forecast and campaigns[edit]

Most analysts believed the NDA would win the elections; this assessment was also
supported by opinion polls. The economy had shown steady growth in the last few months
and the disinvestment of government owned production units (a continuation of India's
liberalisation policies initiated in the early 1990s) had been on track. The Foreign Exchange
Reserves of India stood at more than USD 100 billion (7th largest in the world and a record
for India). The service sector had also generated a lot of jobs. The party was supposed to
have been riding on a wave of the so-called "feel good factor", typified by its promotional
campaign "India Shining".
In the past, BJP has largely been seen as a hard-line Hindu party with close ties with the
Hindu organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Over the years, the party has
slightly distanced itself from its Hindutva policies, a change that is being questioned after the
party's poor showing in the elections. These elections were marked by the campaign's
emphasis on economic gains. From the last few elections, BJP had realised that its voter
base had reached a ceiling and had concentrated on pre-poll rather than post-poll alliances.
The foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi also constituted part of the NDA's campaign.
Results[edit]
Support for formation of UPA-led Government[edit]
UPA (218)
Left Front (59)
Samajwadi Party (36)
Bahujan Samaj Party (19)
Kerala Congress (1)
Indian Federal Democratic Party (1)
People's Democratic Party (1)
Results by states and territories[edit]

States[edit]
States
Andhra
Pradesh
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
United Progressive
29
41.56
Telugu Desam Party
33.12
Telangana Rashtra Samithi
6.83
1.34
Left Front
1.04
Left Front
8.41
National Democratic

(Marxist)
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
Arunachal
Pradesh
Assam
Others
7.7
53.85
Arunachal Congress
19.88
Independent
12.14
9.96
Others
4.16
35.07
22.94
Asom Gana Parishad
19.95
None
National Democratic
Alliance
INC affiliated parties
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
None
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
None
States
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Independent
13.41
None
Others
8.63
None
22
30.67
Janata Dal (United)
22.36
14.57
Lok Janshakti Party
8.19
4.49
Others
17.92
10
47.78
40.16
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
None
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
Goa
Gujarat
Bahujan Samaj Party
4.54
None
Independent
3.86
None
Others
3.66
None
46.83
29.76
16.04
2.17
Left Front
Others
5.20
None
14
47.37
National Democratic
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
Alliance
States
Haryana
Himachal
Pradesh
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
United Progressive
12
43.86
Independent
3.45
None
Bahujan Samaj Party
1.48
None
Others
3.84
None
42.13
17.21
22.43
None
Haryana Vikas Party
6.25
None
Others
11.98
None
51.81
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
Alliance
States
Jammu &
Kashmir
Party
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
National Democratic
44.25
Bahujan Samaj Party
1.74
None
Independent
1.66
None
27.83
22.02
None
11.94
None
23.04
Others
15.17
21.44
16.28

Conference
Jammu and Kashmir

National Panthers Party
Jharkhand
Seats
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
None
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
Karnataka
United Progressive
n/a
33.01
n/a
Left Front
Independent
6.89
None
18
34.77
36.82
20.45
None
Independent
2.34
None
Others
5.62
None
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
States
Kerala
Party
won
Votes
Alliance
31.52
Left Front
7.89
Left Front
Indian Union Muslim League 1
4.86
32.13
10.38
Others
13.22
25
48.13
34.07
Bahujan Samaj Party
4.75
None
Independent
4.02
None
Pradesh
% of
12
(Marxist)
Madhya
Seats
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
None
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
States
Maharashtra
Manipur
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Others
9.03
13
23.77
13
22.61
Shiv Sena
12
20.11
18.31
Others
15.20
Independent
22.46
14.88
20.65
Alliance
None
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
None
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
Meghalaya
10.37
Others
31.64
45.55
28.27
Independent (politician)
17.55
8.63
Mizo National Front
52.46
None
Independent
45.67
None
Ephraim Union
1.87
None
All India Trinamool

Congress
Mizoram
United Progressive
Alliance
None
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
None
National Democratic
Alliance
States
Nagaland
Orissa
Punjab
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Nagaland People's Front
73.12
None
25.78
Independent
0.56
None
0.54
None
Biju Janata Dal
11
30.02
19.30
40.43
Independent
4.50
Others
5.75
Shiromani Akali Dal
34.28
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
None
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
Rajasthan
National Democratic
10.48
34.17
Bahujan Samaj Party
7.67
None
Others
13.40
None
21
49.01
41.42
Bahujan Samaj Party
3.16
None
Independent
2.72
None
Others
3.69
None
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
States
Sikkim
Party
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
69.84
27.43
1.46
None
1.26
None
16
24.60
10
14.40
6.71
5.85
2.97
Left Front
2.87
Left Front
Sikkim Himali Rajya

Parishad
Tamil Nadu
Seats
Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam
Munnetra Kazhagam
None
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
(Marxist)
29.77
12.83
68.80
14.28
7.82
5.09
Samajwadi Party
35
26.74
None
Bahujan Samaj Party
19
24.67
None
10
22.17
National Democratic
Munnetra Kazhagam
Others
Tripura

(Marxist)
All India Trinamool

Congress
Uttar Pradesh
National Democratic
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance (BJP)
Left Front
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
United Progressive
12.04
Others
14.38
40.98
38.31
Samajwadi Party
7.93
None
Bahujan Samajwadi Party
6.77
None
Others
6.01
None
26
38.57
Left Front
14.56
United Progressive

(Marxist)
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance (1)
National Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
States
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
4.01
Left Front
3.66
Left Front
4.48
Left Front
21.04
8.06
Others
5.62
Party
All India Trinamool

Congress
National Democratic
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
None
Territories[edit]
Territories
Party
Andaman & Nicobar
Indian National
Islands
Congress
Seats
% of
won
Votes
55.77
Bharatiya Janata Party 0
35.95
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Territories
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
Alliance
Communist Party of
2.71
Left Front
Independent
1.72
None
Others
3.85
None
52.06
35.22
Indian National Lok Dal 0
6.61
None
Independent
3.42
None
Others
2.69
None
National Capital
Indian National
54.81
United Progressive
Territory of Delhi
Congress
India (Marxist)
Chandigarh
Indian National
Congress
United Progressive
Alliance
National Democratic
Alliance
Alliance
Territories
Party
Seats
% of
won
Votes
Alliance
National Democratic
40.67
Bahujan Samaj Party
2.48
None
Independent
1.27
None
Lakshadweep
Alliance
National
Janata Dal (United)
49.02
Democratic
Alliance
Indian National
United Progressive
48.79
Janata Party
1.47
None
Samajwadi Party
0.72
None
Congress
Alliance
Results by Parties[edit]
For a complete list of parties, see Indian general election full results, 2004.
Republic of India

India
Elections[show]
Other countries
Atlas
Party
Name
Indian
National
V
T
E
States
Seats
Seat
contest
contest
ed
ed
won
33
400
145
% in
No. of
of
Seats
Votes
Vote
contest
ed
103,408,9 26.53
34.43%
Forfeite
d in
seats
82
Party
Name
States
Seats
Seat
contest
contest
ed
ed
won
Congress
Bharatiya
Janata Party
31
364
138
69
43
25
435
19
23
237
36
33
42
16
73
Party of India 19
Samajwadi
Party
Telugu
Desam Party
Rashtriya
Janata Dal
Janata Dal
(United)
No. of
of
Seats
Votes
Vote
contest
ed
Forfeite
d in
seats
86,371,56 22.16
34.39%
57
5.66%
42.31%
15
5.33%
6.66%
358
4.32%
10.26%
169
3.04%
42.75%
24
9,384,147 2.41%
31.27%
14
9,144,963 2.35%
17.73%
44
(Marxist)
Samaj Party
% in
49
Communist
Bahujan
22,070,61
4
20,765,22
9
16,824,07
2
11,844,81
1
Party
Name
States
Seats
Seat
contest
contest
ed
ed
won
% in
No. of
of
Seats
Votes
Vote
contest
ed
Forfeite
d in
seats
All India Anna

Dravida
Munnetra
33
8,547,014 2.19%
35.59%
33
8,071,867 2.07%
29.97%
16
16
7,064,393 1.81%
58.24%
14
56
12
7,056,255 1.81%
17.90%
34
11
32
7,023,175 1.80%
33.98%
10
12
43
5,732,296 1.47%
15.67%
24
15
34
10
5,484,111
23.70%
19
Kazhagam
Nationalist
Trinamool
Congress
Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam
Shiv Sena
Nationalist
Congress
Party
Janata Dal
(Secular)
Communist
Party of India
1.41%
Party
Name
Biju Janata
Dal
Shiromani
Akali Dal
Lok Jan
Shakti Party
Rashtriya Lok
Dal
States
Seats
Seat
contest
contest
ed
ed
won
% in
No. of
of
Seats
Votes
Vote
contest
ed
Forfeite
d in
seats
12
11
5,082,849 1.30%
51.15%
10
3,506,681 0.90%
43.42%
12
40
2,771,427 0.71%
10.02%
32
11
32
2,463,607 0.63%
11.08%
23
2,441,405 0.63%
13.19%
2,169,020 0.56%
51.66%
12
2,069,600 0.53%
23.53%
20
1,936,703 0.50%
12.60%
14
Telangana
Rashtra
Samithi
Pattali
Makkal
Katchi
Asom Gana
Parishad
Indian
National Lok
Party
Name
States
Seats
Seat
contest
contest
ed
ed
won
% in
No. of
of
Seats
Votes
Vote
contest
ed
Forfeite
d in
seats
Dal
Jharkhand
Mukti Morcha
1,846,843 0.47%
28.43%
1,689,794 0.43%
33.50%
1,679,870 0.43%
58.23%
10
1,365,055 0.35%
18.81%
35
543
543
4218
Revolutionary
Socialist
Party
Marumaralar
chi Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam
All India
Forward Bloc
Total
38977978
4
100%
Results by alliances[edit]
Votes and seats of the major parties are compared with those won in the 1999 election
ed
Alliance
Summary of the 20/26 April and 5/10 May Lok Sabha of India election results
Votes
% Chan Sea Chan Party
Votes
% Chan Sea Chan
ge
United
138,312 35
Progres
,337 .4
sive
Alliance
ts
ge
+1.9 218
+83
ge
ts
ge
Indian National
Congress
103,405 26
,272 .7
-1.6 145
+32
Rashtriya
Janata
Dal (National
People's Party)
8,613,3
02
2.
2
-0.5
21
+12
Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam (Dra
vidian Progress
Federation)
7,064,3
93
1.
8
+0.1
16
+4
Nationalist
Congress Party
6,915,7
40
1.
8
-0.5
+1
Lok Jan Shakti

Party (People's
Power Party)
2,771,4
27
0.
6
Telangana
Rashtra
Samithi (Telang
ana State Front)
2,441,4
05
0.
6
Pattali Makkal
Katchi (Labour
Party)
2,169,0
20
0.
5
-0.1
+1
1,846,8
43
0.
5
Jharkhand
Mukti
Morcha (Jharkh
and Liberation
Front)
Nationa 128,931 33
l
,001 .3
Democr
atic
Alliance
-3.8 181
-89
Marumalarchi
Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam (Pro
gressive
Dravidian
Renaissance
Organisation)
1,679,8
70
0.
4
0.0
Indian Union
Muslim League
770,098
0.
2
0.0
+1
Republican
Party of India
(Athvale)
367,510
0.
1
Jammu and
Kashmir
People's
Democratic
Party
267,457
0.
0
Bharatiya
Janata
Party (Indian
People's Party)
85,866, 22
593 .2
-1.5 138
-44
Janata Dal
(United) (Peopl
e's Party
(United))
9,924,2
09
2.
6
-0.5
-11
8,547,0
14
2.
2
All India Anna

Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam (All
India Annadurai
Progressive
Dravidian
Organisation)
Left
Front
30,578,
698
7.
7
-0.9
59
Nationalist
Trinamool
Congress
8,047,7
71
2.
1
-0.5
-6
Shiv
Sena (Army
of Shivaji)
7,056,0
75
1.
8
+0.2
12
-3
Biju Janata
Dal (Biju
People's Party)
5,084,4
28
1.
3
+0.1
11
+1
Shiromani Akali
Dal (Akali
Religious Party)
3,506,6
81
0.
9
+0.2
+6
Nagaland
People's Front
715,366
0.
2
Mizo National
Front
182,864
0.
0
Communist
Party of India
(Marxist)
22,061,
677
5.
7
+0.3
43
+11
Communist
Party of India
5,434,7
38
1.
4
-0.1
10
+6
Revolutionary
Socialist Party
1,717,2
28
0.
4
0.0
All India
Forward Bloc
1,365,0
55
0.
2
+17
Other
Bahujan Samaj
Party (Majority
Society Party)
20,713,
468
5.
3
+1.1
19
+5
Samajwadi
Party (Socialist
Party)
16,645,
356
4.
3
+0.5
36
+10
Telugu Desam
Party (Party of
the Telugu
People)
11,844,8
11
3.
0
-0.6
-24
Janata Dal
(Secular) (Peopl
e's Party
(Secular))
5,732,2
96
1.
5
+0.6
+2
Rashtriya Lok
Dal (National
People's Party)
2,463,6
07
0.
6
Asom Gana
Parishad (Assa
m People's
Association)
2,069,6
10
0.
5
Jammu and
Kashmir
National
Conference
493,067
0.
1
0.0
-2
All India Majlise-Ittehadul

Muslimeen (All
378,854
India Council of
United Muslims)
0.
1
Kerala
0.
0.0
353,529
Congress
Sikkim
Democratic
Front
153,409
0.
0
0.0
National
Loktantrik
Party (National
Democratic
Party)
367,049
0.
1
Samajwadi
Janata Party
(Rashtriya) (Soc 337,386
ialist People's
Party (National))
0.
1
Indian Federal
Democratic
Party
256,411
0.
1
Bharatiya
Navshakti
Party (Indian
New Force
Party)
171,080
0.
1
387,453
,223
- 543
Independents
Total
Source: Election Commission of India[1]
Elected MPs[edit]
See separate article, List of Members of the 14th Lok Sabha
Results by post-alliance/allies[edit]
There are a maximum of 545 members of Parliament: 543 elected, and two may be
nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community. Repolling was ordered
in four constituencies due to irregularities. The results in the remaining constituencies were
as follows (parties recognised by the Election Commission as national parties are initalics,
and regional or state parties in Roman font):
Congress and allies: 275

Indian National Congress: 145
Samajwadi Party: 39
Rashtriya Janata Dal: 21
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: 16
Nationalist Congress Party: 9
Kerala Congress: 2
Pattali Makkal Katchi: 6
Telangana Rashtra Samithi: 5
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha: 5
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: 4
Lok Jan Shakti Party: 3
Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party: 1
Republican Party of India: 1
Muslim League: 1
BJP and allies: 185

Bharatiya Janata Party: 138
Shiv Sena: 12
Biju Janata Dal: 11
Shiromani Akali Dal: 8
Janata Dal (United): 7
Nationalist Trinamool Congress: 2
Nagaland People's Front: 1
Mizo National Front: 1
Left Parties: 60
Communist Party of India (Marxist): 43
Communist Party of India: 10
Revolutionary Socialist Party: 3
All India Forward Bloc: 3
LDF-supported Independent: 1
Other parties: 78
Bahujan Samaj Party: 19
Telugu Desam Party: 5
Janata Dal (Secular): 4
Rashtriya Lok Dal: 3
Asom Gana Parishad: 2
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference: 2
Indian Federal Democratic Party: 1
Loktantrik Jan Samta Party: 1
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen: 1

Bharatiya Navshakti Party: 1
National Loktantrik Party: 1
Sikkim Democratic Front: 1
Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya): 1
Independents: 3
Analysis[edit]
Main article: 2004 Indian general election analysis
Though pre-poll predictions were for an overwhelming majority for the BJP, the exit polls
(immediately after the elections and before the counting began) predicted a hung parliament.
However, even the exit polls could only indicate the general trend and nowhere close to the
final figures. There is also the general perception that as soon as the BJP started realising
that events might not proceed entirely in its favour, it changed the focus of its campaign
from India Shining to issues of stability. The Congress, who was regarded as "old-fashioned"
by the ruling BJP, was largely backed by poor, rural, lower-caste and minority voters that did
not participate in the economic boom of previous years that created a large wealthy middle
class and thus achieved its overwhelming victory.
Other possible reasons that have been given for the NDA defeat are:
People were more concerned about issues of their immediate environment such as
water scarcity, drought, etc., than national issues.
The anti-incumbency factor was at work for the BJP allies.
It is also believed that the riots of Gujarat in 2002 might have had an impact on the
polls.
Impact[edit]
The rout of the ruling parties in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the general elections
led to calls for the dissolution of the governments of these states.
The stock market (Bombay Stock Exchange) fell in the week prior to the announcement of
the results due to fears of an unstable coalition. As soon as counting began, however, it
became clear that the Congress coalition was headed for a sizeable lead over the NDA and
the market surged, only to crash the following day when the left parties, whose support
would be required for government formation, announced that it was their intention to do away
with the disinvestment ministry. Following this, Manmohan Singh, the current Prime Minister
and the prime architect of the economic liberalization of the early 1990s, hurried to reassure
investors that the new government would strive to create a business-friendly climate.
Events[edit]
May 13 - The Congress and allies win a plurality of seats in the Lok Sabha (219
seats against 188 for the BJP).
May 13 - Counting of votes in the parliamentary elections begins.
May 11 - Congress wins the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh by 2/3 majority.
May 10 - The fourth and final phase of elections comes to an end. Results will come
out for 542 of the 543 parliament seats with elections to be held again in Chhapra.
May 5 - Third phase of polling comes to an end with the ruling coalition government
gaining seats according to exit polls but still off the victory target. Reports of booth
capturing in Chhapra capture headlines.
April 26 - Second phase of elections sees 55-60% polling. This is the final phase for
assembly elections. Polling covers 136 parliamentary constituencies in 11 states. The
share market starts to crash as it becomes evident that the NDA government may find it
hard to come back to powerraising doubts about the continuation of economic reforms
initiated by the NDA government.
April 22 - Tripura, where polling was delayed because of a local holiday, votes for its
two MPs. A turnout of close to 60% is reported, despite calls for abstention made by
separatist militants.
April 20 - The first phase of the vote is held, with average turnouts of between 50%
and 55%. Voting is reported as brisk, and the day unfolds relatively smoothly, albeit with
some glitches reported with the electronic voting machines. Isolated violent incidents
take place in Kashmir, Jammu, Manipur, and Jharkhand.
April 8 - The NDA's top leaders meet in New Delhi to adopt its manifesto for the
elections, "Agenda for Development and Good Governance".
April 7 - Ram Jethmalani says he will contest the elections against Prime Minister
Vajpayee as an independent candidate from Lucknow. He claims he will be supported by
the Congress and some other parties.
April 6 - The BJP and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) tell
the Election Commission that they will not stop raising the issue of the foreign origin of
Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
April 4 - A First Information Report is lodged against external

affairs minister Yashwant Sinha for alleged violation of election code of conduct during a
poll meeting in Ranchi. Besides Sinha, FIRs were lodged against three other BJP
leaders who participated in the meeting.

2004
members
16 April, 22/23 April, 30 April, 7 May

and 13 May 2009
2014
members

First party
Second party
Third party
Manmohan Singh
Lal Krishna Advani
Prakash Karat
Party
INC
BJP
CPI(M)
Alliance
UPA
NDA
TF
22 May 2004
1 June 2004
11 April 2005
Assam
Gandhinagar
None
181 seats, 33.3%
59 seats, 7.7%
Leader
Leader since
Leader's seat
(Rajya Sabha)
Last election
218 seats, 35.4%
(w/ Left Front)
Seats won
Seat change
Popular vote
Percentage
Swing
262
159
80
17
79
30
153,482,356
102,689,312
88,174,229
37.22%
24.63%
21.15%
4.96%
4.88%
1.06%
Results of the National and Regional parties by alliances.

Manmohan Singh
UPA
Republic of India

Prime Minister-designate
Manmohan Singh
UPA
India
Elections[show]
Other countries
Atlas
V
T
E
India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and
13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million[1] (larger than the electorate of the European
Union and United States combined[2]), it has been the largest democratic election in the world
till the Indian General Elections 2014 [3]) held from 7 April 2014.[4]
By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament
of India) must be held every five years, or whenever Parliament is dissolved by the President
of India. The previous election to the 14th Lok Sabha was conducted in May 2004 and its
term would have naturally expired on 1 June 2009. Elections are organised by the Election
Commission of India (ECI) and are normally held in multiple phases to better handle the
large electoral base and its security concerns.[5] The 2009 elections were held in five phases.
In February 2009, Rs.11.20 billion ($200.5 million) was budgeted for election expenses by
the Indian Parliament.[6]
A total of 8070 candidates contested for 543 Lok Sabha seats.[7] The average election
turnout over all 5 phases was around 59.7%. The results of the election were announced
within three days of phase five, on 16 May 2009, [8] following the first past the post system.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Indian National Congress formed the
government after obtaining the majority of seats based on strong results in Andhra Pradesh,
Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Manmohan
Singh became the first prime ministersince Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to be re-elected after
completing a full five-year term.[9] The UPA was able to put together a comfortable majority
with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. Though this is less than
the 335 members who supported the UPA in the last parliament, UPA alone had a plurality of
over 260 seats as opposed to 218 seats in the 14th Lok Sabha. Hence the government
appears to be more stable than the previous one. External support came from the Bahujan
Samaj Party(BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata
Dal (RJD) and other minor parties.[10]
On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Ashoka Hall
of Rashtrapati Bhavan. As per convention, on 18 May, he had already submitted his
resignation as the Prime Minister to President Pratibha Patil with a recommendation to
dissolve the Council of Ministers. [11][12]
Contents
[hide]
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1 Background
2 Electoral issues
2.1 Delimitation
2.2 Electronic voting machines
2.3 Polling stations
2.4 Electoral rolls
3 Polling schedule
3.1 Background
3.2 Polling schedule
4 Coalitions
4.1 United Progressive Alliance
4.2 National Democratic Alliance
4.3 Third Front
4.4 Fourth Front
5 Campaign
5.3 Third Front
5.4 Innovative technology usage during campaigning
6 Opinion polling
6.1 Pre-poll surveys
6.2 Exit polls
7 Election phases
7.1 Phase 1 16 April 2009
7.2 Phase 2 22 April 2009 & 23 April 2009
7.3 Phase 3 30 April 2009
7.4 Phase 4 7 May 2009
7.5 Phase 5 13 May 2009
8 Results
8.1 Results by pre-poll alliance
8.2 Result by states and territories
9 Analysis
10 Formation of the new government
10.1 Government formation
11 References
12 External links
13 Further reading
Background[edit]
This section requires expansion.
(September 2010)
The election, while following the normal five-year cycle, came after a break in the old UPA
alliance after the Left Front withdrew support of theIndo-US nuclear deal forcing a vote of
confidence (which the government won).
Electoral issues[edit]
Delimitation[edit]
Main article: Delimitation Commission of India
The 2009 elections adopted re-drawn electoral constituencies based on the 2001 census,
following the 2002 Delimitation Commission of India, whose recommendations were
approved in February 2008.
In the 2009 general elections, 499 out of the total 543 Parliamentary constituencies were
newly delimited constituencies. This affected the National Capital Region of Delhi, theUnion
Territory of Puducherry and all the states except Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu &
Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland.[13] While comparing election results, it must be
borne in mind that in many instances a constituency with the same name may reflect a
significantly different population demographic as well as a slightly altered geographical
region.
Electronic voting machines[edit]

Main article: Indian voting machines
As in the 2004 election, this election was also conducted completely using electronic voting
machines (EVMs), with 1,368,430 voting machines deployed across the country.[13]
Polling stations[edit]
There were 828,804 Polling Stations around the country a 20% increase over the number
from the 2004 election. This was done mainly to avoid vulnerability to threat and intimidation,
to overcome geographical barriers and to reduce the distance travelled by voters. [13]
The CEC announced that the polling station in Banej village in the Una segment
of Junagadh, Gujarat had the unique claim to being the only polling station in the country that
catered to a single elector Guru Shree Bharatdasji Bapu, a priest of a Shiva temple in the
middle of the Gir Forest.[14]
Electoral rolls[edit]
The electoral rolls had to be completely updated because of the delimitation that took effect
from February 2008. The process of updating the electoral rolls continued until the last date
of filing nominations. 714 million people were eligible to vote in 2009, up 6.4% (43 million)
from 2004.
This election also saw the entire country except the states of Assam, Nagaland and Jammu
& Kashmir use photo electoral rolls. This meant that the photo of each elector was printed on
the electoral rolls and this was intended to facilitate easy identification and prevent
impersonations.
In addition to the photo electoral rolls, the electors also needed to provide separate photo
identification. Those electors who had already been issued Electoral Photo Identification
Cards (EPIC) were only permitted to use the EPIC for identification at the polling station.
According to the EC, 82% of the country's electors (except those in Assam) have been
issued EPIC before the 2009 election was announced. [13]
Polling schedule[edit]
Background[edit]
The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), N. Gopalaswami, had stated on 28
December 2008, that the elections were likely to be held between April and May 2009. He
attributed this schedule to the examination period from February to March, making polling
places unavailable.[15]
On 31 January 2009, fractures within the Election Commission came to the fore when
Gopalaswami recommended to President Pratibha Patil that Election Commissioner Navin
Chawla be sacked for behaving in a partisan manner. This recommendation in itself was
controversial, as it was unclear if a CEC had the legal and constitutional right to provide such
a unilateral recommendation.[16] Chawla refused to resign as he was expected to take over
the post of Chief Election Commissioner a few months later.[17]
This controversy also resulted in speculation that the Election Commission was unable to
agree on the actual polling dates, with the incumbent CEC Gopalaswami preferring that at
least one phase of elections be held before his retirement on 20 April 2009. Navin Chawla,
on the other hand, wanted the election to only start after Gopalaswami retired. [18]
Eventually, on 1 March 2009, President Patil rejected Gopalaswami's recommendation to
remove Chawla after the Government advised her to do so.[19] Soon after the above
announcement by President Patil, the Election Commissioners got together to announce the
details of the general election.
Wikinews has related
news:India announces
Lok Sabha elections for
2009
The polling schedule for the 2009 General Elections was announced by the Chief Election
Commissioner on 2 March 2009.[13]
Subsequently, the President's House announced on 4 March 2009 that CEC Gopalaswami
would retire as scheduled on 20 April 2009 and Navin Chawla would take over as CEC
starting 21 April 2009.[20] It was the first time in the history of Indian politics that two different
people oversaw different phases of the same election. [21]
Polling schedule[edit]
See also: List of states and union territories of India by voters
Polling schedule for each State/UT in 2009 General Elections
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Phase 5
Avg
Turno
ut
22/2
16
30
7
13
Turnou 3 Turnou
Turnou
Turnou
Turnou
Ap
Apr
Ma
Ma
[22]
[22]
[23]
[24]
States/U Constitue Phas
t
Apr t
t
t
t[25]
ril
il
y
y
Ts
ncies
es
il
Andaman
&
Nicobar
Islands
1 64.15%
Andhra
42
22 69.75% 20 75.50%
64.15
%
72.40
Pradesh
Arunacha
l Pradesh
2 65.00%
Assam
14
3 67.61% 11 70.06%
Bihar
40
13 43.21% 13 45.83% 11
Chandiga
rh
Chhattisg
arh
11
Dadra &
Nagar
Haveli
Daman &
Diu
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
26
Haryana
10
Himachal
Pradesh
Jammu &
Kashmir
Jharkhan
d
11 58.19%
65.00
%
69.68
%
44.27
%
100%
3 37.00%
58.19
%
1 73.22%
73.22
%
1 71.85%
71.85
%
51.79
%
55.42
%
47.92
%
67.67
%
2 55.42%
26 47.92%
7 51.79%
10 67.67%
1 65.51%
65.51
%
4 58.35%
58.35
%
1 49.68% 1 44.73% 1 26.43% 1 25.38% 2 45.63%
39.66
%
14
6 51.16% 8 48.86%
Karnatak
a
28
Kerala
20
20 73.33%
Lakshad
weep
1 86.10%
Madhya
Pradesh
29
Maharash
tra
48
Manipur
Meghala
49.77
%
59.44
%
73.33
%
86.10
%
13 51.39% 16 51.22%
51.30
%
13 55.74% 25 49.18% 10 41.24%
49.17
%
1 83.70% 1 75.50%
79.80
%
2 64.40%
64.40
17 60.00% 11 58.48%
ya
Mizoram
1 50.93%
50.93
%
Nagaland
1 90.21%
90.21
%
Orissa
21
10 64.90% 11 62.00%
63.35
%
Puducher
ry
Punjab
13
Rajasthan
25
Sikkim
Tamil
Nadu
39
Tripura
Uttar
Pradesh
80
Uttarakha
nd
West
Bengal
42
Total
constitue
ncies
543
4 72.78% 9 68.13%
69.58
%
25 48.50%
48.50
%
82.00
%
39 72.46%
16 45.37% 17 45.48% 15 46.12% 18 48.00% 14 47.55%
124
141
17
83.91
%
46.45
%
53.67
%
14 80.71% 17 82.60% 11 76.30%
78.93
%
107
56.66%
13
72.46
%
5 53.67%
85
52.12%
11
States/UTs
Constituenci
es
Number of states and UTs

polling in single phase
22
164

polling in two phases
163

polling in three phases
90

polling in four phases
40

polling in five phases
86
35
543
Total
79.70
%
1 82.00%
2 83.91%
59.07%
Total states/UTs polling

on this day
1 79.70%
86
52.32%
65.74%
9
56.97
%
Coalitions[edit]
The 2009 general election saw three main national pre-poll alliances. Given the volatile
nature of coalition politics in India, many parties changed alliances before, during and after
the elections. The two larger coalitions, UPA and NDA, had clearly indicated their prime
ministerial candidates during campaigning for the election. The Third Front announced
repeatedly through the campaigning period that their prime ministerial candidate would only
be decided after the election results came out. In Indian parliamentary system, the
announcement of Prime Ministerial candidates prior to elections is not required.
United Progressive Alliance[edit]

Main article: United Progressive Alliance
Prime Minister candidate: Manmohan Singh (Indian National Congress (INC))
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was formed after the 2004 general election to bring
together parties that either allied with the Congress in various states, or were willing to
support a Congress-led national government. Though the UPA never enjoyed a clear
majority on its own in the 14th Lok Sabha, it managed to complete its five-year term from
2004 to 2009 by securing outside support from the Left Front, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan
Samaj Party at different times during this tenure.
Following the August 2008 confidence vote victory for the current government, a statement
by Congress President Sonia Gandhi caused speculation that the UPA would project Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the next elections.
[26]
While Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M. Karunanidhi supported Manmohan
Singh as the PM candidate, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar tried to
project himself as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate as well. [27] On 24 January 2009,
Manmohan Singh underwent a cardiac bypass surgery at the All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, New Delhi.[28] Following the surgery, speculation of alternate PM candidates arose
both within the Congress and amongst coalition partners. In an attempt to quell such
speculations, Sonia Gandhi on 6 February 2009, confirmed that Manmohan Singh would be
the UPA's PM candidate by writing so in the Congress party magazine Sandesh.[29] This was
the first time in the history of Indian elections that the Congress party had declared its Prime
Ministerial candidate prior to the elections.
National Democratic Alliance[edit]

Main article: National Democratic Alliance (India)
Prime Minister candidate: Lal Krishna Advani (Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP))
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was the first large national coalition formed by a
national party supported by various regional parties. It was formed after the 1998 general
election and the NDA formed the Government led by BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The
government collapsed a few months later, but the NDA returned to power after the1999
general election and this time the Vajpayee-led Government completed its full term from
1999 to 2004. Due to the volatile nature of coalitions, NDA won 181 seats after the 2004
election, but due to parties changing alliances, before the 2009 election they had 142 seats.
The main opposition party, BJP, and its NDA coalition partners announced on 11 December
2007 (more than a year before the election) that their candidate for prime minister would be
BJP party leader Advani[30] who was the Leader of the Opposition at the time. On 23 January
2008, leaders from BJP and other NDA parties convened in the capital to officially elect him
as their candidate for the election. [31]
Third Front[edit]
Main article: United Progressive Alliance
Seats: The newly formed alliance carried with them 109 seats before the 2009 election.
The Left Front led the formation of the Third Front for the 2009 election. This front was
basically a collection of regional political parties who were neither in UPA nor in the NDA.
Most of the constituents of this Third Front were those who were part of the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Fourth Front[edit]
Seats: The newly formed alliance carried with them 64 seats before the 2009 election.
The Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Lok Janshakti Party failed to reach seat
sharing agreements with the Congress and decided to form a new front, hoping to be
kingmakers after the election.[32] Despite announcing this front, the constituent parties
continued to declare their support for the UPA.[33]
Campaign[edit]
See also: 2009 Indian general election campaign controversies

The Congress party bought the rights for the Oscar winning soundtrack "Jai Ho" from the
movie Slumdog Millionaire, which was used as the official campaign tune by the party. The
song title "Jai Ho" translates to 'Let there be victory', and the Congress hoped that the
popular song would galvanise the masses during the almost one month long election
season.[34]
On 24 March 2009, Congress President Sonia Gandhi released the party's manifesto for the
2009 election.[35] The manifesto highlighted all the achievements of the UPA Government
over the last five years in power and identified improving various policies to favour more rural
& under-privileged sections of the Indian society.[36]
The Congress campaign ran into trouble when the Election Commission took exception to a
full page advertisement on the 2010 Commonwealth Games taken out in major Delhi
newspapers. The EC served notice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Cabinet
Secretary and the Chief Secretary of Delhi, stating that the advertisement was a clear
violation of the model code of conduct since it enumerated the achievements of the UPA
Government. The EC has also asked the violators to pay from their own pockets. [37][38]

To counter the Congress' selection of "Jai Ho" as their official anthem, the BJP coined the
phrase Kushal Neta,
On 3 April 2009, BJP released its election manifesto in New Delhi. [39] The party was taking on
the incumbent UPA Government on the three fronts of Good Governance, Development and
Security. The manifesto highlighted all the different NDA policies that the UPA reversed over
the last five years. The manifesto laid a lot of importance on requiring strong, POTA-like antiterrorism laws and vowed to make India a safer place if the BJP is elected. The full text of
the manifesto is available at the BJP website. [40]
The BJP campaign faced its biggest controversy when the EC directed the District
Magistrate of Pilibhit to lodge a criminal case against the BJP's candidate Varun Gandhi for
his allegedly inflammatory speech against minority communities made on 7 March 2009.
[41]
This decision was taken after the EC had earlier issued a notice [42] to Varun Gandhi and
the BJP. After reviewing the incident, the EC found Varun Gandhi guilty of violating the model
code of conduct by creating feeling of enmity and hatred between different communities and
issued a recommendation the BJP to drop him from their list of candidates. [43] The BJP
however came out in support of Varun and refused to drop him as a candidate. [44]
Third Front[edit]
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and the parties associated with the Left
Front formed a Third Front. The Third Front tried to contest the election, hoping to create a
non-BJP, non-Congress government, by attracting many local and regional parties, that were
once with the other two alliances. The Third Front came into the alliance with 83 MPs, and
various polling conducted before the election projected the alliance of getting over 100 seats.
The CPI(M) created a campaign website hosting its campaign information to attract
sympathisers among the netizen public to vote for the party.[45][46]
Innovative technology usage during campaigning[edit]

During this election, political parties used technology in innovative ways to reach out to the
voters. Although SMS had been used during prior elections, political parties had realised that
the rural and illiterate voters which form a majority couldn't read. Young and technology
savvy politicians quickly realised that voice was the way to reach out to the rural community
as they could speak their language. This turned out to be very interesting as two voice
companies from India, TringMe and VoiceHawk played the pivotal role in reaching out to the
billion people of India.[47]
Opinion polling[edit]
Most opinion polls conducted by major agencies gave the UPA an edge over the NDA, but
none were predicted to get absolute majority. The UPA including the Fourth front was,
however, predicted by a few to get seats close to majority. The opinion polls reckoned that
other regional parties would play an important role by winning a substantial number of seats.
In results where the "Fourth Front" is indicated, the SP, RJD and LJP are not being counted
in the UPA figure.
Pre-poll surveys[edit]
Agency
Dates
Results
CNN-IBN
CSDS
8 Jan to 15/09[clarification
needed]
UPA 215235, NDA 165185, Others 125155[48]
StarNielsen
5 to 17 Mar 2009
UPA 257 (Congress 144), NDA 184 (BJP 137), Others 96[49]
StarNielsen
26 Mar 3 Apr 2009
UPA 203 (Congress 155), NDA 191 (BJP 147), Third Front
104, Fourth Front 39[50]
CVoterThe
Week
MarchApril 2009
UPA 234 (Congress 144), NDA 186 (BJP 140), Third Front
112[51]
Times of India March 2009
UPA 201 (Congress 146), NDA 195 (BJP 138), Others 147[52]
Actual Results 16 May 2009
UPA 262, NDA 159, Third Front 79
Exit polls[edit]
In February 2009, the ECI banned the publishing of all exit polls starting 48 hours before
Phase 1 of the election until the end of Phase 5. This was intended to prevent exit polls from
earlier phases affecting voter decisions in later phases.[53] The ban ended with the close of
Phase 5 voting at 5:00 pm IST on 13 May.
Agency
Publish
Date
Predictions
CNN-IBN Dainik
Bhaskar
13 May 2009
UPA 185205, NDA 165185, Third Front 110130, Fourth

Front 2535[54]
Star-Nielsen
13 May 2009 UPA 199, NDA 196, Third Front 100, Fourth Front 36[54]
India TV CVoter
13 May 2009 UPA 189201, NDA 183195, Third Front 105121[54]
Actual Results
16 May 2009 UPA 262, NDA 159, Third Front 79
Election phases[edit]
Phase 1 16 April 2009[edit]
The first phase of the 2009 election took place on Thursday, 16 April with elections in 124
constituencies across 15 states and 2 union territories. There were incidents of violence in a
few places in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra and between 17 to 19
people were killed in Naxal attacks.[55] The dead included five poll officials and 10 security
personnel, whose families received a compensation of Rs 1 million.[56] Naxals set fire to
voting machines, attacked voters, security personnel and polling workers, and destroyed
vehicles.[57][58] According to one news source, "It was apparent that the Naxals had clearly
planned to disrupt the polls."[57]
Despite these incidents, the ECI expressed satisfaction about the conduct of the polls due to
peaceful polling in many other parts of the country. Initial reports from the ECI place the voter
turnout for this phase at approximately 60 percent. This phase of the election was held in
185,000 polling stations, serving an electorate of over 143.1 million deciding the fate of 1,715
candidates.[59][60]
The ECI ordered repoll in 46 polling booths across 7 of the states where polling took place in
the first phase. These include 29 polling booths in Andhra Pradesh, 5 each
inAssam and Arunachal Pradesh, 3 in Nagaland, 2 in Kerala and 1 each in Jammu &
Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. The repoll in all these polling booths were held on 18 April 2009.
[61]
One of the positive stories emerging from this phase of election was from Kandhamal district,
where refugees of the 2008 Kandhamal riots came out in huge numbers to exercise their
franchise. It is estimated that there was a turnout of 90% amongst Kandhamal refugees and
50% across the entire district. The administration had earlier identified large parts of the area
as naxal affected and vulnerable. Hence, the administration had deployed extra security in
the area and the ECI has arranged for special transport to shuttle the refugees from the
refugee camps to the polling booths. Both of these actions helped achieve the high turnout.
[62]
Phase 2 22 April 2009 & 23 April 2009[edit]

The second phase of the 2009 election was spread across Wednesday, 22 April (Phase 2A)
and Thursday, 23 April (Phase 2B). Phase 2A saw election in a single constituency
inManipur as it was a state holiday on 23 April.[13]
According to the EC, the election in Manipur in Phase 2A was peaceful and witnessed a
voter turnout of about 62%.[63] Following the election, though, the Communist Party of
India (CPI) and Manipur People's Party (MPP) have alleged vote rigging by Congress
workers during the polls in Phase 2A.The MPP claimed that the Congress workers captured
11 booths in the Andro Assembly segment of Imphal East.[64]
Phase 2B saw polling in 12 states for 140 constituencies the most in any phase of this
election. This phase was largely peaceful and saw about 55% turnout. There were stray
incidents of violence in areas with active Naxalite groups in Jharkhand and Bihar.[65] The poor
turnout in this phase was blamed on a heat wave sweeping the country that took the noontime temperature on election day up to between 42 and 46 degrees Celsius in various parts
of the country.[66] Two polling officials even died due to sun stroke in Orissawith two also
falling ill.[67]
Phase 3 30 April 2009[edit]

The third phase of the 2009 election was held on Thursday, 30 April with elections in 107
constituencies spread across nine states and two union territories. The fate of 1,567
candidates was decided in this phase including those of Congress President Sonia Gandhi,
BJP's Prime Minister candidate L.K. Advani and former Prime Minister and Janata Dal
(Secular) President Deve Gowda.[68] This phase included voting in Mumbai where the turnout
was relatively low. The voter turnout around the country was moderate and this was primarily
blamed on the extreme heat on election day.[69] Voting was largely peaceful all across the
country. However, Maoist guerrillas exploded a landmine in West Bengal'sPurulia district,
injuring a paramilitary trooper.
Phase 4 7 May 2009[edit]
Queue outside a polling station inKolkata 13 May 2009.
The fourth phase of the election was held on Thursday, 7 May with elections for 85 seats
across eight states involving 1,315 candidates. The phase's high-profile candidates included
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and former chief ministers Mulayam Singh
Yadav, Rajnath Singh, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Farooq Abdullah. Apart from bomb attacks in
West Bengal's Asansol and Murshidabaddistricts that killed one person each and some
violence in Rajasthan, this phase was relatively peaceful. [70] This phase saw voting in the
nation's capital Delhi where the voter turnout was around 53%, much higher than the
previous 2 elections in Delhi.[71]
Phase 5 13 May 2009[edit]

The fifth and final phase of the 2009 election was held on Wednesday, 13 May with voting
across seven states and two union territories for 86 constituencies. Overall the turnout was
62%. Numerous cases of voter omissions were reported in Tamil Nadu which had 39 seats
up for grab. In Jammu & Kashmir, two polling stations could not be reached by the polling
officials due to extreme snow which prevented their helicopters from landing at the site. The
polling officials were forced to trek through deep snow to reach the polling stations and polls
took place 2 days later on 15 May in these two stations. [72] A few cases of violence were also
reported in this phase. One DMK official was stabbed to death in Tamil Nadu in a clash
between the political parties and another person was killed in West Bengal in clashes
between Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) party workers. [73]
Results[edit]
See also: Results of the 2009 Indian general election by party
For list of MPs, see List of members of the 15th Lok Sabha (by state).
Vote counting took place on 16 May[74] and the result were declared the same day. The EVMs
were localised to 1,080 centres across the country and counting started at 08:00 hrs.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) took early lead and maintained it to emerge
victorious. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh said that the BJP's
performance in the election was very unexpected and the success of the NDA that had been
hoped for had not materialised.[75] The CPI (M) led third front later said that it was ready to sit
in the opposition.
Some opposition parties voiced concerns on the integrity of the electronic voting machines
used during the election.[76][77]
Results by pre-poll alliance[edit]

ed
Alliance
United
Progressi
ve
Alliance
Summary of the 2009 April/May Lok Sabha election results of India

Sources: [78][79][80][81][82]
Votes
153,482, 37.22
356
%
Change
Sea Chan Party and

ts
ge Seats Won
+3.96% 262
+80 Indian
National
Congress
Chan
ge
Votes
Chan
ge
20
6
+61
119,110, 28.55 +2.02

776
%
%
All India
Trinamool 19
Congress
+17
13,355,9
86
3.20 +1.13
%
%
Dravida
Munnetra 18
Kazhagam
+2
7,625,39
7
1.83 +0.02
%
%
Nationalis
t Congress
Party
8,521,34
9
2.04 +0.24
%
%
National
Conferenc
e
+1
498,374
0.55 +0.42
%
%
Jharkhand
Mukti
Morcha
1,665,17
3
0.40
%
Indian
Union
Muslim
League
+1
877,503
0.21 +0.01
%
%
Viduthalai
+1
735,847
0.18 +0.18
0.07
%
Chiruthaig
al Katchi
-4.88% 159
-17
Kerala
Congress
(Mani)
+1
404,962
0.10 +0.05
%
%
All India
Majlis-eIttehadul
Muslimee
n
308,061
0.07
%
0.04
%
Republica
n Party of
India
(Athvale)
378,928
0.09
%
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
National
Democrat 102,689, 24.63
ic
312
%
Alliance
11
6
22
78,435,5 18.80
38
%
3.36
%
Janata Dal
20
(United)
+12
6,331,07
9
1.52
%
0.83
%
Shiv Sena
11
6,454,85
0
1.55
%
0.26
%
Rashtriya
Lok Dal
+2
1,821,05
4
0.44
%
0.19
%
Shiromani
Akali Dal
4,004,78
9
0.96 +0.06
%
%
Third
Front
88,174,2 21.15
29
%
-1.06%
79
Telangana
Rashtra
Samithi
2,582,32
6
0.62
%
0.01
%
Asom
Gana
Parishad
1,773,10
3
0.43
%
0.10
%
Indian
National
Lok Dal
1,286,57
3
0.31
%
0.19
%
30 Communi
st Party of
16
India
(Marxist)
27
22,219,1
11
5.33
%
0.33
%
Communi
st Party of
India
5,951,88
8
1.43 +0.02
%
%
Revolutio
nary
Socialist
Party
-1
1,573,65
0
0.37
%
0.06
%
All India
Forward
Bloc
-1
1,345,80
3
0.32
%
0.03
%
Bahujan
Samaj
Party
21
+2
25,728,8
89
6.17 +0.84
%
%
+3 6,612,55
2
1.59 +0.29
%
%
Biju
14
Janata Dal
All India
Anna
Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam
+9
6,953,59
1
1.67
%
0.52
%
Telugu
Desam
Party
+1
10,481,3
48
2.51
%
0.53
%
Janata Dal
(Secular)
3,434,08
2
0.82
%
0.65
%
Marumala
rchi
Dravida
Munnetra
Kazhagam
1,112,90
8
0.27
%
0.16
%
Haryana
Janhit
Congress
+1
816,395
0.20 +0.20
%
%
1,944,61
9
0.47
%
0.09
%
Samajwad
23
i Party
13
14,284,6
38
3.42
%
0.90
%
Rashtriya
Janata Dal
20
5,279,05
9
1.27
%
1.14
%
4 1,892,42
0.45
Pattali
Makkal
Katchi
Fourth
Front
21,456,1
17
5.14
%
-2.30%
27
37
Lok
Janshakti
Party
Other
Parties
and
Independ
ents
Tot
364
27,146,9
39
543
6.51
%
+2.04%
417,156,
16
0.26
%
Assam
United
Democrati
c Front
+1
2,184,55
6
0.52 +0.52
%
%
Jharkhand
Vikas
Morcha
(Prajatantr
ik)
+1
963,274
0.23 +0.23
%
%
Nagaland
People's
Front
832,224
0.20 +0.02
%
%
Bodoland
+9 People's
Front
+1
656,430
0.16 +0.16
%
%
Swabhima
ni Paksha
+1
481,025
0.12 +0.12
%
%
Bahujan
Vikas
Aaghadi
+1
223,234
0.05 +0.05
%
%
Sikkim
Democrati
c Front
159,351
0.04
%
Independe
nts
+4
21,646,8
45
5.19 +0.94
%
%
al
Political
Parties
494
Notes
* Gave unconditional external support to the UPA-led government after the election
Note: Seat change for an alliance and popular vote swing is calculated as the sum of
the individual seat changes and vote % respectively for its constituent parties as given
here.
Note: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) joined the NDA after voting took place in
Andhra Pradesh, but before the votes were counted and results were in. Due to this
change, some list TRS under their former alliance, the Third Front, rather than NDA,
under pre-poll alliances.
Result by states and territories[edit]

Main article: Results of the 2009 Indian general election by state
The UPA carried 18 states, while the NDA and the Third Front carried 8 and 2 respectively.
State
(# of seats)
Seats
won
% of
votes
33
38.95%
United Progressive
Alliance
Telugu Desam Party
24.93%
Third Front
Telangana Rashtra Samithi
6.14%
National Democratic
Alliance
All India Majlis e Ittehad Al

Muslameen
1.93%
51.11%
Party
Andhra Pradesh
(42)
Arunachal Pradesh
(2)
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
State
(# of seats)
Assam
(14)
Bihar
(40)
Chhattisgarh
Seats
won
% of
votes
33.91%
United Progressive
Alliance
17.21%
National Democratic
Alliance
Assam United Democratic Front
17.10%
None
Asom Gana Parishad
12.61%
National Democratic
Alliance
Bodaland Peoples Front
Janata Dal (United)
20
24.04%
National
Democratic
Alliance
12
13.93%
National Democratic
Alliance
19.30%
Fourth Front
10.26%
United Progressive
Alliance
Independent
10
Party
Alliance
None
None
45.03%
National
Democratic
State
(# of seats)
Party
Seats
won
% of
votes
Alliance
Alliance
(11)
37.31%
United Progressive
Alliance
44.78%
National
Democratic
Alliance
22.60%
United Progressive
Alliance
15
46.52%
National
Democratic
Alliance
11
43.38%
United Progressive
Alliance
41.77%
United Progressive
Alliance
Haryana Janhit Congress
49.58%
National
Democratic
Alliance
45.61%
United Progressive
Alliance
Goa
(2)
Gujarat
(26)
Haryana
(10)
Third Front
Himachal Pradesh
(4)
State
(# of seats)
Jammu & Kashmir

(6)
Jharkhand
(14)
Karnataka
(28)
Seats
won
% of
votes

Conference
19.11%
United Progressive
Alliance
24.67%
United Progressive
Alliance
Independent
27.53%
National
Democratic
Alliance
11.70%
United Progressive
Alliance
15.02%
United Progressive
Alliance
Jharkhand Vikas
Morcha (Prajatantrik)
None
Independent
None
19
41.63%
37.65%
Party
Alliance
None
National
Democratic
Alliance
United Progressive
Alliance
State
(# of seats)
Party
Seats
won
% of
votes
13.57%
Third Front
40.13%
United Progressive
Alliance
United Democratic
Front
13
Left Democratic Front
Third Front
United Progressive
Alliance
United Democratic
Front
2.53%
United Progressive
Alliance
United Democratic
Front
16
43.45%
National
Democratic
Alliance
12
40.14%
United Progressive
Alliance
Bahujan Samaj Party
5.85%
Third Front
17
19.61%
United Progressive
Alliance
Shiv Sena
11
17.00%
National Democratic
Kerala
(20)
Madhya Pradesh
(29)
Maharashtra
(48)
Alliance
State
(# of seats)
Party
Seats
won
% of
votes
Alliance
Alliance
18.17%
National Democratic
Alliance
19.28%
United Progressive
Alliance
Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi
None
Swabhimani Paksha
None
Independent
None
42.96%
United Progressive
Alliance
44.84%
United Progressive
Alliance
18.78%
United Progressive
Alliance
Mizoram
(1)
65.58%
United Progressive
Alliance
Nagaland
(1)
Nagaland People's Front
69.96%
None
Manipur
(2)
Meghalaya
(2)
State
(# of seats)
Orissa
(21)
Punjab
(13)
Rajasthan
(25)
Sikkim
(1)
Tamil Nadu
(39)
Seats
won
% of
votes
Biju Janata Dal
14
37.23%
Third Front
32.75%
United Progressive
Alliance
2.57%
Third Front
45.23%
United Progressive
Alliance
Shiromani Akali Dal
33.85%
National Democratic
Alliance
10.06%
National Democratic
Alliance
20
47.19%
United Progressive
Alliance
36.57%
National Democratic
Alliance
Independent
63.30%
None
18
25.09%
United Progressive
Alliance
Party
Alliance
None
State
(# of seats)
Tripura
(2)
Uttar Pradesh
(80)
Seats
won
% of
votes

Munnetra Kazhagam
22.88%
Third Front
15.03%
United Progressive
Alliance
2.85%
Third Front

(Marxist)
2.20%
Third Front
Munnetra Kazhagam
3.66%
Third Front
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi
2.42%
United Progressive
Alliance

(Marxist)
61.69%
Third Front
Samajwadi Party
23
23.26%
Fourth Front
21
18.25%
United Progressive
Alliance
Bahujan Samaj Party
20
27.42%
Third Front
10
17.50%
National Democratic
Alliance
Party
Alliance
State
(# of seats)
Uttarakhand
(5)
West Bengal
(42)
Territory
(# of seats)
Andaman & Nicobar

Islands (1)
Chandigarh (1)
Seats
won
Party
% of
votes
Alliance
Rashtriya Lok Dal
United Progressive
Alliance
Independent
None
43.13%
United Progressive
Alliance
19
31.17%
United Progressive
Alliance
Left Front
15
13.45%
United Progressive
Alliance
6.14%
National Democratic
Alliance
Socialist Unity Centre of India
Party
Seats
won
Third Front
None[84]
% of
votes
Alliance
44.21%
National
Democratic
Alliance
46.87%
United Progressive
State
(# of seats)
Party
Seats
won
% of
votes
Alliance
Alliance
Dadra & Nagar

Haveli (1)
46.43%
National
Democratic
Alliance
Daman & Diu (1)
65.49%
National
Democratic
Alliance
Delhi (7)
57.11%
United Progressive
Alliance
Lakshadweep (1)
51.88%
United Progressive
Alliance
Puducherry (1)
49.41%
United Progressive
Alliance
Analysis[edit]
This election defied the predictions made by pre-poll predictions and exit polls and gave a
clear[dubious discuss] mandate to the incumbent Congress government. According to many
analysts after the election, many factors can be attributed for a landslide. According to the
National Election Study 2009, published in the The Hindu newspaper after the election, the
victory to the UPA government is attributed to saturation of caste-based identity politics, the
focus on good governance and BJP's limitations, gave Congress the edge. [85] Another factor
is the vote-splitting by the Third Front, especially the BSP and MNS in Maharastra, which
resulted in the Indian National Congress gaining many of its seats without getting a majority
in the corresponding constituency.[citation needed]
Formation of the new government[edit]

Main article: 15th Lok Sabha
Support for the United Progressive
Alliance government in the 15th Lok Sabha[86][87]
Party/Alliance
Seats won Seat %
United Progressive Alliance
262
48.25%
Samajwadi Party
23
4.20%
Bahujan Samaj Party
21
3.86%
0.7%
0.55%
Independents and other

parties
0.55%
322
59.4%
Outside support
Total
The President, Pratibha Patil dissolved the 14th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on 18 May.
[88]
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh submitted the resignation of his Council of Ministers to
the President, for him to be re-elected as the Prime Minister as well as for a new Council of
Ministers to be elected.[88] On 19 May, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were re-elected
as party leader and chairperson respectively of the Congress Parliamentary Party. This
effectively[clarification needed] made him the prime minister-elect of the new government.
[89]
President Pratibha Patil invited Singh to then form the new government on 20 May.[87] The
new government was sworn in on 22 May.[original research?]
Due to the fact that UPA was able to get 262 seats just short of 10 seats for a majority all
the external support came from parties who gave unconditional support to Manmohan Singh
and the UPA. The Janata Dal, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the
Samajwadi Party all decided to do so to keep out any possibility of a BJP government in the
next 5 years.[90]Nagaland Peoples Front, Sikkim Democratic Front, and Bodaland Peoples
Front, each with an MP, decided to join and support the UPA government. The three
independent candidates to extend support for UPA were all from Maharastra, and they were
Sadashiv Mandlik, from Kolhapur constituency, Raju Shetty, from the political
party Swabhimani Paksha, who won from Hatkandagle and Baliram Jadhav from Bahujan
Vikas Aghadi party who won the Palghar constituency.[86]
On 21 May, it was announced that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had decided to
leave and give outside support to the UPA government, due to failed talks between the
Congress and the DMK on cabinet positions.[91] After many deliberations between DMK and
Congress, the DMK agreed to 3 cabinet ministers and 4 ministers of state. Kanimozhi,
daughter of the DMK leader M. Karunanidhi, decided not to join the new government cabinet,
instead she wanted to focus on improving the parties image. The two incumbent cabinet
ministers from DMK, Dayanidhi Maran and A. Raja joined the cabinet, but due to concerns
raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on T.R. Baalu, he was dropped from the cabinet,
and Karunanidhi's son M.K. Azhagiri, replaced him as part of a compromise. [92][93] On 25 May
2009, DMK decided to join the UPA government, reversing the decision made in prior days to
extend outside support.

Unbalanced scales.svg
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk
page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (June 2014)
For general elections in India, see Elections in India.
India
2009
members
7 April to 12 May 2014
members
2019
543 seats in the Lok Sabha
272 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout
66.38%
First party
Second party Third party
Narendra D Modi.jpg Rahul Gandhi 1.jpg Jayalalithaa1.jpg
Leader Narendra Modi
Rahul Gandhi J. Jayalalithaa
Party BJP INC AIADMK
Alliance
NDA UPA
Leader since 10 June 2013 19 January 2013
1989
Leader's seat Vadodara (vacated)
Varanasi
Amethi
Did not contest
Last election 116
NDA: 159
206
UPA: 262
9
Seats won
282[1][2]
NDA: 336
44[1]
UPA: 58[2] 37[1]
Seat change Increase166 Decrease162 Increase 28
Popular vote 171,459,286 106,760,001 18,115,825
Percentage
31.0%[1]
NDA: 39% 19.3%[1]
UPA: 21%
3.3%[1]
Swing Increase13.77%
Decrease17.82%
Indische Parlamentswahl 2014 Parteien.svg
Increase1.63%
Results of the National and Regional parties by alliances.

The 16th Lok Sabha
Manmohan Singh
UPA
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
NDA
The Indian general election of 2014 was held to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha, electing
members of parliament for all 543 parliamentary constituencies of India. Running in nine
phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014, this was the longest election in the country's history.
[3][4] According to the Election Commission of India, 814.5 million people were eligible
to vote, with an increase of 100 million voters since the last general election in 2009,[5]
making this the largest-ever election in the world.[6] Around 23.1 million or 2.7% of the
total eligible voters were aged 1819 years.[7] A total of 8,251 candidates contested for
the 543 Lok Sabha seats.[8] The average election turnout over all nine phases was around
66.38%, the highest ever in the history of Indian general elections.[8]
The results were declared on 16 May, fifteen days before the 15th Lok Sabha completes
its constitutional mandate on 31 May 2014.[9] The counting exercise was held at 989
counting centres.[8] The National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party,
won a sweeping victory, taking 336 seats. The BJP itself won 31.0% of all votes and 282
(51.9%) of all seats. It is the first time since the 1984 Indian general elections that a party
has won enough seats to govern without the support of other parties.[10] The United
Progressive Alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, won 58 seats,[2] 44 (8.1%) of
which were won by the Congress, that won 19.3% of all votes.[1][11] It was the Congress
party's worst defeat in a general election.[12][13] BJP and its allies won the right to form
the largest majority government since the 1984 general election.[14]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Organization
2.1 Spending limit
2.2 Accessibility
2.3 Election dates
3 Campaign
3.1 Issues
3.1.1 Economy
3.1.2 Corruption
3.1.3 Price rise
3.1.4 Telangana
3.2 Celebrity candidates
4 Parties and alliances
4.1.1 Bharatiya Janata Party
4.1.2 Others
4.2.1 Indian National Congress
4.2.2 Others
4.3 Left Front
4.4 Other parties
4.5 Third Front
5 Opinion polls
5.1 Exit polls
6 Controversies
7 Voting
7.1 Turnout
7.2 Re-polls
7.3 Voting pattern
8 Results
9 State-wise results
10 Reactions
10.1 Domestic
10.2 International
11 Government formation
12 References
13 External links
Background[edit]
By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be held at an interval of
five years or whenever parliament is dissolved by the president. The previous election, to
the 15th Lok Sabha, was conducted in AprilMay 2009, and its term would have
naturally expired on 31 May 2014. The election to the 16th Lok Sabha was organised and
conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and was held in multiple phases, to
better handle the large electoral base and security concerns.
Since the last general election in 2009, the anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare,
and other similar moves by Baba Ramdev and Arvind Kejriwal gathered momentum and
political interest.[15] Kejriwal went on to form a separate political party, Aam Aadmi
Party in November 2012. The 2012 presidential election, resulted in Pranab Mukherjee of
Indian National Congress becoming the President. The Telangana movement for a
separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh also continued with agitations, including
the initial central government decision to grant statehood and then rescind it after
counter-protests. Andhra politics was further shaken following death of its chief minister,
Y. S. R. Reddy. His son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, then broke from the INC and founded
the YSR Congress taking several politicians with him.
The final session of parliament started on 6 February and ended on 21 February. Amongst
the agenda in the final session was passing the The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2013 in
tackling corruption and the creation of Telangana.[16]
Organization[edit]
Election dates of Indian general election, 2014
Spending limit[edit]
The Cabinet of India revised the limit of election expenditure by a candidate for
Parliamentary Constituencies to INR7 million (US$120,000) in bigger states and to
INR5.4 million (US$91,000) in smaller states and all union territories except Delhi.[17]
This revision of the ceiling on election expenditure was attributed to the increase in the
number of electors and polling stations as well as the increase in the cost inflation index.
Accessibility[edit]
Satendra Singh, a doctor with a disability,[18] showed the lack of preparedness by the
Election Commission of India (ECI) towards electors with disabilities through the Right
to Information Act.[19] The Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi, Vijay Dev then started a
campaign on providing accessibility for the disabled, along with him. Singh conducted
sensitisation workshops for election officers and helped in setting up a registration link
for voters with disabilities to register to vote and provide their requirements.[20]
Election dates[edit]
The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), V. S. Sampath announced the polling
schedule on 5 March. Voting was scheduled to be held in nine phases from 7 April to 12
May, and the results of the election was announced on 16 May.[21][22] Simultaneous
elections were held for the Vidhan Sabhas of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha
and Sikkim.[23]
Campaign[edit]
Main article: Campaigning in the Indian general election, 2014
BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, addressing a rally in Meerut, during
the campaign.
Issues[edit]
Important issues during the campaign included high inflation, lack of jobs, economic
slow down, corruption, security and terrorism, religious division and communalism, and
infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water.[24][25][26] In another survey by Zee
News for about 14% of people, corruption is the main issue in the election.[27]
Economy[edit]
Bloomberg highlighted India's slowing economy amidst a record high current account
deficit and a falling rupee in summer 2013. It pointed out to a lack of infrastructure
investment and a government increasingly likely to give subsidies that the national
finances cannot afford just before the election. Other points it mentioned were stagnant
policymaking and an inefficient bureaucracy.[28] The economy was the main issue in the
campaign.[29] The lack of a clear mandate as a result of the election could lead to an
increase in the price of gold in the country.[30][31] Modi also brought up the issue of
farmer suicides that resulted from high debt and poor yield on their crops.[32] Former
Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha criticised the incumbent Chidambaram in saying that
he had a "habit that he will get a strong economy, and he will ruin it before he leaves...
Shri Chidambaram will be remembered in history as a spoiler, as someone who
specialises in sub-five per cent growth rate, for his hubris, arrogance".[33]
Corruption[edit]
See also: List of scandals in India
During the UPA 2, a number of scams came to public domain deteriorating the image of
the government among the common man. These scams included coal scam, 2G scam and
CWG scam.
Price rise[edit]
The price of onions, a staple in Indian cuisine, faced a dramatic increase.[34] In the lead
up to the election, consumer price inflation increased more than expected while,
paradoxically, industrial production fell by more than expected causing a dilemma amid
slowing growth.[35] The price of salt was also indicative of general food inflation.[36]
Telangana[edit]
On 30 July 2013, the Congress Working Committee unanimously passed a resolution for
the creation of Telangana. Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) welcomed the decision.[37]
YSR Congress party leader Jaganmohan Reddy however opposed the decision[38] and in
agitation against it, all its MLAs resigned over the issue.[39] The BJP national
spokesperson Prakash Javadekar suggested that the INC's move was under pressure and
that BJP "will watch till Telangana is formed."[40] In February, Chief Minister of Andhra
Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned over the proposal to partition the region.[41] The
conflicting views of the political parties thus made the Telangana issue a crucial one in
the elections.
Celebrity candidates[edit]
Celebrity candidates from non-political spheres were nominated in the election. These
included: Babul Supriyo (BJP), Nagma (actress) (INC), Bhaichung Bhutia (TMC), Bappi
Lahiri (BJP), Biswajit Chatterjee (TMC), Dev (TMC), Gul Panag (AAP), Indranil Sen
(TMC), Jaaved Jaaferi (AAP), Piyush Roshan (AAP),Kamaal Rashid Khan (SP), Kirron
Kher (BJP), Mahesh Manjrekar (MNS), Mohammad Kaif (INC), Moon Moon Sen
(TMC), Nandan Nilekani (INC), P. C. Sorcar, Jr. (BJP), Paresh Rawal (BJP), Prakash Jha
(JD(U)), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (BJP), Rakhi Sawant (Rashtriya Aam Party), Ravi
Kishan (INC), Hema Malini (BJP), Shatrughan Sinha (BJP), Vinod Khanna (BJP),
Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Raj Babbar (INC), Manoj Tiwari (BJP), Jaya Prada (RLD),
Vijay Kumar Singh (BJP) and Smriti Irani (BJP) .[42][43][44][45]
Parties and alliances[edit]

See also: List of National Democratic Alliance candidates in the Indian general election,
2014
The constituents of the National Democratic Alliance and the seats they contested are
shown at the right in the table: The NDA garnered an overwhelming number of 343 seats
in this election. This has propelled it to form the government in the country. [46][47][48]
[49][50]
Party Seats Contesting
Bharatiya Janata Party427
Telugu Desam Party 30
Shiv Sena
20
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
14
Shiromani Akali Dal 10
Pattali Makkal Katchi 8
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 7
Lok Janshakti Party 7
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party 3
Apna Dal
2
2
Swabhimani Paksha 2
Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi 1
Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi
1
All India N.R. Congress
1
Republican Party of India (Athvale) 1
Rashtriya Samaj Paksha
1
Revolutionary Socialist Party (Bolshevik) 1
Kerala Congress (Nationalist)1
National People's Party (India)
1
Naga People's Front 1
Mizo National Front 1
National Democratic Alliance542
Bharatiya Janata Party[edit]
Organisation
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was chosen to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party's
campaign after a party conclave in Goa.[51][52] This came amid controversy as Lal
Krishna Advani opposed the decision and resigned from his party posts, only to later
rescind his resignation.[53] Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj were part of the
team for the campaign. Rajnath Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani were
the mentors for the BJP's campaign.[54] A 12-member committee, led by Modi, was
appointed at the Goa conclave which included M. Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari,
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister
Raman Singh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.[55]
Key Leader's Constituencies
Modi contested the election from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh[56] and Vadodara in Gujarat.
[57] In Varanasi, the sizeable Muslim minority population was viewed by the media as an
important voter target and the BJP's minority cell leader Salim Mohommad took part in
campaigning.[58] Advani wanted to contest from Bhopal but later agreed to contest again
from his incumbent seat Gandhinagar.[59] He also rejected a proposal to be appointed to
the Rajya Sabha in favour of running in the election.[60] Advani was given the
Gandhinagar seat because Modi wanted him to contest from Gujarat, according to
Rajnath Singh.[61] Arun Jaitley contested for the Lok Sabha for the first time (having
previously been a Rajya Sabha member)[62] from Amritsar against former Punjab Chief
Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.[63] The move was controversial as incumbent MP
from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu was unhappy in not being allocated the constituency.
Yet he said that as Jaitley was his "guru" he would accept the decision, but would not run
from any other constituency. The reason for not allocating the ticket to Sidhu was said to
be because of his spat with the Shiromani Akali Dal Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal and party President Sukhbir Singh Badal, as well as other BJP personnel.[64]
Jaswant Singh was denied nomination from Barmer constituency so he decided instead to
contest the seat as an independent.[65] BJP candidate S. Gurumurthy's nomination was
rejected from Niligiris for failing to submit mandatory forms.[66][67][68][69][70][71]
Campaign and Issues
Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party campaign for Indian general election, 2014
Modi (fifth from the left) and other BJP leaders after the party's National Executive Meet.
Modi was named the chairman of Central Election Campaign Committee during this
meet.
The BJP released its manifesto on 7 April 2014. The party promised to set up a Price
Stabilization Fund and to evolve a single 'National Agriculture Market' to check price rise
and go for e-Governance, policy-driven governance and simplification of the tax regime
to prevent corruption. It wanted to encourage labour-intensive manufacturing, focus on
traditional employment bases of agriculture, the upgrade of infrastructure and housing
and self-employment opportunities for job creation. Harnessing satellite technology;
setting up National Optical-Fibre Network up to the village level; Diamond Quadrilateral
project of High Speed Train network were among several other things that the party
promised.[72] The Himachal Pradesh BJP attacked the UPA's "one rank, one pension"
scheme as an "election stunt," according to the convenor of the BJP's ex-servicemen cell,
Brigadier (Retired) Lal Chand Jaswal. The move followed the BJP raising the issue in the
previous years and Modi's announcement at an ex-servicemen's rally at Rewari on 15
September 2013 and at Sujanpur on 17 February.[73] Modi also criticised the INC and
Rahul Gandhi for giving a ticket to former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan
despite his indictment in the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai.[74] He further
criticised Gandhi's comments about his governance of Gujarat at rally in Bijapur.[75] At a
rally in Gurgaon, Haryana, part of the wider National Capital Region, Modi said: "People
gave ruling Congress 60 years, I just need 60 months to prove that the BJP is the best
option for India" and alleged that the INC was protecting Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of
Sonia Gandhi, after he was said to have "sold farmers land" and made money. "Robert
Vadra's empty bank account was credited with $8.30m (Rs 500 million) in just three
months. BJP want answers".[76] He also criticised the INC's Nandan Nilekani as he had
"squandered crores of rupees in giving a unique identity (Aadhaar) to millions of people,
which even the Supreme Court questioned, as it did not address the security concerns".
[77]
Amongst the social media, individuals came up with satirical takes on sports, movies (in
Hindi and English) and songs, amongst other things, in support of the BJP campaign
slogan that were premised on "Aab ki baar, Modi sarkar" ([This time, [we will have a]
Modi government]).[78] Modi was noted for focusing, in his rallies across the country, on
the 23 million first-time come-of-age voters.[79] By the last day of campaigning on 10
May, Narendra Modi had undertaken the largest mass outreach in India's electoral history
by travelling about 300,000 km for 437 public meetings in 25 states and 1350 innovative
3D rallies according to the BJP.[80]
In regards to foreign relations of India, Modi in a rally in Arunachal Pradesh, a state
which borders China with a history of border disputes, swore to protect the country[81]
and criticised "Chinese expansionism".[82] He also highlighted the importance of
diplomats discussing issues like trade facilitation and promoting Indian business abroad.
[83]
Others[edit]
Lok Janshakti Party
Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan announced on 30 January that the LJP, RJD
and INC will jointly contest the election from Bihar's constituencies.[84] He later
announced on 27 February that he will instead join the NDA. LJP contested polls with the
BJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) on 40 seats with 30 seats for BJP, three
seats for RLSP and seven seats for LJP.[85]
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), led by Tamil film actor Vijayakanth
joined the NDA on 26 February.[86]
Lok Satta Party
On 10 April, while campaigning in Telangana, Jayaprakash Narayan of the Lok Satta
Party stated that while his party had a few differences of opinion with the BJP manifesto,
they had decided to support the NDA in the "national interest".[87] On the other hand, Dr.
Jayaprakash Narayan contested from the Malkajgiri. Malkajgiri had 2,953,915 eligible
electors in the election making it the largest parliamentary constituency of the country in
terms of number of electors.[88]
Shiv Sena, Swabhimani Paksha and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha
The Swabhimani Paksha (SWP) a political party of Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana (SSS)
joined the Shiv Sena-BJP-Republican Party of India (Athvale) alliance in February. The
SSS, which represents the interests of farmers in western Maharashtra was offered two
seats Madha in Solapur, where NCP leader Sharad Pawar sits, and Hathkanangale, the
seat of SSS leader Raju Shetti. Shetti also sought Baramati but this was rejected by the
Shiv Sena and BJP, who decided to leave a seat each from their quotas of 22 and 26 to
accommodate SSS.[89] Rashtriya Samaj Paksha also joined the alliance in January.[90]
In addition to the aforementioned four parties that were contesting from Maharashtra,
RSP was also in the alliance.[91]
Shiromani Akali Dal
Shiromani Akali Dal contested 10 out of 13 seats in Punjab, India.
Telugu Desam Party
Due to the BJP's support of the Telangana Bill which gave statehood to Telangana, the
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was reluctant to ally itself with former NDA ally, the BJP. In
like measure, the BJP was cautious of being affiliated with the TDP and its leader
Chandrababu Naidu as they could be perceived as being anti-Telangana. However the two
parties were keen to form an alliance for a number of reasons including the TDP's strong
presence in Other Backward Class (OBC) and Telangana villages, the possibility of the
two having an alliance with the Telangana Rasthra Samiti to form a post-election regional
government in Telangana (if the TRS did not get a clear majority), avoid vote splitting
between the parties and the BJP feeling that there will be a leadership vacuum in TDP in
Telangana which they could consolidate by the 2019 elections.[92]
TDP and BJP announced their alliance on 6 April for the general election and legislative
assembly elections in Telangana and Seemandhra. Chandrababu Naidu declared that BJP
will contest in 5 of the 25 seats in Seemandhra and 8 out of 17 seats in Telangana.[93]
[94]
Further information: List of United Progressive Alliance candidates in the Indian general
election, 2014
The constituents of the United Progressive Alliance and the seats they contested are
shown at the right in the table: This election turned out to be a nightmare for the UPA as
they garnered the lowest number of seats in their history.
Party Seats Contesting
Indian National Congress[95] 462
Rashtriya Janata Dal[96][97] 28
Nationalist Congress Party[98][99] 23
Rashtriya Lok Dal[100]
8
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha[101][102] 4
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference[103]
Mahan Dal[100]
3
Indian Union Muslim League[104] 2
Socialist Janata[104] 1
Kerala Congress[104] 1
Revolutionary Socialist Party[104] 1
Bodoland People's Front[105]
1
United Progressive Alliance 537

In March, the INC, RJD and NCP announced that they would jointly contest in Bihar.
[106] The INC contested 12 seats, NCP fought on 1 seat and the RJD, being a regional
party, would seek the rest of 27 seats.
Indian National Congress[edit]
The Indian National Congress had announced, on the fourth anniversary of the second
United Progressive Alliance government, that its campaign for the election would be led
by incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, INC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and
general secretary Rahul Gandhi.[107] Rahul Gandhi was appointed to head a six-member
committee to formulate and implement alliances, the party manifesto and general
publicity for the election.[108]
In response to sagging opinion poll numbers for the general election, the INC sought to
fast-track a decision on separating Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, create a coalition
government with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in
Jharkhand, sought to take credit for the Food Security Bill and passing Land Acquisition
Bill.[109]
Prime Minister Candidate
Incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he would not return to his role
should the INC get a majority or plurality.[110] Rahul Gandhi told Dainik Bhaskar that
he was "ready to take charge" of any responsibility the party gave him and he added that:
"My focus for India is a long term vision, where all Indians are treated with equality,
respect and are given equal opportunities."[111] At the party meeting it was decided not
to name a prime ministerial candidate amid fears it would turn the election into a
presidential one. This was criticised by the BJP. Gandhi would instead lead the party's
campaign.[112] He also called the election a turning point.[113] Sonia Gandhi then said
that the party will face upcoming challenges and the election with a "lot of
determination;" she added that the election would be a battle for India. "Divisive forces
are stretching social fabric to breaking point. Opposition's way is to spread disharmony.
There's a face hidden behind the mask of compassion."[114]
Rahul Gandhi
In January, in an interview with Arnab Goswami, Gandhi admitted that some Congress
members may have been involved in the 1984 riots and further stated that Modi's
government was responsible for pushing the 2002 riots while the Congress government in
1984 tried to stop the anti Sikh riots.[115] Fellow UPA member, Praful Patel said that the
2002 matter should be put to rest.[116] As Gandhi was reported to have sought an early
declaration of the party's candidates, the INC was scheduled to hold its first meeting of
the central election committee on 13 February to finalise all their candidates by the end of
the month. Similarly, the screening committees for several unnamed part of the country
had already occurred so as to shortlist the candidates.[117] On 8 March, its list of 194
candidates was announced, including 35% of candidates that were below the age of 50
years.[118] The INC was reported to be concerned by the possibility of a reduced
mandate in Gandhi's seat of Amethi (Lok Sabha constituency) amidst an unusual
challenge by his high-profile competitor, the BJP's Smriti Irani. It even led to his mother,
Sonia, campaigning there for the first time in 10 years.[119]
Muslim candidatesThe least number of candidates won in 16th lok sabha election
after 1952. Total number of Muslim MPs are 24, out of which 8 are from WB, 4 are from
Bihar, 4 are from Jammu and Kasmir, 3 from Kerela, 2 from Assam and 1 from each of
AP, Tamil Nadu and Lakshdeep. In 15th Lok Sabha, it was 30. At present there are no
Muslim representatives from UP and Maharastra having a remarkable number of Muslim
citizenry.
Opinion Polls
The INC dismissed the opinion polls pointing to a NDA plurality as misleading and
partisan.[120] In its manifesto the party promised "inclusive growth" and that it would
initiate a raft of welfare schemes, including a right to healthcare for all and pensions for
the aged and disabled.[121] Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's INC
campaigning included scheduled stops in Odisha[122] and, on 20 April, in Maharashtra
prior to the third phase.[123] Rahul Gandhi told a rally in Chhattisgarh that Modi would
"divide the nation into pieces, and make people fight against each other."[124]
Media
During the election, former prime ministerial aide Sanjaya Baru published "The
Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh" in which he
criticised Singh as not being fully in charge of his government in having to compete with
the dynastic INC leader, Sonia Gandhi, for influence within his own cabinet. Singh's
office retorted in saying it is "smacks of fiction and coloured views of a former
adviser."[125] After Baru said "it is no secret that Sonia Gandhi was the super prime
minister," Priyanka Vadra replied "I think Manmohan Singh ji is the super PM."[126]
Others[edit]
National Conference
Minister for New and Renewable Energy and National Conference chairman Farooq
Abdullah, controversially, told a rally in Srinagar that in regards to Modi becoming prime
minister "if it happens then Kashmir will not remain a part of India. I say it publicly.
Kashmiris will not accept a communal person". He added before going to a scheduled
rally in Magam that "those who vote for Modi should drown themselves in sea".[127]
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was in alliance with the INC in the states of Bihar,
Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.[97][128][129]
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav said of the BJP's ruling chances that
"Modi and Advani can never become the prime minister in their lifetime. Secular forces
in this country would never allow the saffron outfit to come to power". In relation to the
INC's Rahul Gandhi he said that Gandhi wants to bring change to the country; he added
in relation to Digvijay Singh that he was a "good man".[130]

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) contested polls in alliance with INC and RJD in
Jharkhand.[131] JMM and INC contested in four and ten seats each, respectively. JMM
leader Shibu Soren will run from Dumka, while the other three party's seats could come
from Rajmahal, Giridih and the purpose-built city of Jamshedpur.[132]
Left Front[edit]
Further information: List of Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidates in the Indian
general election, 2014 and List of Left Front candidates in the Indian general election,
2014
Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared their campaign slogan as "Reject
Congress, Defeat BJP."[133] On 3 April, the party published its fourth list of candidates
for a total of 94 candidates.[134]
In West Bengal, CPI (M) contested as part of the Left Front. 32 out of the 42 Left Front
candidates in West Bengal came from the CPI (M), while 20 of its candidates were
running for the first time.[135] In Kerala, the CPI (M) contested as a constituent of the
Left Democratic Front. In the list of the 15 CPI (M) candidates in Kerala released in midMarch, four were incumbent Lok Sabha members and five others were independents.
[clarification needed][136][137] The Kollam seat was allocated to M.A. Baby after the
RSP left the LDF and joined the United Democratic Front.[138]
In Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Odisha and Tamil Nadu,
the CPI (M) made an electoral pact with the CPI and other left parties.[which?][139][140]
[141][142][143][144][145] In Andhra Pradesh, however, no agreement could be reached
between the CPI (M) and the CPI due to differences on the Telangana issue; CPI (M)
opposed bifurcation, while the CPI supported creating Telangana.[146] In Telangana
region, CPI contested one seat (in alliance with Indian National Congress[147]), while
CPI (M) contested two seats.
Other parties[edit]
Aam Aadmi Party
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), formed in 2012, contested 432 seats and won 4 seats.[148]
The party's manifesto focused on anti-corruption measures.[149] Earlier in 2013, the
party had made an impressive electoral debut by winning the second highest number of
seats in the Delhi Legisltive Assembly elections. After forming a short-lived minority
government in Delhi, AAP was seen as a major challenger to the other political parties.
[150] However, the party lost deposits on 413 seats,[148] surpassing the record of
Doordarshi Party, which had lost deposit on 321 seats in 1991.[151] AAP's leader Arvind
Kejriwal unsuccessfully contested against the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra
Modi from Varanasi.[152] Its spokesperson Prashant Bhushan argued that AAP's national
debut performance was better than that of the winning party BJP in its first national
elections in 1984.[153]

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) opted not to join any
alliance and contested all seats in Tamil Nadu on its own.[154] Party leader Jayalalithaa
told a rally in March that she would modernise the armed forces by enhancing their
capabilities so that they were on par with the superpowers. In saying so she criticised the
UPA's governance including its economic, diplomatic and defence policies, adding that
modernisation of the armed forces was hindered by steady curtailing of its funding.[155]
AIADMK managed to win 37 out of a total of 39 parliamentary constituencies in the state
of Tamil Nadu.
Further information: List of All India Forward Bloc candidates in the Indian general
election, 2014
On 21 March, the All India Forward Bloc released its first list of candidates that covered
38 seats in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Delhi. According to the
party's Secretary Debabrata Biswas the main objective of the party was "to strengthen and
unite the Left, democratic and secular forces to achieve an alternative policy for
reconstruction of the country."[156][157] In West Bengal the party will contest the
election as part of the Left Front.[135] To defend the two West Bengal seats that it won in
2009, the party decided to field incumbent MP Narahari Mahato in the Purulia seat and a
new candidate in the Cooch Behar seat.[156]
Bahujan Samaj Party
On 19 March, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati declared that the party would
contest the election on its own and fielded candidates in all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Mayawati was confident that the BSP would seek a mandate to form a government with
support of secular parties.[158] Though the party was able to secure third highest vote
share but it didn't managed to win even a single seat in Uttar Pradesh and the country.
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
At a press conference held on 10 March, General Secretary of the party Dipankar
Bhattacharya said his party would field 85 candidates in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jharkhand and Puducherry.[159]
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) opted not to join an UPA pre-poll alliance and
contested all seats in Tamil Nadu with its own regional alliance. Party leader Karunanidhi
announced Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) with local parties like VCK, MMK,
IUML and Puthiya Tamizhagam. DMK was not able to secure even a single seat
throughout the country.
Janata Dal (United)
The media speculated that Modi still had a chance of gaining in Bihar at the expense of
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal. Whilst the BJP were in coalition with JD(U), Modi was not
allowed to speak at rallies in the party by mutual understanding and was only allowed for
special events such as a funeral or party conclave, even Modi's flood relief aid to Bihar
was termed communal. Bihar was seen as test case for Modi's popularity if the BJP could
increase its tally at the expense of the JD(U). There was also speculation that Lalu Prasad
Yadav could make a relative comeback after the 2010 provincial election if he is not
convicted over the fodder scam. It also suggested that this would be an eager race as it
could determine if Kumar's decision to leave the NDA in June 2013 was prudent and if he
has any national political scope left; while for Modi it would give crucial seats to the BJP
and be able to attract potential allies as Bihar is largely based on caste politics.[160][161]
In January 2014, Kumar referred to Gandhi's stand against corruption as a "farce" after
hearing of a meeting between Gandhi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav despite Yadav
being out on bail, after being convicted in the fodder scam. He termed their alliance as
"natural" and stated that them coming together was no surprise.[162]
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) announced its first list of
seven candidates. Six of them contested against candidates of Shiv Sena. The party,
however, also supported Modi's prime ministerial candidature. The move read as an
implicit acceptance of the BJP's Nijin Gadkari's call not to contest against the NDA and
to support its own candidates.[163]
Nav Bharat Democratic Party
Nav Bharat Democratic stepped into the political arena with 9 candidates spread across
Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The party was established by RK Misra.[164]
Samajwadi Party
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed that the Third Front
government will be formed in the center with the help of his party.[165] To counter the
"Modi-effect" on other constituencies near Varanasi, Yadav decided to contest from
Azamgarh and Mainpuri.[166] The party decided not to field any candidates against the
INC's Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from Rai Bariely and Amethi, respectively, in
response to the INC's decision not to field any candidates against Mulayam Singh Yadav
and Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri and Kannauj, respectively.[167]
On 10 March, the Sikkim Democratic Front declared that its incumbent MP, Prem Das
Rai, would run for re-election. The party also released a list of 32 candidates for the
Sikkim Legislative Assembly election, 2014 that will be held simultaneously with the
election.[168]
Trinamool Congress
All-India Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee declared that the party would
contest all 42 seats in West Bengal by itself, making this the first occurrence of the party
contesting a general election in West Bengal without an alliance with neither of the two
largest parties, BJP and INC.[169] Banerjee told a rally in Cooch Behar district, near the
international border with Bangladesh, that she would take up the issue of the border
enclaves upon ascertaining the views of the local people living in the adversely possessed
areas. She further noted that she had opposed the central government's agreement in 2011
over the Teesta treaty of water-sharing between the two countries on the grounds of
receding waters affecting drinking water availability.[170]
YSR Congress Party
Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress Party fielded candidates across Seemandhra
and some districts of Telangana.[171] The party fielded several bureaucrats, businessmen
and relatives of politicians for Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra, including D. Kishore Rao,
the former secretary of the Gujarat Human Rights Commission.[172] In a statement in
March, Reddy stated that he would ally himself with whoever would win the election.
[171]
Third Front[edit]
Fourteen political parties including the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of
India, Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Forward Bloc,[173] AIADMK, Janata Dal,
Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Janata Dal, Naga People's
Front, Sikkim Democratic Front, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and Bharipa Bahujan
Mahasangh participated in a convention of the parties not in alliance with the NDA nor
UPA, which was held on 30 October 2013.[174] On 5 February 11 parties announced that
they would work as one bloc on a "common agenda" in parliament. These included the
CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), AIADMK, AGP, JVM, JD(S) and
BJD.[175] However, there was speculation that the AGP and BJD were still in
preparatory talks to re-join the NDA.[176] A consensus on a prime ministerial candidate,
however, was not achieved.[177]
Though CPI (M) has sought to build what it terms a "secular and democratic alternative"
to the INC and BJP, general secretary Prakash Karat discarded the notion that these
moves would result in a Third Front electoral alliance.[178] He also suggested a possible
Third Front would only emerge after the election.[179]
Opinion polls[edit]
Main article: Opinion polling for the Indian general election, 2014
Opinion polls generally showed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to be the front
runner in the election with the emergence of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) as the single
largest party.
Conducted in Month(s)
Source Polling Organisation
NDA UPA Other
Jan 2014
[180] CNN-IBN-Lokniti-CSDS
211 231
107127
205
Feb 2014
[181] ABP News-Nielsen 236
92
215
March 2014 [182] NDTV- Hansa Research
230
128
185
April 2014
[183] NDTV- Hansa Research
275
111
157
Exit polls[edit]
The Election Commission of India banned the publication of all exit polls starting 48
hours before Phase 1 of the election until the end of Phase 9. This was intended to
prevent exit polls from earlier phases affecting voter decisions in later phases. The ban
ended after the close of Phase 9 voting at 6:30pm IST on 12 May 2014.[184]
Publish Date Source Polling Organisation
NDA UPA Other
12 May 2014 [185] CNN-IBN CSDS Lokniti 276 (6)
97 (5)148 (23)
[185][186]
India Today Cicero 272 (11)
115 (5)
156 (6)
[185][187]
News 24 Chanakya 340 (14)
70 (9)133 (11)
[185] Times Now ORG 249
148
146
[185][188]
ABP News Nielsen 274
97
165
[185] India TV CVoter
289
101
148
14 May 2014 [189][190]
NDTV Hansa Research
279
103
161
12 May 2014 [185] Poll of Polls 283
105
149
16 May 2014 Actual Results[2]
336
58
149
Controversies[edit]
Further information: Campaigning in the Indian general election, 2014 Controversies
During the course of the campaign, several controversies arose with parties being accused
by one another and the Election Commission of India of violating Election Commission
of India's Model Code of Conduct that is in force during the election. There were also
non-campaign related controversies. As in the previous election, the international
showpiece Twenty20 cricket event, the Indian Premier League's 2014 event was denied
the security it demanded by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde because it clashed with
the general election and therefore the tournament's first twenty matches were played
outside India (despite being a domestic tournament) in the UAE.[191][192] After the
announcement of the dates for the election, IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal stated that 6070
percent of the tournament would be held in India.[193]
In the run-up to the election the media in India was criticised for its establishment ties
between family owners and political parties. It caused self-censorship and editorial
dismissals at certain media outlets, such as The Hindu for its ties to the INC.[194]
India Today suspended its CVoter opinion poll in late February after a News Express
sting operation indicated it had fudged the numbers.[195]
Voting[edit]
According to the Election Commission of India, 814.5 million people were eligible to
vote, with an increase of 100 million voters since the last general election in 2009,[5]
making this the largest-ever election in the world.[6] Around 23.1 million or 2.7% of the
total eligible voters were aged 1819 years.[7]
In total there were 1.4 million electronic voting machines in 930,000 voting centres. The
Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system which enables EVM to record each vote
cast by generating the EVM slip, was introduced in 8 constituencies of Lucknow,
Gandhinagar, Bangalore South, Chennai Central, Jadavpur, Raipur, Patna Sahib and
Mizoram as a pilot project.[196][197][198][199][200][201][202][203] Also, Braille ballot
sheets for the blind were arranged at polling stations. The scale of the election required
1.1 million of civil servants and 5.5 million civilian employees to handle the election. It
was the first election that had the "none of the above" option and allowed Non-Resident
Indians to vote; though only in India.[124] Security was increased during the election,
particularly as the Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI (Maoist)) called for a boycott
of the election.[204] On 12 April, even though there was no voting this day, a vehicle in
Chhattisgarh hit a CPI (Maoist) landmine resulting in the deaths of two bus drivers and
five election officials, with four more injured, while travelling from Kutru to Bijapur in
preparation for the fifth phase of voting. On the same day, within an hour, they also
ambushed a vehicle resulting in the deaths of five paramilitary soldiers in the Darbha
forest.[205] The election was the longest and the most expensive general election in the
history of the country, with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election
did cost the exchequer INR3500 crore (US$577 million), excluding the expenses incurred
for security and by the individual political parties.[206] Parties were expected to spend
INR30,500 crore (US$5 billion) in the election, according to the Centre for Media
Studies. This was three times the amount spent in the previous election in 2009, and was
then the world's second highest after the US$7 billion spent on the 2012 US presidential
election.[207]
The election reportedly boosted the hospitality sector as, according to ASSOCHAM,
tourist arrivals from the countries such as the US, UK, France, Singapore and the U.A.E.
have gone up by 1015, while the movement of domestic tourists jumped by 62%.[208]
Turnout[edit]
Phase 1: 7 April
Turnout was 75% in Assam and 84% in Tripura.[209] Assam's INC Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi said that "there is no Narendra Modi magic in Assam. The Congress has been
winning every form of elections since 2001 in Assam, and we are going to repeat the
performance this time." Additionally, the borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan were
closed for security reasons.[210]
Phase 2: 9 and 11 April
The turnouts were recorded at 82.5% in Nagaland, 71% in Arunachal Pradesh, 66% in
Meghalaya and 70% in Manipur.[211][212] Mizoram's voting was deferred to 11 April,
[213] where the turnout was 60%.[214]
Phase 3: 10 April
About 110 million of people were eligible to vote for 91 seats. The turnout was 76% in
Kerala, 64% in Delhi, 55.98% in Madhya Pradesh, 54.13% in Maharashtra, 65% in Uttar
Pradesh and 66.29% in Jammu.[204] Kerala and Chandigarh set new voter turnout
records. A higher proportion of eligible electors voted in 2014 than in 2009.[215]
Phase 4: 12 April
Voter turnout set new records or were near record levels with 75% in Goa, 75% in Assam,
81.8% in Tipura and 80.97%[216] in Sikkim (including the Sikkim Legislative Assembly
election, 2014).[217] West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nearly cancelled the
polls in her region after initially refusing to changes to the appointments of civil service
departments, but was forced to constitutionally do so.[218]
Phase 5: 17 April
The largest voting day involved nearly 200 million eligible voters,[219] 1,769 candidates
for 121 seat. The voting turnout in Uttar Pradesh was 62%, West Bengal was 80%, over
70% in Odisha, 69% in Jammu and Kashmir, 54% in Madhya Pradesh and 62% in
Jharkhand.[220] Manipur had 74%[219] and Maharashtra had a 61.7% turnout.[221] In
Karnataka, the average voting was up on 65% against 58% in the previous election,
though urban voters were lower.[222][223] In Chhattisgarh, the voter turnout was 63.44%
compared to 57.6% in 2009, while Rajasthan recorded a 63.25% voter turnout, compared
to 48.09% in 2009.[224] In Bihar's seven constituencies, the turnout was 56%, compared
to 39% in 2009.[225] In one of six constituencies from Jammu and Kashmir, Udhampur,
the turnout of 70% was significantly higher than the 2009 figure of 45%.[226] Overall
across India, the turnout on the day was over 65%[219] and nearly all constituencies had
a higher voter turnout than 2009.[226]
Phase 6: 24 April
The second largest voting day entailed 180 million eligible voters across 201,735 voting
centres to elect 117 members of parliament from 2,098 candidates.[227] Tamil Nadu set a
new voter turnout record for Lok Sabha elections with 73%, while West Bengal
experienced the highest voter turnout for the day at 82%.[228] As compared to that, urban
centres such as Mumbai and Chennai saw lower voter turnouts, but bettered their figures
from previous years. Mumbai witnessed a 53% turnout, compared to 41% in 2009.[229]
The rural areas of Maharashtra saw over 60% turnout, Madhya Pradesh had 64%, Uttar
Pradesh had over 60%, Chhattisgarh had about 66%, Assam had over 70%,[230] Bihar
has about 60%, Jharkhand had 63.4%, Rajasthan had about 60% and Pudhucherry had
about 82%.[227][231] One of six constituencies from Jammu and Kashmir, Anantnag,
had the lowest turnout of 28%, after a boycott call by separatists,[232] an attack on 22
April that killed three people,[233] and with thousands of Kashmiri Pandits protesting in
the afternoon that their names were missing from the electoral roll.[234] As with previous
phases, the overall voter turnout for the day was higher than 2009.[235] In both Madhya
Pradesh and Rajasthan, the turnout was about 9% higher, while Uttar Pradesh saw a 13%
increase.[227][230]
Phase 7: 30 April
The 7th phase of voting entailed about 140 million eligible voters to elect 89 members of
parliament from 1,295 candidates in 7 states and 2 Union Territories.[236] Punjab set a
new record in its voter turnout for general elections with 73%.[237] Gujarat saw the
highest jump in voter turnout for the day with 62% turnout compared to 48% turnout in
2009 Lok Sabha elections. The nine constituencies in West Bengal reported over 81%
turnout.[238] Uttar Pradesh witnessed 57% turnout compared to 48% in 2009, while
Bihar saw 60% compared to 52% in 2009.[236] One of six constituencies from Jammu
and Kashmir, eligible to vote in this phase, had the lowest turnout for the day at 26%
compared to 25.55% in 2009, after a boycott call by separatists.[239] Telangana region of
Andhra Pradesh, which will become India's new state on 2 June 2014, saw nearly 72%
turnout to elect Lok Sabha members as well as its first state government.[238] The
aggregate turnout so far in the first 7 phases for 438 parliamentary seats has been
66.20%, significantly more than 57.41% figure in 2009 general elections.[237]
Phase 8: 7 May
The 8th phase saw voting for 64 Lok Sabha seats in 7 states with 897 candidates
competing.[240] Along with the general elections, polls were also held for the first
Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh excluding Telangana region.[241] The voter
turnout was high, with West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh each setting
their respective general election voter turnout records. West Bengal recorded 81% polling
compared to 78% for 2009.[240] Andhra Pradesh recorded nearly 76% voter turnout.
[242] Himachal Pradesh saw about 66% turnout compared to 58% for 2009.[243]
Uttarakhand also set a new voter turnout record with 62% compared to 53% in 2009.
[244] The 2 constituencies of Jammu & Kashmir that voted witnessed a 49.9% turnout,
[240] while constituencies of Bihar saw 58% compared to 45% in 2009.[244] Uttar
Pradesh experienced a 55.5% turnout compared to 43.4% in 2009.[245]
Phase 9: 12 May
The 9th and last phase of voting entailed over 90 million eligible voters to elect 41
members of parliament from 606 candidates in 3 states.[246] The 6 seats in Bihar saw a
voter turnout of 58%, compared to 46% in 2009.[246] Uttar Pradesh's 18 constituencies
witnessed a 55.3% turnout, compared to 46.6% in 2009.[247] In West Bengal, the 17
constituencies that voted, saw a turnout of about 80% compared to 82% in 2009.[247]
The 2014 general elections, according to the Election Commission of India, recorded a
cumulative total of 66.38% voter turnout, or 551.3 million out of 814 million eligible
people casting their vote,according to provisional figures.[248] The 2014 turnout
surpassed India's previous highest voter turnout record of 64% in 1984 general elections.
[246][249] The voter turnout in 2009 general elections was 58.19%, while 2004 general
elections saw a voter turnout of 56.98%.[249] The 2014 general elections entailed 8,202
candidates competing for 543 seats.[250]
Re-polls[edit]
Many locations required re-polling for various reasons. There was re-polling on 9 polling
stations in Orissa on 25 April.[251][252] The Election Commission ordered re-polls in 52
polling booths (30 in Andhra Pradesh, 11 in Uttar Pradesh and 11 in West Bengal)
because of complaints of booth capturing, rigging, violence or as demanded by the locals.
The re-poll was held on 13 May. In Uttar Pradesh, re-polls were held in 3 polling booths
in Muzaffarnagar, 7 in Ferozabad and 1 in Badaun.[253][254] Re-polling also occurred
on 14 May in Arunachal Pradesh and on 15 May in the states of Nagaland and Haryana.
[255][256][257][258] The Left parties and BJP alleged mass rigging and booth capturing
by Trinamool Congress at thousands of polling stations in West Bengal.[259][260][261]
[262] AAP demanded re-polling in 108 booths.[256][263]
Congress demanded re-polling at 1,344 polling stations in Nagaland.[264] Re-polling was
done in two polling stations in Tamil Nadu on 10 May and in 3 polling stations in
Seemandhra on 13 May.[265][266][267][268] In Bihar, there was re-polling on 2 polling

stations of Sitamarhi on 11 May and 3 polling stations in Muzaffarnagar went to repolling on 13 May.[268][269][270][271] On 15 May, there was re-polling in one booth in
Tamil Nadu, and at 5 booths in West Bengal, Bihar, Nagaland.[272][273][274][275][276]
[277][278][279] It was reported that not a single voter turned up for a re-poll at 5 polling
stations in Nagaland on 15 May.[280][281] On 12 May, the Bombay High court declined
to order supplementary polling for voters in Maharashtra whose names were missing
from the electoral rolls. There were speculated to be as many as 100,000 voters missing
from the electoral roll in Pune and as many as 200,000 missing from electoral roll in
Mumbai.[282][283][284][285][286]
Voting pattern[edit]
The BJP secured 39% support from first time voters, while Congress received 19% of the
first time votes.[7]
Of the 87 Lok Sabha seats in the country identified by the Centre for the Study of
Developing Societies (CSDS) as having a high percentage of Muslim voters, the BJP won
45. These seats included 27 in Uttar Pradesh, 19 in West Bengal, 8 each in Assam and
Kerala, 6 each in Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir, 4 in Maharashtra, 2 in Andhra Pradesh
and Delhi, and one each in Haryana, Tripura, Lakshwadeep, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.
The BJP also won 47 seats in the 102 constituencies where at least one in five voters is a
Muslim, higher than the 24 such seats they had won in the 2009 election.[287]
The BJP had no success among the 19 Muslim-dominated constituencies in West Bengal.
Most of these seats were won by the Congress and the Trinamool Congress. The BJP was
also unable to win any seats in the 10 such constituencies in the southern states of Kerala
and Andhra Pradesh.[287] India Today reported that data released by the office of the
Delhi chief electoral officer indicated "a reversal in the Muslim community's support for
the Aam Aadmi Party" in the capital. India Today noted that BJP had won all 7 seats in
Delhi, with their candidates receiving a larger vote share. A large section of the Muslim
population in the union territory celebrated the BJP's victory on 16 May, and stated that
they felt no fear in voting for the party.[287]
The NDA won 39 of 74 seats where Muslim voters make up between 21 to 95% of the
total electorate. The BJP won all 16 seats, where the Muslim electorate is between 21 and
50%, in Uttar Pradesh. It also secured 5 out of 9 such seats in Bihar. Analyst Saeed Naqvi
believes that Amit Shah managed to convince Dalits and OBC voters to elect the BJP by
focusing on Mayawati and Mulayam Singh as "Muslim appeasers in an atmosphere of
perpetual communal tension".[288]
The BJP won all 26 seats in Gujarat, marking the first time a single party won all seats in
the state. The previous record was held by the Congress which won 25 of the 26 seats in
the 1984 general election.[289]
Results[edit]
Main articles: Results of the Indian general election, 2014 and List of members of the
16th Lok Sabha
336
58[2] 149
NDA UPA Others
Party BJP INC AIADMK
AITMC
BJD SS
TDP
Leader Narendra Modi
Rahul Gandhi Jayalalithaa Mamata Banerjee
Naveen Patnaik
Uddhav Thackeray Chandrababu Naidu
CM Narendra Damodardas Modi.jpg Rahul Gandhi 1.jpg Jayalalithaa1.jpg
Mamata Banerjee - Kolkata 2011-12-08 7531 Cropped.JPG Naveen Patnaik.jpg
Uddhav thackeray 20090703.jpg
N. Chandrababu Naidu.jpg
Votes 31.0%, 171,637,684 19.3%, 106,935,311 3.3%, 18,115,825
3.8%,
21,259,681
1.7%, 9,491,497
1.9%, 10,262,982
2.5%, 14,094,545
Seats 282 (51.9%) 44 (8.1%)
37 (6.8%)
34 (6.2%)
20 (3.6%)
18
(3.3%) 16 (2.9%)
282 / 543
44 / 543
37 / 543
34 / 543
20 / 543
18 / 543
16 / 543
Circle frame.svg
Vote Share of different parties in the election.
BJP (31.0%)
INC (19.3%)
BSP (4.1%)
AITC (3.8%)
SP (3.4%)
AIADMK (3.3%)
CPM (3.3%)
BJD (1.7%)
Shiv Sena (1.9%)
TDP (2.5%)
Other (28.2%)
Circle frame.svg
Seat Share of different parties in the election.
BJP (51.9%)
INC (8.1%)
BSP (0%)
AITC (6.2%)
SP (0.9%)
AIADMK (6.8%)
CPM (1.7%)
BJD (3.6%)
Shiv Sena (3.3%)
TDP (2.9%)
Other (17.5%)
e d Summary of the 2014 Indian general election
Alliance
Party Abr Votes Seats
Number
%
+/Number
+/%
NDA
Bharatiya Janata PartyBJP 171,657,549 31.0% Increase12.2%282
Increase166 51.9%
Shiv Sena
SHS 10,262,982
1.9% Increase0.3% 18
Increase7
3.3%
Telugu Desam Party TDP 14,094,545
Increase10
2.9%
Lok Janshakti Party LJP 2,295,929
0.4% Decrease0.1% 6
Increase6
1.1%
Shiromani Akali Dal SAD 3,636,148
0.7% Decrease0.3% 4
Increase0
0.7%
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party RLSP 1,078,473
0.2% New 3
New 0.6%
Apna Dal
AD
821,820
0.1% Increase0.1% 2
Increase2
0.4%
Swabhimani Paksha SWP 1,105,073
0.2% Increase0.1% 1
Increase0
0.2%
Naga People's Front NPF 994,505
0.2% Increase0.0% 1
Increase0
0.2%
National People's Party
NPP 2,39,301
0.4% Increase0.4% 1
Increase1
0.2%
Pattali Makkal Katchi PMK 1,827,566
0.3% Decrease0.2% 1
Increase1
0.2%
All India N.R. Congress
AINRC
2,55,826
0.4% Increase0.4% 1
Increase1
0.2%
HJC 7,03,698
0.12% Increase0.07%0
Decrease1
0.0%
DMDK
2,079,392
0.4%
Decrease0.3% 0
Decrease0
0.0%
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MDMK
1,417,535
0.4%
Increase0.1% 0
Decrease1
0.0%
Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi
KMDK
2,76,118
0.5% Increase0.5%
0
Increase0
0.0%
Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi IJK
2,38,887
0.4% Increase0.4% 0
Increase0
0.0%
New Justice Party
NJP 3,24,326
0.6% Increase0.6% 0
Increase0
0.0%
Rashtriya Samaj Paksha
RHSP 4,51,843
0.8% Increase0.6% 0
Increase0
0.0%
Republican Party of India (Athvale) RPI(A)71,808 0.1% Increase0.1% 0
Increase0
0.0%
Mizo National Front MNF 2,04,331

0.4% Increase0.2% 0
Increase0
0.0%
Kerala Congress (Nationalist)KC(N) 44,357 0.01% Increase0.01%0
Increase0
0.0%
Revolutionary Socialist Party (Bolshevik) RSP(B)
43,051 0.01% Increase0.01%
0
Increase0
0.0%
UPA
INC 106,938,242 19.3% Decrease9.3%
44
Decrease162 8.1%
Nationalist Congress Party NCP 8,635,554
1.6% Decrease0.4% 6
Decrease3
1.1%
Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD 7,442,323
1.3%
4
0.7%
JMM 1,637,990
0.3% Decrease0.1% 2
0.4%
Indian Union Muslim League IUML 1,100,096
0.2% Increase0.2% 2
0.4%
Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP 1,666,380
0.3% Decrease0.1% 1
Decrease1
0.2%
Kerala Congress
KC(M)424,194
0.1% Increase0.05 1
0.2%
Left
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM 17,986,773
3.2% Decrease2.1% 9
Decrease7
1.7%
CPI 4,327,297
0.8% Decrease0.6% 1
Decrease3
0.2%
AIFB 1,211,418
0.2% Decrease0.1% 0
Decrease2
0.0%
Others
ADMK
18,115,825
Increase28
6.8%
All India Trinamool CongressAITC 21,259,684
Increase15
6.3%
Biju Janata Dal
BJD 9,491,497
Increase6
3.7%
Telangana Rashtra Samithi TRS 6,736,490
Increase9
2.0%
YSR Congress Party YSRCP
13,991,280
2.5% New 9
New 1.7%
Samajwadi Party
SP
18,672,916
3.4%
5
Decrease18 0.9%
Aam Aadmi Party
AAP 11,325,635
2.0% New 4
New 0.7%
All India United Democratic Front AIUDF
2,333,040
0.4% Decrease0.1%
3
Increase2
0.6%
People's Democratic Party PDP ??
0.?% New 3
New 0.?%
Janata Dal (United) JD(U) 5,992,196
1.1% Decrease0.4% 2
Decrease18
0.4%
Janata Dal (Secular) JD(S) 3,731,481
0.7% Decrease0.1% 2
Decrease1
0.4%
INLD 2,799,899
0.5% Increase0.2% 2
Increase2
0.4%
1
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen

1
Bahujan Samaj Party BSP 22,946,182
4.1% Decrease2.1% 0
Decrease21
0.0%
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK 9,636,430
1.7% Decrease0.1% 0
Decrease18 0.0%
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)
JVM(P)
1,579,772
0.3%
Increase0.1% 0
Decrease1
0.0%
Communist Party of India (MarxistLeninist) Liberation CPI(ML)L
1,007,274
0.2%
0
0.0%
Bahujan Mukti Party BMP 785,358
0.1%
0
0.0%
Independent IND 16,743,719
3.0% Decrease2.2% 3
Decrease6
0.6%
NOTA
None of the above
NOTA 6,000,197
1.1% New 0
New
0.0%
Valid Votes
100.00%
543
100.00%
Rejected Votes
Total Polled
66.4%
Registered Electors
Source: Election Commission of India
Gudi in front of an office.
The Khopoli unit of BJP raised a Gudi in front of their office. Gudi is raised for the
celebration of Hindu New Year in Maharashtra.
State-wise results[edit]
Andhra Pradesh (Total Seats - 25)
TDP+ - 17 (Telugu Desam + BJP)
YSRC - 8 (Jagan Reddy's party)
Bihar (Total seats - 40)
BJP+ - 31 (Includes Paswan's Party)
RJD+ - 7 (Lalu Yadav's RJD + Congress)
JD(U) - 2 (Nitish Kumar + Sharad Yadav's party)
Maharashtra (Total seats - 48)
BJP+ - 42 (BJP 22, Shiv Sena - 18, other allies - 2)
Congress+ - 6 (Congress - 2, NCP of Sharad Pawar - 4)
Uttar Pradesh (Total seats - 80)
BJP+ = 73 (BJP alone won 71 seats)
Congress - 2
Samajwadi Party - 5
Reactions[edit]
Domestic[edit]
Economic
The country's economic indicators were performing well in advance of the result in
expectation of a BJP win, on the perception that Modi is business-friendly. The
benchmark BSE Sensex and CNX Nifty indexes hit record highs and the Indian rupee
strengthened following months of poor performance.[290] On the result day, as early vote
counts gave the BJP a majority lead, the Sensex reached a record high of 25,375.63
points.[291] It ended the day at a new closing high of 24,121.74. The Nifty reached a
record high of 7,563.50, before ending the day at a new closing high of 7,203.[292] The
Indian rupee rose to a 11-month high of 58.62 against the US dollar and closed at 58.79.
[293] Following Modi's win, several brokerage firms revised their Sensex and Nifty
targets within hours of the results being declared.[294] Deutsche Bank revised its
December 2014 target for the Sensex to 28,000, and Macquarie revised its 12-month
target for the Nifty to 8,400 from 7,200. Edelweiss set its December 2014 targets for the
Sensex and Nifty at 29,000 and 9,000 respectively.[295]
Media
India Times suggested that the election was watched in Pakistan with Modi being the less
popular candidate than AAP's Kejriwal. Comparisons were made between the latter and
the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Imran Khan.[296] Analysts suggested a high turnout would
favour the BJP as it indicates an increase in participation of urban voters who are the
party's traditional vote bank. Others have suggested however, that this could indicate an
increase in voting amongst the 150 million Muslims that generally support the INC.
Varghese K George, the political editor of The Hindu said that both readings rely on too
many assumptions but that the only reading so far was the BJP was "doing well [and]
Modi is managing to make some connection with voters and the Congress is doing pretty
badly."[297]
Politicians
When it became clear that the BJP would win the election, Narendra Modi tweeted,
"India has won! Bharat ki Vijay. Ache din ane wale hai (good days are ahead)."[298] This
tweet instantly became India's most retweeted Twitter post.[299] According to a message
on the Twitter handle of the Prime Minister's Office, Manmohan Singh called Modi and
congratulated him on his party's victory in the election, after elections result trends
indicated a clear win for the BJP.[300][301] Congress President Sonia Gandhi accepted
the defeat and congratulated the new government saying, "I congratulate the next
government. I take full responsibility for the loss of Congress." Rahul Gandhi also did the
same saying, "The new government has been given a mandate by the people. As
Congress Vice President I hold myself responsible. The Congress party has done
badly."[302]
Minister of Rural Development in the outgoing government Jairam Ramesh expressed
surprise saying, "I am surprised by the results, especially in Telangana and Jharkhand.
There was clearly a Modi effect."[303] At the Congress Working Committee (CWC)
meeting on 19 May, general secretary Mohan Prakash claimed that Israeli intelligence
agency Mossad and the RSS had been working together since 2009 to defeat the UPA
government. Prakash further claimed that this was because of Israel's unhappiness with
the UPA government. According to him, this was because the UPA only had limited
political relations with Israel, unlike the previous NDA government. Outgoing Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram criticised the style of functioning and work culture at the
Congress headquarters for the loss, and suggested adopting a more corporate approach.
Some Congress members blamed Japanese communication agency Dentsu, which had
been hired by the party, at a cost of nearly INR6 billion, to handle their election
advertising campaign and image makeover of Rahul Gandhi along with another agency
Burson-Marsteller. Chairman of the party's communication department Ajay Maken
harshly criticised Dentsu India executive chairman Rohit Ohri for a "spineless
campaign". Priya Dutt, Secretary of the party's communication department, pointed out
the gap between the people and the Congress leadership stating, "We need to bridge that
gap. We need to bring that right up to the leadership. There is a lot of criticism. We have
to look at where we have gone wrong in the past 10 years."[304] DNA described the
accusations against Mossad, RSS and Dentsu as "bizarre theories", and noted that
"everyone except vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been held responsible for their
crushing defeat."[304]
The first open criticism from within the Congress party came from Union minister in the
outgoing government Milind Deora. Deora told The Indian Express on 21 May that
although "many factors" led to the party's defeat and Rahul's leadership alone could not
be blamed, "it was not about one person's image but the people surrounding that person
also. Deora stated that many party members felt that the decision makers in the party had
"no electoral experience...no stature, standing, respect and credibility in the party". He
accused the people who "were in charge of important departments and held key
positions" of not listening to party cadres and MPs, which he believed prevented a
"diverse opinion" from being heard and "shut out a lot of people". Deora stated, "A lot of
us felt our voices were never heard. We felt our voices don't matter. This has to change.
The MPs and ministers should not feel we are being not heard. It is not the advisors
alone. The people who take the advice also have to bear responsibility. Those who gave
advice and those who received the advice as also those who feel they can give better
advice all have to bear responsibility." Deora felt the party had to "open up" and
"promote avenues for dissent and debate internally". He also criticised the
communication between the party and government, and the message that came out of the
Congress Working Committee meeting. When asked who was blame, Deora said, "there
are many people from top to bottom ... there was lack of coordination and the response
was slow ... there was a very unresponsive attitude. ... the buck stops with the
party."[305][306] Although this statement received support from several Congress
members, Deora clarified on Twitter, "My comments are out of emotions of deep loyalty
to the party, pain of our performance & a sincere desire to see us bounce back. Nothing
more." Senior party leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi expressed hope that an "honest and
ruthless introspection" would be carried out fix the problems. He further stated that while
Deora's statement may not have been fully correct, a "large portion of what he said is
correct". Congress members such as Jairam Ramesh, Madan Gopal and Kanishka Singh
criticised Rahul Gandhi's aides.[304]
Individuals
Rajnikanth congratulated Narendra Modi on Twitter for his "historic win". The actor also
congratulated Jayalalithaa for her party's performance in the election.[307] Tamil actor
Dhanush also tweeted congratulations to Modi. Several Bollywood celebrities including
Subhash Ghai, Vishal Dadalani, Lata Mangeshkar, Ranvir Shorey, Vivek Oberoi, Baba
Sehgal, Shekhar Kapur, Arshad Warsi, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Farhan Akhtar, Karan
Johar, Sangeeth Sivan, Kabir Bedi, Anupam Kher, Madhur Bhandarkar, Atul Kasbekar
and Pritish Nandy tweeted congratulations to Modi and the BJP for their victory.[308]
[309]
President of Film Federation of India Ravi Kottarakara congratulated Modi "on behalf of
the entire Indian film fraternity". CEO of the Film & TV Producers Guild of India
Kulmmet Makkar described the "clear mandate" as being "great" for the Indian film
industry. He also expressed "positive hopes" from the new government.[310]
International[edit]
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai congratulated Modi for leading the BJP to victory.
Karzai spoke to the BJP leader in Hindi and recalled his days as a student in Shimla.[311]
Aimal Faizi, spokesperson to the president, tweeted, "President #Karzai extends his warm
Congratulations to @narendramodi on victory in elections. Afghans always regard #India
as a true friend"[312]
Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott called Modi to congratulate him. He tweeted
using his official PM account, "I've spoken to @narendramodi and congratulated him on
his success. I look forward to strengthening ties between India and Australia". He further
said that he was looking forward to meet Modi during the upcoming G-20 Summit to be
held in Brisbane in November 2014.[312][313]
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the first to send a congratulatory
letter[314] to Modi describing him as a "great friend of Bangladesh". Hasina wrote, "The
decisive verdict given by the people of your great country is a strong testimony to your
dynamic, inspiring and visionary leadership qualities and manifestation of the trust and
confidence reposed in you by the people of the largest democracy in the world. I am
delighted to see a great friend of Bangladesh leading an extremely friendly country, India,
in the coming days."[314] She further stated, "I hope that you would find my country
your second home and first destination for your official visit abroad".[313] Hasina also
sent a separate letter to BJP President Rajnath Singh congratulating him and party
members for their "landslide victory", on behalf of the Bangladesh Awami League.[312]
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia, and the BNP's main ally, the
fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, also sent a message congratulating Modi.[313][315]
Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
called Modi and congratulated him on his victory.[313]
Brunei Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah sent a message of congratulations to Modi. In
his message, the Sultan wished Modi success and looked forward to working with him to
strengthen long-standing ties of friendship and co-operation between Brunei and India,
including through work in the Commonwealth and the Asean-India Dialogue.[316]
Canada Canadian High Commissioner Stewart Beck congratulated the BJP for winning
a clear majority in the elections, and stated that Canada was looking forward to further
strengthening ties with India through engagement with the newly elected government.
Beck said in a statement, "I had the pleasure to meet with Modi during his time as the
Chief Minister of Gujarat and I look forward to working with him to grow Canada's
bilateral relationship with India. I also wish to congratulate the people of India on
exercising their right to vote and showing the world the strength of their democratic
system."[313] Prime minister Stephen Harper sent a congratulatory message to Modi on
17 May.[317]
China Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing
on 17 May, "China is willing to make joint efforts with the new Indian government,
maintain high level exchanges, deepen cooperation in all areas and bring the China-India
strategic partnership to new height."[314] The Chinese government formally
congratulated Modi through a message, conveyed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
to Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K. Kantha on 23 May. The Chinese government
had been waiting for Modi to be officially be sworn in before issuing a formal message,
as they were conscious of protocol. Chinese foreign ministry sources told PTI that Modi
would be officially greeted by the Chinese leadership after he assumes office on 26 May.
However, official media in China had already published several articles praising Modi's
leadership and projecting a bright future for Sino-Indian relations under his leadership.
The media recalled that Modi had made four visits to China during his tenure as Chief
Minister of Gujarat, resulting in over US$900 million worth of Chinese investments in
Gujarat.[318] Premier Li Keqiang congratulated Modi on 26 May. He stated that China
viewed India as a "natural cooperative partner" and expressed his desire to work together
for "peaceful, cooperative and common development" that would "not only bring benefits
to their own people but also contribute to peace, stability and prosperity of Asia and
beyond".[319]
Denmark Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called Modi and congratulated him
on his victory.[313][314]
France French Ambassador to India Franois Richier stated, "This massive vote of
confidence highlights the vitality of Indian democracy. France is keen to work hand in
hand with the new Indian leadership. Paris statement will follow formal announcement
by Election Commission." The ambassador, who has personally visited Gujarat thrice,
stressed that French authorities will reach out to the new Indian leadership in the near
future.[313] President Francois Hollande called Modi on 19 May to congratulate him, and
also invite him to come to France "when he wished". The President also stated that the
head of French diplomacy Laurent Fabius would visit India by the end of June 2014.
French Embassy officials stated, "He [Hollande] confirmed that he [Modi] would have
France's support in the task at hand and reiterated his commitment to the strategic
partnership and friendship between France and India, a partner and ally of France."[320]
Germany On 15 May, the day prior to the results being declared, German Ambassador
to India Michael Steiner clarified that Modi would not require a visa to visit Germany if
he became Prime Miniser. Steiner stated, "An elected Prime Minister of India does not
need a visa for Germany, he is welcome there".[321][322] Chancellor Angela Merkel
called Modi on 19 May, congratulated him on his victory and invited him to Berlin.[323]
Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Narendra Modi to
congratulate him and expressed his admiration for Indian democracy. The two leaders
agreed to deepen co-operation between the two countries.[324] A statement issued by the
Gujarat Bhavan in New Delhi stated, "He [Netanyahu] said that he was looking forward
to work with Mr. Modi and enhance bilateral cooperation".[312]
Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Modi and congratulated him on his victory.
[325][326]
Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak congratulated Modi and the BJP on Twitter, and
also stated that he was "looking forward to continuing strong Malaysia-India partnership"
under the new government.[327][328]
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom congratulated Modi and wished
him and the citizens of India "every success and prosperity". The President stated that
India had chosen "the most proficient leadership" to enter a new era, and assured the
Maldives' support to Modi's government. President Gayoom also stressed that the
Maldives attaches the highest importance to its closely intertwined relations with India.
He further added that The Maldives is confident that the co-operation between the two
countries will further develop under Modi's leadership and guidance in a constructive
manner.[329] Modi was also congratulated by former President Mohamed Nasheed on
Twitter.[330][331] Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Rajeev Shahare stated that
relations between the countries would strengthen under the new prime minister.[332]
Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam sent a message to Modi on 16
May, congratulating him on behalf of the Government and people of Mauritius following
"the impressive and well-deserved victory of his party". Ramgoolam stated that "these
elections in the largest democracy of the world are yet again a testimony to the
exceptional robustness of Indian democracy", and added that "Mauritius applauds and
commends India for upholding her acclaimed democratic credentials to which Mauritius
feels particularly attached". He further stated "your electoral victory is a defining moment
in the contemporary history of your great country. It certainly reflects the trust that the
people place in you to chart the future course of your nation. You embody the politics of
hope and delivery to your people in their aspirations for development and prosperity".
The Prime Minister expressed confidence that under the leadership of Shri Narendra
Modi, India will not only accelerate the great strides of economic progress made in recent
decades but also sensibly guide the way for a more balanced world order. Describing the
relations between India and Mauritius as a "special relationship", Rangoolam assured
Modi of his determination to expand and consolidate it further for the benefit of both
countries. He ended his message with an invitation to Modi to visit Mauritius at a
convenient time.[333]
Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala congratulated Narendra Modi on his victory and
invited him to visit Nepal. President Ram Baran Yadav also called Modi and BJP
President Rajnath Singh to congratulate them on the BJP's victory.[334]
New Zealand At his post-Cabinet press conference on 20 May, Prime Minister John
Key stated that he had sent a letter of congratulations to Modi. Key expressed hope that
the two countries would be able to reach a free trade agreement, which they began
discussing in 2010. However, talks later stalled and the last round of discussions was held
in July 2013. The Prime Minister stated, "We are sort of hopeful we can reignite the free
trade agreement with Modi as the new Prime Minister. He has obviously been very probusiness and he has had an overwhelming mandate delivered to him so you can see the
Indian people want and expect to see high levels of economic growth. One of those things
is trade, so we are certainly going to be taking it up with the new Indian Government at
the appropriate time."[335][336]
Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg called Modi and congratulated him on his
victory.[313]
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated Modi and offered good wishes on
the BJP's "impressive victory". Sharif also invited Modi to visit Pakistan.[314]
Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani congratulated
Modi on his party's victory in the general election in a telephone conversation.[314][337]
Russia President Vladimir Putin congratulated Modi and the BJP on the election
victory gave a high assessment of the traditionally friendly ties between Russia and India.
These ties have a foundation in the Declaration on Strategic Partnership, which was
signed while the BJP was in power and set a development course for bilateral relations
for years to come.[338]
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Modi and the BJP on Twitter
and Facebook, and also stated that he was "looking forward to working with the new
Indian Government to strengthen India-Singapore relations". Modi replied to the tweet
stating, "@leehsienloong Thank you very much. Singapore is a valued friend & I am sure
we will make our ties stronger in the times to come".[339][340][341] Former Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong, who, many believe, influenced Modi's world view, also sent a
congratulatory letter. Goh wrote, "I recall our meetings and frank exchange of views
since 2006 when I visited Gujarat. You have always shown a strong resolve to bring
economic prosperity to the Indian people.... I am confident that you will lead India to
greater heights as Prime Minister, and further build on the excellent ties between our two
countries."[317]
South Africa President Jacob Zuma offered congratulations and good wishes to
Narendra Modi. The President said in a statement on 17 May, "With India under the
leadership of Mr Modi, the Government of South Africa looks forward to consolidating
the strong bilateral political and economic relations that exist between our two sister
Republics."[342][343][344]
Spain Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sent a letter congratulating Modi on his "brilliant
victory" in the election. Rajoy expressed his admiration for the "democratic spirit that
reigned over such a complex election process". The Prime Minister concluded his letter
stating that he was looking forward to meeting Modi in person and offered his "warmest
regards and deepest personal respect".[345][346][347]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa called Modi and congratulated him for a
"great" victory. The President expressed hope that India and Sri Lanka will work closely
and further strengthen their strong ties.[313] The President tweeted, "Called
@narendramodi a short while ago; Congratulated on BJP victory & invited for a state
visit to #SriLanka"[314] Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake stated that the
President issued the invitation to Modi after congratulating him on the election victory.
[312]
Tibet Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay thanked the UPA government
"or their unwavering support for the Tibetan people during its two full terms", and also
congratulated the BJP-led NDA for their victory.[348][349]
United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron called Modi and congratulated him
on the "election success" and stated that he was keen on working together,[314] one of
the first Western leaders to do.[350] A Downing Street spokesperson stated, "The prime
minister called Narendra Modi this morning to congratulate him on his victory in the
Indian elections and the record turnout, making this the biggest democratic election in
history. Modi said he would be delighted to accept the Prime Minister's invitation to visit
the UK. Both leaders agreed on the importance of the UK-India relationship and agreed
to work together to strengthen it in the months ahead." Cameron also tweeted using his
official account, "Congratulations @narendramodi on victory in India's elections. Keen to
work together to get the most from UK-India relationship". British Foreign Minister
William Hague stated, "I congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on their success and
look forward to forging an even closer partnership with India in the months ahead. UK
has strong ties with India and the British government looks forward to working with the
new Indian government to build on this relationship and deliver security, growth and
prosperity for both our nations."[312]
United States White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters after the results
were declared, "We congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on winning a majority of
seats in this historic election. Once the government is formed, we look forward to
working closely with the prime minister and the Cabinet to advance our strong bilateral
relationship based on shared democratic values. The prime minister of India will be
welcomed to the US."[314] The White House National Security Council tweeted, "US
congratulates BJP on its victory in India's historic election. We look forward to working
with government once formed to advance our partnership".[311][313] Secretary of State
John Kerry tweeted, "Congrats to @narendramodi and BJP. Look forward to working
w/you/growing shared prosperity/security w/world's largest democracy".[313] President
Barack Obama congratulated Narendra Modi during a telephone call in which they
discussed the Indo-US strategic partnership and the global economic situation. Obama
told Modi that the largest democracy in the world had given a decisive mandate, and he
expressed hope that under Modi's leadership, India would play a significant role on the
global stage.[314]
Narendra Modi responded to each tweet from world leaders thanking them for their
support. The media reported the order in which Modi responded to the tweets, and noted
that Barack Obama was the last to receive a reply from him. The New York Times
observed that "the order in which he thanked them and one notable omission, later
rectified, was more interesting than the content of the tweets themselves." The paper
further stated, "The silence underscored what will be uncomfortable diplomatic theater in
the weeks and months to come. The United States refused to issue Mr. Modi a visa in
2005 as a response to his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. As Mr. Modi's star rose in
the past year, American leaders reached out, but a thaw on Mr. Modi's side has been
almost imperceptible."[350][351] Responding to a question on whether the US was
bothered that Obama was so far down on the list of Modi's priorities, State Department
Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference, "I think our
relationship between the United States and India is so strong and enduring we won't
worry about the Twitter rank order".[352] John Kerry reiterated the United States'
willingness to work with the new government as well as the importance of India-US
relations on 20 May. He also added that he was looking forward to returning to India
soon and "echo President Obama's invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit the United
States at the earliest opportunity." The Times of India noted that the first leader to receive
a tweet from Modi was David Cameron. The United Kingdom was among the first
countries to end a US-led diplomatic boycott of Modi.[353] Mint stated that Modi's
"more expansive responses" were to the leaders of Japan and Russia. According to former
foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh, "It is natural that Modi feels affinity with some leaders
who are strong leaders, proudly nationalistic, trying to fix the economy with firm
measures."[354]
International media
Prior to the announcement of the result, the Washington Post highlighted "...2014 will be
the biggest year in the history of democracy, with more people than ever before going to
the polls to decide their own fate...this really looks to be one of the most fascinating
political events this year, and not just because of its scale...It's a fascinating moment in
democracy, and one that shouldn't be ignored".[124] The New York Times added that "the
sheer size of the electorate makes this election the largest ever in the world and an
inspiring celebration of universal adult suffrage," but also wrote "lurking behind the feelgood spectacle is the reality that India's elections are awash in illegal cash, serious
violence and dirty tricks."[355] Bloomberg Businessweek wrote of the election that the
"process is awesome in its complexity, and the campaigns have given rise to robust
debate...But here's something else not to miss: Its all pretty damn colorful." It
highlighted five reasons that make the election interesting: Kejriwal's effect, Modi's wife;
exit polls are barred but betting on the future prime minister was not and Modi was in the
lead; "vote buying" through cash, alcohol or other means; and 3D campaigning.[356] It
also predicted better relations with Japan at the expense of relations with China under
Modi,[357] and asked whether a redefinition of India's nuclear weapons program would
result from the elections.[358]
An editorial in the China Daily, the Chinese government's official English-language
newspaper, compared Modi's "preoccupation with development" with China's "own
experiences and development philosophy", and argued that this had "inspired
unprecedented optimism here over our South Asian neighbour's growth potential". The
paper also argued that "western rhetoric" which stated that both countries were "destined
to stand against each other" had been proven wrong by the fact that India and China had
"by and large, managed their differences well over the decades". It also welcomed Modi's
invitation to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing-in ceremony.
[359]
Individuals and organisations
The 14th Dalai Lama sent a letter congratulating Modi for the BJP's "decisive victory".
The Dalai Lama expressed hope that just as Modi had brought development and
prosperity to Gujarat, India would continue to "flourish and prosper" under his
leadership.[360][361][362][363]
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) congratulated Narendra Modi, and expressed
hope that his leadership would further strengthen India's relations with the US and Israel.
Director of AJC's Asia Pacific Institute (API) Shira Loewenberg stated, "We look forward
to working with Modi and the new government to further strengthen and deepen India's
extensive relations with the United States and Israel. BJP has long been a friend to Israel
and the Jewish people."[364][365]
Further information: Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi and Cabinet of Narendra
Modi
Manmohan Singh tendered his resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee on 17 May. He
continued as caretaker Prime Minister, at the request of the President, until 26 May 2014,
when Narendra Modi and his cabinet were sworn to office.[366]

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Indian general election, 1951

All 489 seats in the Lok Sabha

First party Second party

Prime Minister before election

Elected Prime Minister

Ram Rajya Parishad RRP

Krishikar Lok Party KLP

All India United

All People's Party

Commonweal Party CWP

Gandhi Sebak Seva GSS

Hill Peoples Party

Lok Sevak Sangh

Tamil Nadu Toilers

Uttar Pradesh Praja

Indian general election, 1957

Indian general election, 1957

24 February to 14 March 1957

All 494 seats in the Lok Sabha

First party Second party

Prime Minister before election

Elected Prime Minister

Bharatiya Jana Sangh

Communist Party of India

Indian National Congress

Praja Socialist Party

Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha

Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad

Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party CNSPJP 0.42 3

Forward Bloc (Marxist)

Peasants and Workers Party of India

People's Democratic Front

Revolutionary Socialist Party

Scheduled Castes Federation

Indian general election, 1962

Indian general election, 1962

1925 February 1962

All 494 seats in the Lok Sabha

Shripat Amrit Dange

Bombay City Central

Prime Minister before election

Elected Prime Minister

Bharatiya Jana Sangh

Communist Party of India

Indian National Congress

Praja Socialist Party

Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha

Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad

All India Forward Bloc

All Party Hill Leaders Conference

Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party CNSPJP 0.41 3

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Indian Union Muslim League

Peasants and Workers Party of India

Republican Party of India

Haryana Lok Samiti

Lok Sevak Sangh

Nutan Maha Gujarat Janata Parishad

Revolutionary Socialist Party

Indian general election, 1967

Indian general election, 1967

1721 February 1967