# 2004 Indian general election

General elections were held in India in four phases between 20 April and 10 May 2004. Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the 14th Lok Sabha. Seven states also held assembly elections to elect state governments. They were the first elections fully carried out with electronic voting machines.
On 13 May the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the lead party of the 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, external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Kerala Congress (KC) and the Left Front.
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 P. V. Narasimha Rao in the early 1990s, when he was seen as one of the architects of India's first economic liberalisation plan, which staved off an impending 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. Manmohan Singh became the first Sikh and non-Hindu prime minister of India.

## Background

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.

## Organisation

The election dates for the parliamentary elections were:
* 20 April – 141 constituencies
* 26 April – 137 constituencies
* 5 May – 83 constituencies
* 10 May – 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 enrolment of voters in each constituency was 1.2 million, although the largest constituency had 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 India Today, 115.62 billion rupees 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 per constituency. Thus, the actual spending is expected to have been approximately ten times the limit. About 6.5 billion rupees 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.
Phase-wise polling constituencies in each state :
| State/Union territory | Total constituencies | Election dates and number of constituencies | Election dates and number of constituencies | Election dates and number of constituencies | Election dates and number of constituencies |
| State/Union territory | Total constituencies | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 |
| State/Union territory | Total constituencies | 20 April | 26 April | 5 May | 10 May |
| Andhra Pradesh | 42 | 21 | 21 | | |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 2 | | | 2 | |
| Assam | 14 | 6 | 8 | | |
| Bihar | 40 | 11 | 17 | 12 | |
| Chhattisgarh | 11 | 11 | | | |
| Goa | 2 | | 2 | | |
| Gujarat | 26 | 26 | | | |
| Haryana | 10 | | | | 10 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 4 | | | | 4 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jharkhand | 14 | 6 | 8 | | |
| Karnataka | 28 | 15 | 13 | | |
| Kerala | 20 | | | | 20 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 29 | | | 12 | 17 |
| Maharashtra | 48 | 24 | 24 | | |
| Manipur | 2 | 1 | 1 | | |
| Meghalaya | 2 | 2 | | | |
| Mizoram | 1 | 1 | | | |
| Nagaland | 1 | | | 1 | |
| Odisha | 21 | 11 | 10 | | |
| Punjab | 13 | | | | 13 |
| Rajasthan | 25 | | | 25 | |
| Sikkim | 1 | | | | 1 |
| Tamil Nadu | 39 | | | | 39 |
| Tripura | 2 | 2 | | | |
| Uttar Pradesh | 80 | | 32 | 30 | 18 |
| Uttarakhand | 5 | | | | 5 |
| West Bengal | 42 | | | | 42 |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 1 | | | | 1 |
| Chandigarh | 1 | | | | 1 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 1 | 1 | | | |
| Daman and Diu | 1 | 1 | | | |
| Delhi | 7 | | | | 7 |
| Lakshadweep | 1 | | | | 1 |
| Puducherry | 1 | | | | 1 |
| Constituencies | 543 | 141 | 137 | 83 | 182 |
| Total states/UTs polling on this day | Total states/UTs polling on this day | 16 | 11 | 7 | 16 |
| Total constituencies by end of phase | Total constituencies by end of phase | 141 | 278 | 361 | 543 |
| % complete by end of phase | % complete by end of phase | 26% | 51% | 66% | 100% |
| | | States/UTs | States/UTs | Constituencies | Constituencies |
| Number of states and UTs polling in single phase | Number of states and UTs polling in single phase | 24 | 24 | 219 | 219 |
| Number of states and UTs polling in two phases | Number of states and UTs polling in two phases | 8 | 8 | 198 | 198 |
| Number of states and UTs polling in three phases | Number of states and UTs polling in three phases | 2 | 2 | 120 | 120 |
| Number of states and UTs polling in four phases | Number of states and UTs polling in four phases | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Total | Total | 35 | 35 | 543 | 543 |
| Result | Result | 13 May 2004 | 13 May 2004 | 13 May 2004 | 13 May 2004 |

## Pre-poll alliances

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 (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) 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 (in terms of population). 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

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 US$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 hardline Hindu right wing party with close ties with the hardline organisations the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishva Hindu Parishad. Over the years, the party under Vajpayee has slightly distanced itself from hardline policies in order to accommodate a variety of parties within the NDA, like Trinamool Congress (a Congress-breakaway party), breakaway factions of the Janata Dal like INLD, RLD, JD(U) and BJD, Dravidianist parties like DMK (which left the alliance in December 2003), PMK (which left the alliance in January 2004) and AIADMK (which joined after DMK left) and parties largely representing non-Hindus like SAD and JKNC (which joined the alliance in 2002), a change that was being questioned after the party's poor showing in the assembly elections. These elections were marked by the campaign's emphasis on economic gains instead of communal issues involving religious polarisation like ban on cow-slaughter, implementation of a Uniform Civil Code, construction of Ram-mandir at the disputed site of Ayodhya, abolition of the provisions of secularism in order to make Hinduism the country's state religion etc that characterised BJP's campaign in the 1996 election. 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.

### Opinion polls

| Conducted in month(s) | | | |
| Conducted in month(s) | NDA | UPA | Other |
| August 2002 | 250 | 195 | 100 |
| February 2003 | 315 | 115 | 115 |
| August 2003 | 247 | 180 | 115 |
| January 2004 | 335 | 110 | 100 |

### Exit polls

| Polling organisation | | | |
| Polling organisation | NDA | UPA | Other |
| NDTV-AC Nielsen | 230-250 | 190-205 | 100-120 |
| Star News-C voter | 263-275 | 174-184 | 86-98 |
| Aaj Tak-MARG | 248 | 190 | 105 |
| Sahara DRS | 278 | 181 | 102 |
| Zee News-Taleem | 249 | 176 | 117 |
| Actual result | 181 | 218 | 143 |
| Sources:- ||||

## State/UT-wise voter turnout details

| State/UT | Seats | Electors | Electors | Electors | Voters | Voters | Voters | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout |
| State/UT | Seats | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | Total |
| Andhra Pradesh | 42 | 2,53,55,118 | 2,57,91,224 | 5,11,46,342 | 1,83,20,019 | 1,73,84,444 | 3,57,76,275 | 72.25 | 67.4 | 69.95% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 2 | 3,51,564 | 3,32,470 | 6,84,034 | 1,99,413 | 1,83,909 | 3,85,446 | 56.72 | 55.31 | 56.35% |
| Assam | 14 | 78,21,591 | 71,93,283 | 1,50,14,874 | 56,71,454 | 47,01,710 | 1,03,77,354 | 72.51 | 65.36 | 69.11% |
| Bihar | 40 | 2,70,53,408 | 2,35,06,264 | 5,05,59,672 | 1,71,95,139 | 1,21,34,913 | 2,93,32,306 | 63.56 | 51.62 | 58.02% |
| Chhattisgarh | 11 | 69,04,742 | 68,14,700 | 1,37,19,442 | 40,39,747 | 31,00,827 | 71,46,189 | 58.51 | 45.50 | 52.09% |
| Goa | 2 | 4,75,847 | 4,65,320 | 9,41,167 | 2,86,156 | 2,64,934 | 5,53,105 | 60.14 | 56.94 | 58.77% |
| Gujarat | 26 | 1,73,41,760 | 1,63,33,302 | 3,36,75,062 | 86,64,929 | 65,43,424 | 1,52,13,501 | 49.97 | 40.06 | 45.18% |
| Haryana | 10 | 66,60,631 | 56,59,926 | 1,23,20,557 | 45,36,234 | 35,54,361 | 80,97,064 | 68.11 | 62.80 | 65.72% |
| Himachal Pradesh | 4 | 21,28,828 | 20,53,167 | 41,81,995 | 12,69,539 | 12,11,994 | 24,97,149 | 59.84 | 59.03 | 59.71% |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 6 | 34,68,235 | 28,99,880 | 63,68,115 | 13,91,263 | 8,41,489 | 22,41,729 | 40.11 | 29.02 | 35.20% |
| Jharkhand | 14 | 89,14,164 | 78,98,175 | 1,68,12,339 | 55,61,056 | 38,01,786 | 93,63,363 | 62.38 | 48.13 | 55.69% |
| Karnataka | 28 | 1,96,05,257 | 1,89,86,838 | 3,85,92,095 | 1,31,19,442 | 1,19,62,519 | 2,51,39,122 | 66.92 | 63.00 | 65.14% |
| Kerala | 20 | 1,01,68,428 | 1,09,57,045 | 2,11,25,473 | 74,80,351 | 75,67,329 | 1,50,93,960 | 73.56 | 69.06 | 71.45% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 29 | 2,00,28,161 | 1,83,61,940 | 3,83,90,101 | 1,13,22,391 | 71,24,280 | 1,84,63,451 | 56.53 | 38.80 | 48.09% |
| Maharashtra | 48 | 3,27,88,476 | 3,02,23,732 | 6,30,12,208 | 1,89,57,642 | 1,52,63,748 | 3,42,63,317 | 57.82 | 50.50 | 54.38% |
| Manipur | 2 | 7,46,054 | 7,90,456 | 15,36,510 | 5,22,526 | 5,12,834 | 10,35,696 | 70.03 | 64.88 | 67.41% |
| Meghalaya | 2 | 6,48,654 | 6,40,720 | 12,89,374 | 3,02,113 | 3,77,125 | 6,79,321 | 46.58 | 58.86 | 52.69% |
| Mizoram | 1 | 2,73,454 | 2,76,505 | 5,49,959 | 1,75,372 | 1,70,000 | 3,49,799 | 64.13 | 61.48 | 63.60% |
| Nagaland | 1 | 5,47,114 | 4,94,319 | 10,41,433 | 5,05,682 | 4,46,002 | 9,55,690 | 92.43 | 90.23 | 91.77% |
| Orissa | 21 | 1,31,91,691 | 1,24,60,298 | 2,56,51,989 | 90,10,592 | 79,29,405 | 1,69,45,092 | 68.30 | 63.64 | 66.06% |
| Punjab | 13 | 86,52,294 | 79,63,105 | 1,66,15,399 | 54,37,861 | 47,94,658 | 1,02,33,165 | 62.85 | 60.21 | 61.59% |
| Rajasthan | 25 | 1,81,49,028 | 1,65,63,357 | 3,47,12,385 | 1,00,09,085 | 72,90,569 | 1,73,46,549 | 55.15 | 44.02 | 49.97% |
| Sikkim | 1 | 1,45,738 | 1,36,199 | 2,81,937 | 1,12,404 | 1,02,890 | 2,19,769 | 77.13 | 75.54 | 77.95% |
| Tamil Nadu | 39 | 2,32,69,301 | 2,39,82,970 | 4,72,52,271 | 1,50,06,523 | 1,36,42,797 | 2,87,32,954 | 64.49 | 56.89 | 60.81% |
| Tripura | 2 | 10,23,368 | 9,54,854 | 19,78,222 | 7,14,491 | 6,04,452 | 13,27,000 | 69.82 | 63.30 | 67.08% |
| Uttar Pradesh | 80 | 6,03,28,608 | 5,02,95,882 | 11,06,34,490 | 3,25,52,479 | 2,07,20,447 | 5,32,78,071 | 53.96 | 41.20 | 48.16% |
| Uttarakhand | 5 | 28,38,204 | 27,24,433 | 55,62,637 | 14,70,496 | 11,97,917 | 26,73,832 | 51.81 | 43.97 | 48.16% |
| West Bengal | 42 | 2,47,98,089 | 2,26,39,342 | 4,74,37,431 | 1,98,04,552 | 1,70,66,370 | 3,70,21,478 | 79.86 | 75.38 | 78.04% |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT) | 1 | 1,31,502 | 1,10,143 | 2,41,645 | 83,520 | 70,284 | 1,53,841 | 63.51 | 63.81 | 63.66% |
| Chandigarh (UT) | 1 | 2,92,438 | 2,53,246 | 5,27,684 | 1,51,932 | 1,17,886 | 2,69,849 | 51.95 | 50.11 | 51.14% |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli (UT) | 1 | 65,059 | 57,622 | 1,22,681 | 43,795 | 40,904 | 84,703 | 67.32 | 70.99 | 69.04% |
| Daman & Diu (UT) | 1 | 39,595 | 39,637 | 79,232 | 29,751 | 55,591 | 25,839 | 65.26 | 75.06 | 70.16% |
| Lakshadweep (UT) | 1 | 19,880 | 19,153 | 39,033 | 15,698 | 16,122 | 31,820 | 78.96 | 84.17 | 81.52% |
| NCT OF Delhi | 7 | 49,53,925 | 38,09,550 | 87,63,475 | 24,28,289 | 16,97,944 | 41,26,443 | 49.02 | 44.57 | 47.09% |
| Puducherry (UT) | 1 | 3,10,658 | 3,26,009 | 6,36,667 | 2,40,114 | 2,44,202 | 4,84,336 | 77.29 | 74.91 | 76.07% |
| India | 543 | 34,94,90,864 | 32,19,97,066 | 67,14,87,930 | 21,72,34,104 | 17,27,14,226 | 38,99,48,330 | 62.16 | 53.64 | 58.07% |
| Source-ECI |||||||||||

## Results

* INC (26.6%)
* BJP (25.32%)
* CPI(M) (7.88%)
* SP (6.6%)
* RJD (4.4%)
* BSP (3.48%)
* DMK (2.93%)
* SHS (2.2%)
* Other (20.6%)
* INC (26.53%)
* BJP (22.16%)
* CPI(M) (5.66%)
* BSP (5.33%)
* SP (4.32%)
* TDP (3.04%)
* RJD (2.41%)
* JD(U) (2.35%)
* Other (28.2%)
Seats :
| | Indian National Congress | 103,408,949 | 26.53 | 145 |
| | Bharatiya Janata Party | 86,371,561 | 22.16 | 138 |
| | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 22,070,614 | 5.66 | 43 |
| | Bahujan Samaj Party | 20,765,229 | 5.33 | 19 |
| | Samajwadi Party | 16,824,072 | 4.32 | 36 |
| | Telugu Desam Party | 11,844,811 | 3.04 | 5 |
| | Rashtriya Janata Dal | 9,384,147 | 2.41 | 24 |
| | Janata Dal (United) | 9,144,963 | 2.35 | 8 |
| | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 8,547,014 | 2.19 | 0 |
| | All India Trinamool Congress | 8,071,867 | 2.07 | 2 |
| | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 7,064,393 | 1.81 | 16 |
| | Shiv Sena | 7,056,255 | 1.81 | 12 |
| | Nationalist Congress Party | 7,023,175 | 1.80 | 9 |
| | Janata Dal (Secular) | 5,732,296 | 1.47 | 3 |
| | Communist Party of India | 5,484,111 | 1.41 | 10 |
| | Biju Janata Dal | 5,082,849 | 1.30 | 11 |
| | Shiromani Akali Dal | 3,506,681 | 0.90 | 8 |
| | Lok Janshakti Party | 2,771,427 | 0.71 | 4 |
| | Rashtriya Lok Dal | 2,463,607 | 0.63 | 3 |
| | Telangana Rashtra Samithi | 2,441,405 | 0.63 | 5 |
| | Pattali Makkal Katchi | 2,169,020 | 0.56 | 6 |
| | Asom Gana Parishad | 2,069,600 | 0.53 | 2 |
| | Indian National Lok Dal | 1,936,703 | 0.50 | 0 |
| | Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 1,846,843 | 0.47 | 5 |
| | Revolutionary Socialist Party | 1,689,794 | 0.43 | 3 |
| | Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1,679,870 | 0.43 | 4 |
| | All India Forward Bloc | 1,365,055 | 0.35 | 3 |
| | Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation | 1,281,688 | 0.33 | 0 |
| | Apna Dal | 844,053 | 0.22 | 0 |
| | Indian Union Muslim League | 770,098 | 0.20 | 1 |
| | Gondwana Ganatantra Party | 720,189 | 0.18 | 0 |
| | Naga People's Front | 715,366 | 0.18 | 1 |
| | Janata Party | 517,683 | 0.13 | 0 |
| | Haryana Vikas Party | 506,122 | 0.13 | 0 |
| | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | 493,067 | 0.13 | 2 |
| | Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh | 428,566 | 0.11 | 0 |
| | All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen | 417,248 | 0.11 | 1 |
| | Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann) | 387,682 | 0.10 | 0 |
| | Republican Party of India (Athawale) | 367,510 | 0.09 | 1 |
| | National Loktantrik Party | 367,049 | 0.09 | 1 |
| | Kerala Congress | 353,905 | 0.09 | 1 |
| | Kannada Nadu Party | 349,183 | 0.09 | 0 |
| | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | 337,386 | 0.09 | 1 |
| | Peasants and Workers Party of India | 319,572 | 0.08 | 0 |
| | Republican Party of India | 295,545 | 0.08 | 0 |
| | Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party | 275,267 | 0.07 | 0 |
| | Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party | 267,457 | 0.07 | 1 |
| | Peoples Republican Party | 261,219 | 0.07 | 0 |
| | Indian Federal Democratic Party | 256,411 | 0.07 | 1 |
| | Kerala Congress (M) | 209,880 | 0.05 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Samanta Dal | 209,694 | 0.05 | 0 |
| | Samta Party | 201,276 | 0.05 | 0 |
| | Lok Bhalai Party | 187,787 | 0.05 | 0 |
| | Mizo National Front | 182,864 | 0.05 | 1 |
| | Bharatiya Navshakti Party | 171,080 | 0.04 | 1 |
| | All Jharkhand Students Union | 157,930 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Sikkim Democratic Front | 153,409 | 0.04 | 1 |
| | Marxist Co-ordination Committee | 147,470 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Samaj Paksha | 146,571 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Parivartan Dal | 139,145 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Jharkhand Disom Party | 135,685 | 0.03 | 0 |
| | Pyramid Party of India | 130,362 | 0.03 | 0 |
| | Ekta Shakti | 126,924 | 0.03 | 0 |
| | Autonomous State Demand Committee | 101,808 | 0.03 | 0 |
| | Akhil Bharatiya Sena | 92,210 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Hindu Mahasabha | 88,214 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Federal Party of Manipur | 88,179 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Bihar People's Party | 86,418 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Party of Democratic Socialism | 81,999 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Samata Samaj Party | 78,791 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Mahabharat People's Party | 77,055 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Arunachal Congress | 76,527 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Jharkhand Party | 74,364 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party | 70,078 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Indian Justice Party | 67,914 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Jharkhand Party (Naren) | 67,782 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | United Minorities Front, Assam | 64,657 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Labour Party (Secular) | 63,989 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Swabhimaan Party | 58,296 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party | 54,746 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Lok Rajya Party | 54,097 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Bahujan Kisan Dal | 52,669 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Majlis Bachao Tahreek | 47,560 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Peoples Democratic Party | 45,720 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Uttarakhand Kranti Dal | 43,899 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Marxist Communist Party of India (S.S. Srivastava) | 38,766 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Amra Bangali | 38,107 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Vidharbha Rajya Party | 36,974 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Urs Samyuktha Paksha | 33,128 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Ambedkarist Republican Party | 31,467 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Prabuddha Republican Party | 29,792 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Rashtravadi Communist Party | 28,757 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Samajik Nayak Paksha | 27,594 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Sampurna Vikas Dal | 27,135 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Tamil Desiyak Katchi | 25,348 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Kosi Vikas Party | 25,258 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Chhattisgarhi Samaj Party | 24,696 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Party | 24,176 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Loktantrik Samajwadi Party | 22,811 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Savarn Samaj Party | 21,246 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Ambedkar Samaj Party | 20,767 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Indian National League | 20,159 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Gaon Taj Dal | 19,909 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Akhil Bharatiya Congress Dal (Ambedkar) | 19,548 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Socialist Party (Lohia) | 18,628 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Shivrajya Party | 18,374 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Samajwadi Jan Parishad | 17,717 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Hindustan Janata Party | 17,410 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Rasik Bhatt) | 16,691 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Republican Paksha | 16,546 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Vikas Party | 15,159 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Trinamool Gana Parishad | 14,933 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Manuvadi Party | 14,233 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharat Kranti Rakshak Party | 12,547 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Hamara Dal | 12,346 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Parivartan Samaj Party | 12,273 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Eklavya Party | 12,197 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Proutist Sarva Samaj Party | 11,561 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Rashtravadi Paksha | 11,459 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Pachim Banga Rajya Muslim League | 10,446 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rajasthan Vikash Party | 10,032 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Lokpriya Samaj Party | 9,913 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Jana Sangh | 9,707 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Krantikari Samajwadi Party | 9,145 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Vidarbha Janata Congress | 9,097 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Shoshit Samaj Dal | 8,862 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Jai Hind Party | 8,645 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh | 8,200 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Akhil Bharatiya Desh Bhakt Morcha | 7,696 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party | 7,584 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Sawarn Dal | 7,374 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Navbharat Nirman Party | 7,169 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Krantikari Samyavadi Party | 6,948 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Democratic Bharatiya Samaj Party | 6,717 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Youth and Students Party | 6,580 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Ephraim Union | 6,512 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Akhil Bharatiya Lok Tantrik Alp-Sankhyak Jan Morcha | 6,003 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | United Goans Democratic Party | 5,881 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Pichhra Samaj Party | 5,672 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | All India Momin Conference | 5,113 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Labour Party of India (V.V. Prasad) | 4,977 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | All India Minorities Front | 4,874 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Republican Party of India (Khobragade) | 4,790 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Naari Shakti Party | 4,649 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bahujan Vikas Party | 4,533 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Ekta Dal | 4,312 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Shikshit Berozgar Sena | 4,303 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Yuva Gantantra Party | 4,140 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtravadi Janata Party | 3,737 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Kranti Kari Jai Hind Sena | 3,393 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Mudiraj Rashtriya Samithi | 3,345 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Sikkim Sangram Parishad | 3,216 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Janata Vikas Party | 3,173 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | National Students Party | 3,069 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Secular Party of India | 3,041 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Vikas Party | 2,998 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Social Action Party | 2,987 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Azad Hind Party | 2,801 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Loktantrik Chetna Party | 2,776 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad | 2,765 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Janmangal Paksh | 2,684 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Sanatan Samaj Party | 2,679 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Lok Sewa Dal | 2,646 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Jana Unnayan Mancha | 2,592 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Lok Seva Morcha | 2,476 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Republican Party of India (Democratic) | 2,370 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bhartiya Lok Kalyan Dal | 2,242 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Panchayat Raj Party | 2,165 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Backward Party | 2,162 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | All Kerala M.G.R. Dravida Munnetra Party | 2,158 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Akhil Bhartiya Rajarya Sabha | 2,080 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharat Ki Lok Jimmedar Party | 2,055 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Garima Party | 2,043 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Garib Dal | 1,977 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Ekta Krandi Dal U.P. | 1,939 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Labour Party | 1,758 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Phule Bharti Lok Party | 1,690 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Prajatantrik Shudh Gandhiwadi Krishak Dal | 1,689 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Mool Bharati (S) Party | 1,675 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Nagrik Party | 1,580 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Jammu and Kashmir Awami League | 1,519 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Hind Morcha | 1,459 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Jharkhand People's Party | 1,449 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Maharashtra Rajiv Congress | 1,399 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Janhit Samaj Party | 1,310 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Vijeta Party | 1,304 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Socialistic Democratic Party | 1,265 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Jansatta Party | 1,189 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Federal Congress of India | 1,037 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Nidaya Malik (N) Party | 1,030 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Indian Bahujan Samajwadi Party | 972 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Desh Bhakt Party | 912 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Ambedkar National Congress | 825 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | NTR Telugu Desam Party (Lakshmi Parvathi) | 759 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Akhil Bhartiya Loktantra Party | 754 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Jebamani Janata | 734 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Niswarth Sewa Party | 730 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Jan Chetna Party | 671 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Hindu Ekta Andolan Party | 620 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Krantikari Manuwadi Morcha | 597 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Prajatantra Party | 573 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Muhabbat Party (All India) | 566 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Manav Jagriti Manch | 552 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Janvadi Party | 543 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Surajya Manch | 515 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Janadhikar Party | 487 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Praja Party | 485 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharti Sarvadarshi Parishad | 427 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Shoshit Samaj Party | 395 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Rashtriya Sakar Party | 379 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Bharatiya Sarvkalyan Krantidal | 365 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Awami Party | 327 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Swaraj Dal | 298 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Akhand Bharti | 138 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Parmarth Party | 126 | 0.00 | 0 |
| | Independents | 16,549,900 | 4.25 | 5 |
| Nominated Anglo-Indians | Nominated Anglo-Indians | | | 2 |
| Total | Total | 389,779,784 | 100.00 | 545 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 389,779,784 | 99.96 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 168,546 | 0.04 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 389,948,330 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 671,487,930 | 58.07 | |
| Source: ECI |||||

### Region-wise results

| Region | Total seats | Indian National Congress | Indian National Congress | Bharatiya Janata Party | Bharatiya Janata Party | Others | Others |
| South India | 131 | 48 | 14 | 18 | 1 | 65 | 13 |
| West India | 78 | 27 | 10 | 28 | 7 | 23 | 3 |
| Hindi-Heartland | 225 | 46 | 12 | 78 | 34 | 101 | 22 |
| North-East India | 25 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 4 |
| East India | 63 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 48 | 1 |
| Union Territories | 22 | 5 | 5 | 3 | | 14 | 5 |
| Total | 543 | 145 | +31 | 138 | -44 | 264 | +17 |
| Source: Times of India ||||||||

### By state and territory
#### States

| State/Union Territory | Seats | | | | |
| State/Union Territory | Seats | UPA | NDA | LF | Others |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 42 | 35 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Assam | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Bihar | 40 | 29 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Chandigarh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chhattisgarh | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Daman and Diu | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delhi | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Goa | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Gujarat | 26 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Haryana | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Jharkhand | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Karnataka | 28 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 0 |
| Kerala | 20 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 0 |
| Lakshadweep | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 29 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Maharashtra | 48 | 23 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Manipur | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Meghalaya | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mizoram | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nagaland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Odisha | 21 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Puducherry | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Punjab | 13 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Rajasthan | 25 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Sikkim | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tamil Nadu | 39 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tripura | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 80 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 61 |
| Uttarakhand | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| West Bengal | 42 | 6 | 1 | 35 | 0 |
| Total | 543 | 218 | 181 | 60 | 84 |

#### Territories

| Territories | Party | Seats won | % of Votes | Alliance |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Indian National Congress | 1 | 55.77 | United Progressive Alliance |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Bharatiya Janata Party | 0 | 35.95 | National Democratic Alliance |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 0 | 2.71 | Left Front |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Independent | 0 | 1.72 | None |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Others | 0 | 3.85 | None |
| Chandigarh | Indian National Congress | 1 | 52.06 | United Progressive Alliance |
| Chandigarh | Bharatiya Janata Party | 0 | 35.22 | National Democratic Alliance |
| Chandigarh | Indian National Lok Dal | 0 | 6.61 | None |
| Chandigarh | Independent | 0 | 3.42 | None |
| Chandigarh | Others | 0 | 2.69 | None |
| National Capital Territory of Delhi | Indian National Congress | 6 | 54.81 | United Progressive Alliance |
| National Capital Territory of Delhi | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1 | 40.67 | National Democratic Alliance |
| National Capital Territory of Delhi | Bahujan Samaj Party | 0 | 2.48 | None |
| National Capital Territory of Delhi | Independent | 0 | 1.27 | None |
| Lakshadweep | Janata Dal (United) | 1 | 49.02 | National Democratic Alliance |
| Lakshadweep | Indian National Congress | 0 | 48.79 | United Progressive Alliance |
| Lakshadweep | Janata Party | 0 | 1.47 | None |
| Lakshadweep | Samajwadi Party | 0 | 0.72 | None |

## 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 wealthy middle class and thus achieved its overwhelming victory on grounds of wealth inequality.

## Impact

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 Prime Minister (in office 2004–14) and the prime architect of the economic liberalisation of the early 1990s, hurried to reassure investors that the new government would strive to create a business-friendly climate.

## Events

* 13 May - The Congress and allies win a plurality of seats in the Lok Sabha (219 seats against 188 for the BJP).
* 13 May - Counting of votes in the parliamentary elections begins.
* 11 May - Congress wins the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh by 2/3 majority.
* 10 May - 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.
* 5 May - 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.
* 26 April - 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 power—raising doubts about the continuation of economic reforms initiated by the NDA government.
* 22 April - 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.
* 20 April - 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.
* 8 April - The NDA's top leaders meet in New Delhi to adopt its manifesto for the elections, "Agenda for Development and Good Governance".
* 7 April - 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.
* 6 April - 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.
* 4 April - 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.