Indian general election, 2009

2004 members members 2014

Indian general election, 2009
All 543 seats in the Lok Sabha
16 April, 22/23 April, 30 April, 7 May and 13 May 2009
First party Second party Third party


Leader Manmohan
Singh
Lal Krishna
Advani
Prakash
Karat
Party Congress BJP CPI(M)
Alliance UPA NDA TF
Leader since 22 May 2004 1 June 2004 11 April
2005
Leader's seat Assam
(Rajya
Sabha)
Gandhinagar None
















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 (larger than
the European Union and United Statescombined , this is the
largest democratic election in the world.
Indian elections for the Lok Sabha (lower house) must be held every five years;
with the last election in May 2004, the 14th Lok Sabha was expiring on 1 June
2009. As a result, elections were organized by theElection Commission of India.
Due to the staggering number of voters, elections were held in five phases,
Last election 218 seats,
35.4%
181 seats,
33.3%
59 seats,
7.7%
(w/ Left
Front)
Seats won 262 159 79
Seat change +80 -17 -30
Popular vote 153,482,356 102,689,312 88,174,229
Percentage 37.22% 24.63% 21.15%
Swing +3.96% -4.88% -1.06%
Incumbent Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
UPA
Prime Minister-designate
Manmohan Singh
UPA
particularly to meet security concerns. In February 2009, Rs.1,120 Crores (176
million) was budgeted for election expenses by the Indian Parliament.
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, following the first past the post system, as in most of the British
Commonwealth.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Indian National
Congress formed a government based on its strong showing in Andhra
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengaland Uttar
Pradesh. Manmohan Singh became the first prime ministersince Jawaharlal
Nehru in 1962 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.
[7]
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 election, UPA alone had a plurality of over 260 seats
as opposed to 218 in 2004, and thus 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.
On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the
Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. As is the norm, earlier, on 18 May, he had
submitted his resignation as the Prime Minister toPresident Pratibha Patil.
Notable aspects of the Election
Delimitation
The 2009 elections adopted re-drawn electoral constituencies based on the
[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 NCT of
Delhi, the Union Territory of Puducherry and all the states except Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur andNagaland.
[11]
While
comparing election results, it must be borne in mind that in many instances a
constituency with the same name may reflect quite a different geographical region.
Electronic 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.
Polling stations
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.
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.
Electoral rolls
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.
Polling schedule

Background
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.
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.
[14]
As
expected, Chawla refused to resign as he was expected to take over the post of
Chief Election Commissioner a few months later.
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.
[16]

Eventually, on 1 March 2009, as was widely expected, President Patil rejected
Gopalaswami's recommendation to sack Chawla after the Government advised her
to do so.
[17]
Soon after the above announcement by President Patil, the Election
Commissioners put aside their differences and got together to announce the details
of the general election.
The polling schedule for the 2009 General Elections was announced by the Chief
Election Commissioner on 2 March 2009.
[11]

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.
[18]
It was the first time in the
history of Indian politics that two different people oversaw different phases of the
same election.
[19]

Polling schedule for each state/UT
Polling schedule for each State/UT in 2009 General Elections
States/
UTs
Constit
uencies
Ph
ase
s
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5
Avg
Tur
nout
1
6
A
p
r
Turn
out
[20]

22
/2
3
A
pr
Turn
out
[20]

3
0
A
p
r
Turn
out
[21]

7
M
ay
Turn
out
[22]

13
M
ay
Turn
out
[23]

Andama
n &
Nicobar
Islands
1 1 1
64.15
%
-

-

-

-
64.1
5%
Andhra
Pradesh
42 2
2
2
69.75
%
20
75.50
%
-

-

-
72.4
0%
Arunach
al
Pradesh
2 1 2
65.00
%
-

-

-

-
65.0
0%
Assam 14 2 3
67.61
%
11
70.06
%
-

-

-
69.6
8%
Bihar 40 4
1
3
43.21
%
13
45.83
%
1
1
46.12
%
3
37.00
%
-
44.2
7%
Chandig
arh
1 1

-

-

-

- 1
65.51
%
65.5
1%
Chhattis
garh
11 1
1
1
58.19
%
-

-

-

-
58.1
9%
Dadra
&
Nagar
Haveli
1 1

-

- 1
73.22
%
-

-
73.2
2%
Daman
& Diu
1 1

-

- 1
71.85
%
-

-
71.8
5%
Delhi 7 1

-

-

- 7
51.79
%
-
51.7
9%
Goa 2 1

- 2
55.42
%
-

-

-
55.4
2%
Gujarat 26 1

-

-
2
6
47.92
%
-

-
47.9
2%
Haryana 10 1

-

-

- 10
67.67
%
-
67.6
7%
Himach
al
Pradesh
4 1

-

-

-

- 4
58.35
%
58.3
5%
Jammu
&
Kashmir
6 5 1
49.68
%
1
44.73
%
1
26.43
%
1
25.38
%
2
45.63
%
39.6
6%
Jharkha
nd
14 2 6
51.16
%
8
48.86
%
-

-

-
49.7
7%
Karnata
ka
28 2

- 17
60.00
%
1
1
58.48
%
-

-
59.4
4%
Kerala 20 1
2
0
73.33
%
-

-

-

-
73.3
3%
Lakshad
weep
1 1 1
86.10
%
-

-

-

-
86.1
0%
Madhya
Pradesh
29 2

- 13
51.39
%
1
6
51.22
%
-

-
51.3
0%
Maharas
htra
48 3
1
3
55.74
%
25
49.18
%
1
0
41.24
%
-

-
49.1
7%
Manipur 2 2 1
83.70
%
1
75.50
%
-

-

-
79.8
0%
Meghal
aya
2 1 2
64.40
%
-

-

-

-
64.4
0%
Mizora
m
1 1 1
50.93
%
-

-

-

-
50.9
3%
Nagalan
d
1 1 1
90.21
%
-

-

-

-
90.2
1%
Orissa 21 2
1
0
64.90
%
11
62.00
%
-

-

-
63.3
5%
Puduche
rry
1 1

-

-

-

- 1
79.70
%
79.7
0%
Punjab 13 2

-

-

- 4
72.78
%
9
68.13
%
69.5
8%
Rajastha
n
25 1

-

-

- 25
48.50
%
-
48.5
0%
Sikkim 1 1

-

- 1
82.00
%
-

-
82.0
0%
Tamil
Nadu
39 1

-

-

-

- 39
72.46
%
72.4
6%
Tripura 2 1

- 2
83.91
%
-

-

-
83.9
1%
Uttar
Pradesh
80 5
1
6
45.37
%
17
45.48
%
1
5
46.12
%
18
48.00
%
14
47.55
%
46.4
5%
Uttarak
hand
5 1

-

-

-

- 5
53.67
%
53.6
7%
West
Bengal
42 3

-

-
1
4
80.71
%
17
82.60
%
11
76.30
%
78.9
3%
Total
Constit
543

1
2
59.07
%
14
1
56.66
%
1
0
52.12
%
85
52.32
%
86
65.74
%
56.9
7%
uencies 4 7
Total States/UTs
polling on this day
1
7
13
1
1
8 9

States/U
Ts
Constitu
encies
Number of States & UTs
polling in single phase
22 164

Number of States & UTs
polling in two phases
8 163

Number of States & UTs
polling in three phases
2 90

Number of States & UTs
polling in four phases
1 40

Number of States & UTs
polling in five phases
2 86

Total 35 543

Source: Election Commission of India
[


United Progressive Alliance
Prime Minister candidate: Manmohan Singh (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. Due to the volatile nature of coalitions, UPA won 218 seats after the
2004 election, but due to parties changing alliances, before the 2009 election they
had 182 seats.
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. WhileDMK leader M. Karunanidhi supported Manmohan
Singh as the PM candidate, NCP chief Sharad Pawar tried to project himself as a
possible Prime Ministerial candidate as well.
[25]
On 24 January 2009, Manmohan
Singh underwent a cardiac bypass surgery at the All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, New Delhi. 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.
National Democratic Alliance
Prime Minister candidate: Lal Krishna Advani (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 the 1999 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 Advaniwho was also the Leader of the
Opposition at the time. On 23 January 2008, leaders from BJP and other NDA
parties convened to officially elect him their candidate
Third Front
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 National Progressive Alliance (UNPA).
Fourth Front
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. Despite announcing this front, the
constituent parties continued to declare their support for the UPA.
Campaigning
United Progressive Alliance
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.
On March 24, 2009, Congress President Sonia Gandhi released the party's
manifesto for the 2009 election. The party's slogan for the election was Aam Admi
Ke Badthe Kadam, Har Kadam Par Bharat Buland which roughly translates
to The common man moves forward, And with his every step India prospers. 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.
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.
National Democratic Alliance
To counter the Congress' selection of Jai Ho as their official anthem, the BJP
coined the phrase Kushal Neta, Nirnayak Sarkaar which translates to Able leader,
decisive government. The BJP hope to benefit from the fact that they have been
consistently projecting one single leader, Advani, as the party's Prime Ministerial
candidate for more than one year, while the Congress appears to have dual power
centres (party President Sonia Gandhi and incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh). The BJP intends to use Advani's name & image as the main focus in these
elections.
On April 3, 2009, BJP released its election manifesto in New Delhi.
[38]
The party is
taking on the incumbent UPA Government on the 3 fronts ofGood Governance,
Development and Security. The manifesto highlights all the different NDA policies
that the UPA reversed over the last five years. The manifesto lays a lot of
importance on requiring strong, POTA-like anti-terrorism laws and vows to make
India a safer place if the BJP is elected. The full text of the manifesto is available
at the BJP website.
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 inflammatory speech against non-Hindus made on March 7, 2009.
This decision was taken after the EC had earlier issued a notice
[41]
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. The BJP however came out in support of
Varun and refused to drop him as a candidate.
Third Front
The CPI(M), along with 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 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.