General election in India 2004

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1999Election to the 14th Lok Sabha 20042009
(Share of votes in%)
 %
30th
20th
10
0
26.5
22.2
5.7
5.3
4.3
3.0
2.4
2.0
28.6
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to 1999
 % p
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
-1.8
-1.6
+0.3
+1.1
+0.5
-0.7
-0.4
-1.1
+3.7
Otherwise.
according to coalitions
 %
40
30th
20th
10
0
35.4
33.3
31.3
UPA
NDA
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to
 % p
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
+2.0
-7.4
+5.4
UPA
NDA
Otherwise.

The parliamentary elections in India in 2004 took place over a total of five days between April 20, 2004 and May 10, 2004. The 543 members of the Indian lower house, the Lok Sabha, were elected . The election ended with significant gains in parliamentary seats for the Congress party and a coalition of parties led by it. The main loser in the election was the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the coalition of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by it. As a result of the election there was a change of government and the previous BJP-led government was replaced by a government led by the Congress Party.

prehistory

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP), Acting Prime Minister 1999–2004
Sonia Gandhi (INC), Congress Party Leader

The previous parliamentary election in September / October 1999 had won the BJP with the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee . Two circumstances had favored the election victory at the time. For one, Vajpayee had gained significantly in popularity due to his leadership in the Kargil conflict with Pakistan in May 1999 shortly before the election. On the other hand, the Congress Party was weakened by internal leadership conflicts. In 1998, after long hesitation , Sonia Gandhi decided to take over the leadership of the Congress Party that was proposed to her. This had led to clashes within the Congress party. A parliamentary group under Sharad Pawar did not want to accept that a native Italian and Catholic should become the leader of the largest Indian party and thus possibly later Indian Prime Minister and split off from the Congress Party under the name Nationalist Congress Party . The foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi was also widely discussed by the BJP and the media in the following years. During the election campaign, they tried to portray their political opponents as foreigners.

After the 1999 election, Vajpayee formed a new cabinet and, thanks to the relatively stable majority in parliament, was able to govern until the end of the five-year legislative period. This brought the country a phase of political stability after it had previously held three nationwide elections between 1996 and 1999. In terms of foreign policy, Vajpayee sought détente with Pakistan, but only partially succeeded, as no agreement could be reached on the Kashmir issue . Relations with the People's Republic of China relaxed, however. In terms of economic policy, Vajpayee continued the course of economic liberalization begun by his predecessor PV Narasimha Rao , which led to significantly higher economic growth rates of 5 to 6 percent annually towards the end of his term of office. Domestically, he was under pressure from the radical ideological think tank of the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), but was unable to implement the Hindutva agenda due to the BJP's lack of an absolute majority . He was accused by the opposition of failing to address the 2002 Gujarat violence , which killed more than a thousand people.

During the legislative period, the government-supporting coalition of parties, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), gradually began to break up at the margins. In 2001 the Trinamool Congress (AITC) left the NDA, in 2002 the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), in 2003 the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and in 2003 and 2004 the three Tamil parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) ) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). All these parties switched to the opposing camp of the Congress Party. In return, the BJP was able to conclude an election campaign agreement with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

Election campaign and electoral alliances

When the 13th Lok Sabha was dissolved by President APJ Abdul Kalam on February 6, 2004 and new elections were proclaimed, most election observers expected another election victory for the BJP-led coalition. The BJP ran its election campaign under the motto India shining ("India shines"), with which the successes in the field of economic policy should be pointed out and a new Indian self-confidence should be demonstrated. In contrast, the Congress Party put the slogan What did the common man get? (“What did the ordinary person get?”) And accused the BJP that the underprivileged or needy classes (poor farmers, women, the youth) had not experienced any improvement in their situation.

Several large party coalitions faced each other in the election. The Congress Party made voting arrangements with the following parties:

The allies of the BJP had come together in the National Democratic Alliance :

The communist and left-wing socialist parties ( Communist Party of India (Marxist) , Communist Party of India , Revolutionary Socialist Party , All India Forward Bloc ) formed electoral alliances, especially in their two strongholds, West Bengal and Kerala.

Election mode and election procedure

As in the previous elections, the election was based on relative majority voting in 543 individual constituencies. The constituency boundaries had been set by the Delimitation Commission of India in the 1970s based on the 1971 census so that each constituency had approximately the same population at the time it was established. Since then, however, there had been considerable shifts due to the different population growth, which is why the constituency boundaries were redefined in 2002 on the basis of the 2001 census. The corresponding law for the implementation of the new constituency boundaries was not yet in force in 2004, so that the election was still based on the old constituencies. Since the states of Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand had been newly formed since the last election in 1999, the constituency boundaries there had to be redrawn to ensure that they coincided with the borders of the new states.

For the first time, no paper ballots were used for the election, but electronic voting machines (EVMs, Electronic Voting Machines ). The use of these devices was not only expected to save around 8,000 tons of paper ballot papers, but also to provide more accurate, faster and more forgery-proof vote counting. In total, around 1 million of these EVMs were used.

For organizational reasons, the election did not take place on a single day, but spread over several appointments. The election dates in the states were in detail:

In the Union Territories , the elections took place on the following days:

Election dates (with number of constituencies):
April 20, 2004 (139) May 22, 2004 (2) April 26, 2004 (137) May 5, 2004 (83) May 10, 2004 (182)





Voters and Turnout in the State and Union Territories
State or
Union Territory
electoral
legitimate
Voters electoral
participation
Andhra Pradesh 51.146.342 35.776.275 69.95%
Arunachal Pradesh 684.034 385,446 56.35%
Assam 15,014,874 10,377,354 69.11%
Bihar 50,559,672 29.332.306 58.02%
Chhattisgarh 13,719,442 7,146,189 52.09%
Goa 941.167 553.105 58.77%
Gujarat 33,675,062 15.213.501 45.18%
Haryana 12,320,557 8.097.064 65.72%
Himachal Pradesh 4,181,995 2,497,149 59.71%
Jammu and Kashmir 6,368,115 2,241,729 35.20%
Jharkhand 16,812,339 9,363,363 55.69%
Karnataka 38,592,095 25.139.122 65.14%
Kerala 21.125.473 15.093.960 71.45%
Madhya Pradesh 38.390.101 18,463,451 48.09%
Maharashtra 63.012.208 34.263.317 54.38%
Manipur 1,536,510 1,035,696 67.41%
Meghalaya 1,289,374 679.321 52.69%
Mizoram 549,959 349,799 63.60%
Nagaland 1,041,433 955.690 91.77%
Orissa 25,651,989 16,945,092 66.06%
Punjab 16,615,399 10.233.165 61.59%
Rajasthan 34,712,385 17,346,549 49.97%
Sikkim 281.937 219,769 77.95%
Tamil Nadu 47.252.271 28,732,954 60.81%
Tripura 1,978,222 1,327,000 67.08%
Uttar Pradesh 110.624.490 53.278.071 48.16%
Uttaranchal 5,562,637 2,673,832 48.07%
West Bengal 47,437,431 37,021,478 78.04%
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 241,645 153.841 63.66%
Chandigarh 527.684 269,849 51.14%
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 122,681 84,703 69.04%
Daman and Diu 79,232 55,591 70.16%
Delhi 8,763,475 4,126,443 47.09%
Lakshadweep 39,033 31,820 81.52%
Pondicherry 636.667 484,336 76.07%
total 671.487.930 389.948.330 58.07%

Overall, the elections were remarkably calm and orderly. In connection with the election, 19 violent deaths (including officials, police, paramilitaries and journalists) and numerous injuries occurred due to riots or attacks. However, these numbers were well below those of previous elections.

Results

Composition of the newly elected Lok Sabha (color scheme as above), small parties without color are assigned to the parties they support by the seating arrangement. Two MPs are appointed by the President.
1. UPA: 221 Indian National Congress 145 Nationalist Congress Party 9 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 16 Rashtriya Janata Dal 24 Pattali Makkal Katchi 6 Telangana Rashtra Samithi 5 Lok Janshakti Party 4 Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 4 Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party 1. Jharkhand UPAi MuktAi Others -Parties: 2       Indian Union Muslim League 1,       Republican Party of India (A.) 1 2. NDA: 181 BJP 138 Shiv Sena 12 Shiromani Akali Dal 8 Janata Dal (United) 8 Nationalist Trinamool Congress 2 Biju Janata Dal 11 Other NDA- Parties: 2:       Nagaland People's Front 1,       Mizo Democratic Front 1 3. All others: 82 Samajwadi Party 36 Bahujan Samay Party 19 Telugu Desam Party 5 Rashtriya Lok Dal 3 Janata Dal (Secular) 3 Jammu & Kashmir National Conference 2 Asom Gana Parishad 2 Other and Independent 12:       AI Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslims 1       Kerala Congress 1       Sikkim Democratic Front 1       National Loktantrik Party 1       Samajwadi Janata Party (R.) 1       Indian Federal Democratic Party 1       Bharatiya Navshak ti Party 1       Independent 5 4. Communist and Left Socialist Parties: 59 CPI (Marxist) 43 Communist Party of India 10 Revolutionary Socialist Party 3 All India Forward Bloc 3 5. Nominees: 2 appointed by the President 2















































Overall result

The result of the election came as a surprise to many observers and a shock to some. Despite Prime Minister Vajpayee's relative popularity, which was higher than that of Sonia Gandhi, the BJP lost almost a quarter of its parliamentary seats and only came second behind the Congress party, which was able to gain significantly. The effects of the relative majority suffrage, which favors large parties, were clearly noticeable. In terms of their percentage of the vote, both the Congress Party and the BJP lost marginally. In election analyzes, it was speculated that the BJP's feel-good campaign had actually passed the majority of voters by because they had not noticed any significant improvement in their living conditions, even though the government's performance was judged not to be bad overall in opinion polls. Vajpayee, who is considered to be relatively moderate, was also more popular with voters than his party, the BJP, or his possible internal party successor, the Lauh-Purush (“iron man”) Lal Krishna Advani , who is viewed as a “Hindu ideologist” .

Overall, the party coalition led by the Congress Party won 221 (40.7%) of the 543 constituencies. Shortly after the election, the allies formed an official alliance called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The NDA had a total of 181 seats (33.3%). After the election, representatives of the moderate left parties and the communists declared that they would at least partially and selectively support a government led by the Congress Party in order to prevent a new BJP government.

Political party Abbreviation be right Seats
number % +/- number +/- %
Indian National Congress INC 103,408,949 26.53%   1.77% 145   31 26.7%
Bharatiya Janata Party BJP 86,371,561 22.16%   1.59% 138   44 25.4%
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM 22,070,614 5.66%   0.26% 43   10 7.9%
Bahujan Samaj Party E.G 20.765.229 5.33%   1.17% 19th   5 3.5%
Samajwadi party SP 16,824,072 4.32%   0.56% 36   10 6.6%
Telugu Desam Party TDP 11,844,811 3.04%   0.61% 5   24 0.9%
Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD 9,384,147 2.41%   0.38% 24   17 4.4%
Janata Dal (United) JD (U) 9,144,963 2.35%   0.75% 8th   13 1.5%
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK 8,547,014 2.19%   0.26% 0   10 0.0%
Nationalist Trinamool Congress NTC 8,071,867 2.07%   0.50% 2   6 0.4%
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK 7,064,393 1.81%   0.08% 16   4 2.9%
Shiv Sena SHS 7.056.255 1.81%   0.25% 12   3 2.2%
Nationalist Congress Party NCP 7,023,175 1.80%   0.47% 9   1 1.7%
Janata Dal (Secular) JD (S) 5,732,296 1.47%   0.56% 3   2 0.6%
Communist Party of India CPI 5,484,111 1.41%   0.07% 10   6 1.8%
Biju Janata Dal BJD 5,082,849 1.30%   0.10% 11   1 2.0%
Shiromani Akali Dal SAD 3,506,681 0.90%   0.21% 8th   6 1.5%
Lok Janshakti Party LJP 2,771,427 0.71% (New) 4th (New) 0.7%
Rashtriya Lok Dal RLD 2,463,607 0.63%   0.26% 3   1 0.6%
Telangana Rashtra Samithi TRS 2,441,405 0.63% (New) 5 (New) 0.9%
Pattali Makkal Katchi PMK 2,169,020 0.56%   0.09% 6th   1 1.1%
Asom Gana Parishad AGP 2,069,600 0.53%   0.21% 2   2 0.4%
Indian National Lok Dal INLD 1,936,703 0.5%   0.05% 0   5 0.0%
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha JMM 1,846,843 0.47%   0.20% 5   5 0.9%
Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP 1,689,794 0.43%   0.02% 3   0.6%
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MDMK 1,679,870 0.43%   0.01% 4th   0.7%
All India Forward Bloc AIFB 1,365,055 0.35%   3   1 0.6%
Communist Party (ML) Liberation CPI (ML) (L) 1,281,688 0.33%   0   1 0.0%
Apna Dal AD 844.053 0.22%   0.01% 0   0.0%
Indian Union Muslim League MUL 770.098 0.20%   0.03% 1   1 0.2%
Nagaland People's Front NPF 715.366 0.18% (New) 1 (New) 0.2%
Janata party JP 517.683 0.13%   0.08% 0   0.0%
Haryana Vika's party HVP 506.122 0.13%   0.08% 0   0.0%
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference JKNC 493,067 0.13%   0.01% 2   2 0.4%
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslims AIMIM 417.248 0.11%   0.01% 1   0.2%
Republican Party of India (Athvale) RPI (A) 367.510 0.09%   0.09% 1   1 0.2%
National Loktantrik Party NLP 367.049 0.09%   0.05% 1   1 0.2%
Kerala Congress KEC 353.905 0.09%   0.01% 1   0.2%
Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) SJP (R) 337.386 0.09%   0.01% 1   0.2%
Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party JKPDP 267.457 0.07% (New) 1 (New) 0.2%
Indian Federal Democratic Party IFDP 256.411 0.07% (New) 1 (New) 0.2%
Mizo National Front MNF 182,864 0.05% (New) 1 (New) 0.2%
Bharatiya Navshakti Party BNP 171.080 0.04% (New) 1 (New) 0.2%
Sikkim Democratic Front SDF 153,409 0.04%   0.01% 1   0.2%
Independent Independent 16,549,900 4.25%   1.51% 5   1 0.9%
Other parties 7,411,177 1.90%   1.34% 0   9 0.0%
Valid votes 389.779.784 100.00%   543   100.00%
Registered voters / turnout 671.487.930 58.07%
Source: Election Commission of India ( 2004 elections and 1999 elections )

On October 31, 2006, the Kerala High Court declared the election of PC Thomas (IFDP) in the constituency of Muvattupuzha to be invalid because he had used illicit means. The constituency was awarded to its rival PM Ismail (CPM).

Results by state and union territories

The following table lists the electoral districts won by state / union territory.

State Seats UPA NDA Communist./linkssoz.
Parties
Other
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1 INC 1
Andhra Pradesh 42 INC 29
TRS 5
CPM 1
CPI 1
TDP 5
AIMIM 1
Arunachal Pradesh 2 BJP 2
Assam 14th INC 9 BJP 2 AGP 2
Others 1
Bihar 40 RJD 22
LJP 4
INC 3
BJP 5
JD (U) 6
Chandigarh 1 INC 1
Chhattisgarh 11 INC 1 BJP 10
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 1 BJP 1
Daman and Diu 1 INC 1
Delhi 7th INC 6 BJP 1
Goa 2 INC 1 BJP 1
Gujarat 26th INC 12 BJP 14
Haryana 10 INC 9 BJP 1
Himachal Pradesh 4th INC 3 BJP 1
Jammu and Kashmir 6th INC 2
JKPDP 1
JKNC 2
Independent 1
Jharkhand 14th INC 6
JMM 4
RJD 2
BJP 1 CPI 1
Karnataka 28 INC 8 BJP 18 JD (S) 2
Kerala 20th INC 1
MUL 1
CPM 12
CPI 3
JD (S) 1
KECM 1
Independent 1
Lakshadweep 1 JD (U) 1
Madhya Pradesh 29 INC 4 BJP 25
Maharashtra 48 INC 13
NCP 9
RPI (A) 1
BJP 13
SS 12
Manipur 2 INC 1 Independent 1
Meghalaya 2 INC 1 NTC 1
Mizoram 1 MNF 1
Nagaland 1 NPP 1
Orissa 21st INC 2
JMM 1
BJD 11
BJP 7
Punjab 13 INC 2 SAD 8
BJP 3
Pondicherry 1 PMK 1
Rajasthan 25th INC 4 BJP 21
Sikkim 1 SDF 1
Tamil Nadu 39 DMK 16
INC 10
MDMK 4
CPM 2
CPI 2
PMK 5
Tripura 2 CPM 2
Uttaranchal 5 INC 1 BJP 3 SP 1
Uttar Pradesh 80 INC 9 BJP 10
JD (U) 1
SP 35
BSP 19
SJP (R) 1
RLD 3
NLP 1
Unab. 1
West Bengal 42 INC 6 CPM 26
CPI 3
RSP 3
AIFB 3
NTC 1

Further development

Manmohan Singh (2007)

After the election victory of the Congress Party and its allies, the general expectation was that Sonia Gandhi would carry on the tradition of the Nehru Gandhi family and assume the post of Prime Minister of a Congress Party-led government. So it came as a big surprise when Sonia Gandhi publicly refused this post and instead spoke out in favor of Manmohan Singh , who is not a member of the Nehru Gandhi family, as prime minister. The economist Singh had been finance minister in the government of PV Narasimha Rao in the 1990s and during this time he pursued the economic liberalization and fiscal consolidation of India. Much has been speculated about Sonia Gandhi's reasons. Perhaps she had the fate of her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi and that of her husband Rajiv Gandhi , both of whom had been assassinated, in mind. In addition, the hostility would certainly have continued due to their foreign origin. On May 22, 2004, the new cabinet was sworn in.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Election Results - Full Statistical Reports. Indian Election Commission, accessed on December 22, 2018 (English, election results of all Indian elections to the Lok Sabha and the parliaments of the states since independence).
  2. ^ Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister: re-examining the issue. The Hindu, September 24, 2002, accessed June 22, 2014 .
  3. Ram Puniyani: Foreigner versus National debate: Is Sonia Gandhi Eligible to become the Prime Minister? Plural India, May 30, 2004, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  4. ^ Gary Kitchener: How will history remember Vajpayee? BBC News, December 30, 2005, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  5. ^ KV Prasad: Left to readjust campaign in Bengal. The Hindu, March 28, 2001, accessed September 11, 2014 .
  6. For Paswan and son, Gujarat 2002 is history for 2014. The Indian Express, February 27, 2014, accessed September 11, 2014 .
  7. ^ Luv Puri: National Conference pulls out of NDA. The Hindu, July 13, 2003, accessed September 11, 2014 .
  8. ^ DMK pulls out from Vajpayee government. rediff.com, December 20, 2003, accessed September 13, 2014 .
  9. ^ Tamil Nadu's PMK quits NDA. rediff.com, January 12, 2004, accessed September 11, 2014 .
  10. ^ BJP-AIADMK join hands in Tamil Nadu. rediff.com, January 28, 2004, accessed September 11, 2014 .
  11. NDA will bag 287-300 seats: Opinion poll. rediff.com, March 27, 2004, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  12. Sir Mark Tully: India's ruling party may rue poll slogan. February 25, 2004, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  13. Manifesto 2004. Retrieved June 22, 2014 (English, Congress party's election manifesto in the party journal Congress Sandesh).
  14. ^ Vikas Pandey: India's colorful election slogans. BBC News, 2004, accessed June 22, 2014 .
  15. ^ Meet the United Progressive Alliance. rediff.com, February 25, 2004, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  16. ^ State Reorganization Division (SR Division). (No longer available online.) Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, archived from the original on July 3, 2014 ; Retrieved June 22, 2014 (English, Bihar Reorganization Act, 2000; Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000; Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / persmin.gov.in
  17. a b India election 2004 statistics, facts and figures. (No longer available online.) Neoncarrot.com, archived from the original on February 24, 2015 ; accessed on June 21, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.neoncarrot.co.uk
  18. ^ India elections timetable. BBC News, April 20, 2004, accessed June 22, 2014 .
  19. General Elections 2004. Election Commission of India, accessed June 22, 2014 .
  20. In quotes - India's election results. BBC News, May 13, 2004, accessed June 22, 2014 .
  21. a b c Vajpayee’s popularity alone was not enough. The Hindu, May 20, 2004, accessed June 22, 2014 .
  22. Safe choice for Vajpayee. Deutsche Welle, April 20, 2004, accessed on August 16, 2014 .
  23. ^ CPI-M OK with Manmohan as PM. rediff.com, May 18, 2004, accessed June 28, 2014 .
  24. Kerala MP PC Thomas disqualified. rediff.com, October 31, 2006, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  25. Statistical Report on General Elections, 2004 to the 14th Lok Sabha, Volume I. (PDF) Election Commission of India, accessed on June 22, 2014 (English).
  26. ^ Sonia Gandhi is PM-in-waiting. CNN.com, May 14, 2004, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  27. ^ Return of the Reformer. rediff.com, 2004, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  28. Sanjoy Majumder: Why did Sonia change her mind? BBC News, May 18, 2004, accessed June 21, 2014 .
  29. Manmohan Singh, 67 ministers sworn in. Rediff.com, 2004, accessed on June 21, 2014 (English).