| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Sansad / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Lok Sabha / House of the People |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Rajya Sabha / Council of States
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) (from/to) | 20 April 2004
10 May 2004 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for 543 elective seats of the Lok Sabha following the premature dissolution of this body on 6 February 2004. General elections had previously been held in September and October 1999. |
On 6 February 2004, a Presidential Proclamation dissolved the 13th Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) paving the way for parliamentary elections to begin on 20 April 2004. The coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was constitutionally bound to hold the vote by October 2004.
More than 670 million voters were called to the polls to elect the 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Because of the substantial size of the electorate, the polls were staggered in five phases over three weeks to allow electoral officials and security workers to move from one area to another.
The 2004 parliamentary elections were the first all-electronic elections in the history of the country. One million electronic voting machines were deployed across the country to record every vote at the press of a button. Around five million people worked either as election officials or security personnel.
This was also the first time that a government, not run by Congress, the country's grand old party, had completed almost five years in office. The right-of-centre coalition of 22 parties, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was seeking a second consecutive term in office. Its main challenger was the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Ms. Sonia Gandhi. About 40 parties contested the elections, some regionally and some at national level. The BJP and Congress were directly pitted against each other, with no regional party in the race, in only 103 of the 543 constituencies.
The economy was one of the main issues during the electoral campaign. The ruling NDA coalition claimed that during its mandate, it had created a stronger economy with millions of new jobs, while the opposition argued that there was no improvement in the lives of the landless poor people or those living in the slums. Before the elections, Mr Vajpayee's coalition was leading in the opinion polls, where it was shown as capable of winning a comfortable majority on its "India Shining" platform showcasing a booming economy and peace moves with Pakistan. On the other hand, the Congress Party painted itself as defender of India's secular character in the face of the BJP's hard-line Hindu background.
More than 389 million people turned out to vote, despite a boycott by separatists including in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Little violence was reported during the vote.
The INC and its allies won 214 seats compared with 187 for the outgoing National Democratic Alliance. A further 138 seats were won by other parties and independents.
On 18 May 2004, INC President, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, declined to take up the Prime Minister's post. Her Italian origins had been assailed by her adversaries especially the BJP. Four days later, Dr. Manmohan Singh of the Congress Party was inaugurated as India's 14th Prime Minister. The Congress Party heads an alliance of nearly 20 centre-left parties in the new government.
On 4 June 2004, Mr Somnath Chatterjee was elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 (from/to) | 20 April 2004
10 May 2004 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
671'487'930
389'948'330 (58.07%)
168'546
389'779'784 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Indian National Congress (INC) |
417 |
103'408'949 |
|
|
26.53 |
|
|
| Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) |
364 |
86'371'561 |
|
|
22.16 |
|
|
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
69 |
22'070'614 |
|
|
5.66 |
|
|
| Socialist Party (SP) |
237 |
16'824'072 |
|
|
4.32 |
|
|
| Other parties |
1462 |
111'282'173 |
|
|
28.55 |
|
|
| Majority Society Party (BSP) |
435 |
20'765'229 |
|
|
5.33 |
|
|
| Communist Party of India (CPI) |
34 |
5'484'111 |
|
|
1.41 |
|
|
| Nationalist Congress Party |
32 |
7'023'175 |
|
|
1.80 |
|
|
| Independents |
2385 |
16'549'900 |
|
|
4.25 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Indian National Congress (INC) |
146
|
|
|
|
|
| Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) |
137
|
|
|
|
|
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
43
|
|
|
|
|
| Socialist Party (SP) |
37
|
|
|
|
|
| Other parties |
23
|
|
|
|
|
| Majority Society Party (BSP) |
18
|
|
|
|
|
| Communist Party of India (CPI) |
10
|
|
|
|
|
| Nationalist Congress Party |
9
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
5
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
498
45
8.26%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
| Source: Parliament of India (12.04.2005, 01.01.2008) |
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page