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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 elected lower house of the Parliament of India.
On May 13, the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance National Democratic Alliance conceded defeat. The Indian National Congress was able to put together a comfortable majority of more than 335 members out of 543 with the help of its allies under the direction of Indian National Congress. 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 former Finance 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 of India'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.
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The election dates for the parliamentary elections were:
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 parties combined. 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.) per constituency. 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.
Prime Minister Atal Behari 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).
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 and Kerala, 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 Nadu they 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.
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.
| Political Parties/Alliances supporting the government |
|---|
| 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) |
| Total: 335 votes (61.7%) |
| Territories | Party | Seats won | % of Votes | Alliance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Indian National Congress | 1 | 55.77 | United Progressive Alliance |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 0 | 35.95 | National Democratic Alliance | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 0 | 2.71 | Left Front | |
| Independent | 0 | 1.72 | None | |
| Others | 0 | 3.85 | None | |
| Chandigarh | Indian National Congress | 1 | 52.06 | United Progressive Alliance |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 0 | 35.22 | National Democratic Alliance | |
| Indian National Lok Dal | 0 | 6.61 | None | |
| Independent | 0 | 3.42 | None | |
| Others | 0 | 2.69 | None | |
| National Capital Territory of Delhi | Indian National Congress | 6 | 54.81 | United Progressive Alliance |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 1 | 40.67 | National Democratic Alliance | |
| Bahujan Samaj Party | 0 | 2.48 | None | |
| Independent | 0 | 1.27 | None | |
| Lakshadweep | Janata Dal (United) | 1 | 49.02 | National Democratic Alliance |
| Indian National Congress | 0 | 48.79 | United Progressive Alliance | |
| Janata Party | 0 | 1.47 | None | |
| Samajwadi Party | 0 | 0.72 | None |
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| Party Name | States contested | Seats contested | Seats won | No. of Votes | % of Votes | % in Seats contested | Forfeited in seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian National Congress | 33 | 400 | 145 | 103,408,949 | 26.53% | 34.43% | 82 |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 31 | 364 | 138 | 86,371,561 | 22.16% | 34.39% | 57 |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 19 | 69 | 43 | 22,070,614 | 5.66% | 42.31% | 15 |
| Bahujan Samaj Party | 25 | 435 | 19 | 20,765,229 | 5.33% | 6.66% | 358 |
| Samajwadi Party | 23 | 237 | 36 | 16,824,072 | 4.32% | 10.26% | 169 |
| Telugu Desam Party | 1 | 33 | 5 | 11,844,811 | 3.04% | 42.75% | 0 |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal | 6 | 42 | 24 | 9,384,147 | 2.41% | 31.27% | 14 |
| Janata Dal (United) | 16 | 73 | 8 | 9,144,963 | 2.35% | 17.73% | 44 |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1 | 33 | 0 | 8,547,014 | 2.19% | 35.59% | 0 |
| Nationalist Trinamool Congress | 5 | 33 | 2 | 8,071,867 | 2.07% | 29.97% | 7 |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1 | 16 | 16 | 7,064,393 | 1.81% | 58.24% | 0 |
| Shiv Sena | 14 | 56 | 12 | 7,056,255 | 1.81% | 17.90% | 34 |
| Nationalist Congress Party | 11 | 32 | 9 | 7,023,175 | 1.80% | 33.98% | 10 |
| Janata Dal (Secular) | 12 | 43 | 3 | 5,732,296 | 1.47% | 15.67% | 24 |
| Communist Party of India | 15 | 34 | 10 | 5,484,111 | 1.41% | 23.70% | 19 |
| Biju Janata Dal | 1 | 12 | 11 | 5,082,849 | 1.30% | 51.15% | 0 |
| Shiromani Akali Dal | 1 | 10 | 8 | 3,506,681 | 0.90% | 43.42% | 0 |
| Lok Jan Shakti Party | 12 | 40 | 4 | 2,771,427 | 0.71% | 10.02% | 32 |
| Rashtriya Lok Dal | 11 | 32 | 3 | 2,463,607 | 0.63% | 11.08% | 23 |
| Telangana Rashtra Samithi | 1 | 8 | 5 | 2,441,405 | 0.63% | 13.19% | 0 |
| Pattali Makkal Katchi | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2,169,020 | 0.56% | 51.66% | 0 |
| Asom Gana Parishad | 1 | 12 | 2 | 2,069,600 | 0.53% | 23.53% | 4 |
| Indian National Lok Dal | 4 | 20 | 0 | 1,936,703 | 0.50% | 12.60% | 14 |
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 4 | 9 | 5 | 1,846,843 | 0.47% | 28.43% | 3 |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1,689,794 | 0.43% | 33.50% | 2 |
| Marumaralarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1,679,870 | 0.43% | 58.23% | 0 |
| All India Forward Bloc | 5 | 10 | 3 | 1,365,055 | 0.35% | 18.81% | 7 |
| Total | 35 | 543 | 543 | 389779784 | 100% | - | 4218 |
Votes and seats of the major parties are compared with those won in the 1999 election
| Alliance | Votes | % | Change | Seats | Change | Party | Votes | % | Change | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Progressive Alliance | 138,312,337 | 35.4 | +1.9 | 218 | +83 | Indian National Congress | 103,405,272 | 26.7 | -1.6 | 145 | +32 | ||
| Rashtriya Janata Dal (National People's Party) | 8,613,302 | 2.2 | -0.5 | 21 | +12 | ||||||||
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Dravidian Progress Federation) | 7,064,393 | 1.8 | +0.1 | 16 | +4 | ||||||||
| Nationalist Congress Party | 6,915,740 | 1.8 | -0.5 | 9 | +1 | ||||||||
| Lok Jan Shakti Party (People's Power Party) | 2,771,427 | 0.6 | ? | 4 | ? | ||||||||
| Telangana Rashtra Samithi (Telangana Nationalist Group) | 2,441,405 | 0.6 | ? | 2 | ? | ||||||||
| Pattali Makkal Katchi (Labour Party) | 2,169,020 | 0.5 | -0.1 | 6 | +1 | ||||||||
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Jharkhand Liberation Front) | 1,846,843 | 0.5 | - | 5 | - | ||||||||
| Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Progressive Dravidian Renaissance Organisation) | 1,679,870 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 4 | - | ||||||||
| Indian Union Muslim League | 770,098 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1 | +1 | ||||||||
| Republican Party of India (Athvale) | 367,510 | 0.1 | ? | 1 | ? | ||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party | 267,457 | 0.0 | - | 1 | - | ||||||||
| National Democratic Alliance | 128,931,001 | 33.3 | -3.8 | 181 | -89 | Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party) | 85,866,593 | 22.2 | -1.5 | 138 | -44 | ||
| Janata Dal (United) (People's Party (United)) | 9,924,209 | 2.6 | -0.5 | 8 | -11 | ||||||||
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (All India Annadurai Progressive Dravidian Organisation) | 8,547,014 | 2.2 | ? | 0 | ? | ||||||||
| Nationalist Trinamool Congress | 8,047,771 | 2.1 | -0.5 | 2 | -6 | ||||||||
| Shiv Sena (Army of Shivaji) | 7,056,075 | 1.8 | +0.2 | 12 | -3 | ||||||||
| Biju Janata Dal (Biju People's Party) | 5,084,428 | 1.3 | +0.1 | 11 | +1 | ||||||||
| Shiromani Akali Dal (Akali Religious Party) | 3,506,681 | 0.9 | +0.2 | 8 | +6 | ||||||||
| Nagaland People's Front | 715,366 | 0.2 | - | 1 | - | ||||||||
| Mizo National Front | 182,864 | 0.0 | - | 1 | - | ||||||||
| Left Front | 30,578,698 | 7.7 | -0.9 | 59 | +17 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 22,061,677 | 5.7 | +0.3 | 43 | +11 | ||
| Communist Party of India | 5,434,738 | 1.4 | -0.1 | 10 | +6 | ||||||||
| Revolutionary Socialist Party | 1,717,228 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 3 | - | ||||||||
| All India Forward Bloc | 1,365,055 | 0.2 | ? | 3 | ? | ||||||||
| 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) | 11,844,811 | 3.0 | -0.6 | 5 | -24 | ||||||||
| Janata Dal (Secular) (People's Party (Secular)) | 5,732,296 | 1.5 | +0.6 | 3 | +2 | ||||||||
| Rashtriya Lok Dal (National People's Party) | 2,463,607 | 0.6 | ? | 3 | ? | ||||||||
| {{Asom Gana Parishad (Assam People's Association) | 2,069,610 | 0.5 | - | 2 | - | ||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir National Conference | 493,067 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 2 | -2 | ||||||||
| All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (All India Council of United Muslims) | 378,854 | 0.1 | ? | 1 | ? | ||||||||
| Kerala Congress | 353,529 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1 | - | ||||||||
| Sikkim Democratic Front | 153,409 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | - | ||||||||
| National Loktantrik Party (National Democratic Party) | 367,049 | 0.1 | ? | 1 | - | ||||||||
| Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) (Socialist People's Party (National)) | 337,386 | 0.1 | ? | 1 | - | ||||||||
| Indian Federal Democratic Party | 256,411 | 0.1 | ? | 1 | - | ||||||||
| Bharatiya Navshakti Party (Indian New Force Party) | 171,080 | 0.1 | ? | 1 | - | ||||||||
| Independents | - | - | - | 5 | - | ||||||||
| Total | 387,453,223 | - | - | 543 | - | ||||||||
| Source: Election Commission of India. | |||||||||||||
See separate article, List of Members of the 14th Lok Sabha
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 in italics, and regional or state parties in Roman font):
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.
The reverses in the pre-poll predictions are ascribed to various reasons depending on the point of view.
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.
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