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===Phase 2 – 22 April 2009 & 23 April 2009=== |
===Phase 2 – 22 April 2009 & 23 April 2009=== |
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The second phase of the 2009 election was spread across Wednesday, 22 April (Phase 2A) and Thursday, April 23 (Phase 2B). Phase 2A saw election in a single constituency in [[Manipur]] as it was a state holiday on April 23.<ref name="eci-press-release" /> |
The second phase of the 2009 election was spread across Wednesday, 22 April (Phase 2A) and Thursday, April 23 (Phase 2B). Phase 2A saw election in a single constituency in [[Manipur]] as it was a [[Manipur#Khongjom|state holiday]] on April 23.<ref name="eci-press-release" /> |
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According to the EC, the election in Manipur in Phase 2A was peaceful and witnessed a voter turnout of about 62%<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200904221612.htm|title=62 per cent votes cast in Manipur|date=April 22, 2009|publisher=[[The Hindu]]|language=English|accessdate=2009-04-29}}</ref>. Following the election, though, the [[Communist Party of India|CPI]] and [[Manipur People's Party|MPP]] have alleged vote rigging by Congress workers during the polls in Phase 2A.The MPP claimed that the Congress workers captured 11 booths in the Andro Assembly segment of Imphal East.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090427/jsp/northeast/story_10879491.jsp|title=Manipur rigging clamour rises|date=April 26, 2009|publisher=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]|language=English|accessdate=2009-04-29}}</ref> |
According to the EC, the election in Manipur in Phase 2A was peaceful and witnessed a voter turnout of about 62%<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200904221612.htm|title=62 per cent votes cast in Manipur|date=April 22, 2009|publisher=[[The Hindu]]|language=English|accessdate=2009-04-29}}</ref>. Following the election, though, the [[Communist Party of India|CPI]] and [[Manipur People's Party|MPP]] have alleged vote rigging by Congress workers during the polls in Phase 2A.The MPP claimed that the Congress workers captured 11 booths in the Andro Assembly segment of Imphal East.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090427/jsp/northeast/story_10879491.jsp|title=Manipur rigging clamour rises|date=April 26, 2009|publisher=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]|language=English|accessdate=2009-04-29}}</ref> |
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This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. Feel free to improve this article or discuss changes on the talk page, but please note that updates without valid and reliable references will be removed. (May 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
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India held general elections—the largest democratic election in the world—to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases on 16 April, 22/23 April, 30 April, 7 May and 13 May 2009. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009.[1]
According to the Indian Constitution, elections in India for the Lok Sabha (the lower house) must be held at least every five years under normal circumstances. With the last elections held in 2004, the term of the 14th Lok Sabha expires on 1 June 2009. Indian elections are conducted according to the first past the post (FPTP) system, similar to that of the United Kingdom and various other Commonwealth nations.
The election was conducted by the Election Commission of India, which estimates an electorate of 714 million voters, an increase of 43 million over the 2004 election. During the budget presented in February 2009, Rs.1,120 Crores (€176 million) was budgeted for election expenses.[2]
Three Indian states—Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim also conducted elections to their respective legislative assemblies.
On 16 May 2009, after poor showing in early trends that showed the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance, with 250+ seats, Bharatiya Janata Party conceded defeat, and acknowledged that they could not be the single largest party or a single largest alliance.[3]
After a surprisingly strong showing in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, the UPA led by the Indian National Congress are set to form the government under the incumbent prime minister Manmohan Singh, who is the first Prime Minister of India since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to win re-election after completing a full five-year term.[4][5]
The result not only meant defeat of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, but it also brought out one of the worst performances by the Left Front, who had been hoping to form a non-Congress, non-BJP government with the Third Front. This idea was put to rest due to the unexpected losses by the AIADMKinTamil Nadu and the TDP and other allies in Andhra Pradesh, a Congress sweep in Kerala and a big victory for Congress and its ally Trinamool CongressinWest Bengal. As the final seat counts came in, it was evident that the Left Front along with the rest of the Third Front did not prove to be a competitor in this election.
The Indian National Congress was able to put together a comfortable majority of more than 322 members out of 543 with the help of its allies. This is well short of 335 from last election, but due to the fact that UPA on its own was able to get over 260 seats, this government appears to be much more stable than the last government. The 322 members included both the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, as well as external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular), Rashtriya Janata Dal and other minor parties.[6][7]
OnMay 22, 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sworn in as Prime Minister of India, in Asoka HallofRashtrapati Bhavan, after he submitted his resignation, on May 18, 2009, as previous Prime Minister to President Pratibha Patil.[8][9]
When announcing the elections on 2 March 2009, the Election Commission of India also announced that 499 out of the total 543 Parliamentary constituencies will see elections conducted on the basis of the newly delimited constituencies as determined by the Delimitation Commission set up under the Delimitation Act, 2002. This includes the NCT of Delhi, the Union TerritoryofPuducherry and all the states except Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland.[10]
The election was conducted using Electronic voting machines (EVM), as was done with the 2004 election. There were 1,368,430 voting machines available across the country.
The complete EVM consists mainly of two units – (a) Control Unit and (b) Balloting Unit with cable for connecting it with Control unit. A Balloting Unit caters to up to 16 candidates. Four Balloting Units linked together catering in all to 64 candidates can be used with one control unit. The control unit is kept with the Presiding Officer and the Balloting Unit is used by the voter for polling.
The Balloting Unit of EVM is a small box-like device, on top of which each candidate and his/her election symbol is listed like a big ballot paper. Against each candidate's name, a red LED and a blue button is provided. The voter polls his vote by pressing the blue button against the name of his desired candidate.
There were 828,804 polling stations in the country, a 20% increase over the 2004 election. This was done mainly to avoid vulnerability to threat and intimidation, geographical barriers and to reduce the distance travelled by voters.[10]
The CEC also announced that the polling station in Banej village in the Una segment of Junagadh Lok Sabha constituency, 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.[11]
The electoral rolls had to be completely updated because of the delimitation that took effect from 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 almost the entire country (except Assam, Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir) use photo electoral rolls. This meant that photos of the electors were printed on the electoral rolls which was intended to facilitate easy identification and prevent impersonation.
In addition to the photo electoral rolls, the electors also needed to provide separate photo identification. Those electors who had already been issued Electoral's 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. [10]
The following polling schedule for the 2009 General Elections was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner of India, N. Gopalaswami, on March 2, 2009:
16 April – Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep
22 April – Manipur
23 April – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand
30 April – Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu
7 May – Bihar, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi
13 May – Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Puducherry
N. Gopalaswami, had stated on December 28, 2008, that the elections were likely to be held between April and May 2009.[12] He attributed this schedule to the examination period from February to March, making polling places unavailable. [13]
On 31 January 2009, fractures within the Election Commission came to the fore when N. Gopalaswami recommended to the President of India 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 the Chief Election Commissioner has 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.[15]
The above controversy also resulted in speculation that the Election Commission was unable to agree on the 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, President Patil, as was widely expected, 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 on March 2, 2009 to announce the details of the general election.
Subsequently, the President's House announced on 4 March 2009 that the incumbent CEC N. Gopalaswami would retire as scheduled on 20 April 2009 and Navin Chawla would take over as CEC starting 21 April 2009.[18] For the first time in the history of Indian politics, two different people will oversee different phases of the same election.[19]
| Poll Event | Phases | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 | Phase 5 | |||||
| Phase 2A | Phase 2B | Phase 3A | Phase 3B | Phase 3C | Phase 5A | Phase 5B | |||
| Announcement & Issues of Press Notes | Mon, 02 Mar | ||||||||
| Issue of Notification | Mon, 23 Mar | Sat, 28 Mar | Thu, 02 Apr | Sat, 11 Apr | Fri, 17 Apr | ||||
| Last Date for filing Nominations | Mon, 30 Mar | Sat, 04 Apr | Thu, 09 Apr | Sat, 18 Apr | Fri, 24 Apr | ||||
| Scrutiny of Nominations | Tue, 31 Mar | Mon, 06 Apr | Sat, 11 Apr | Fri, 10 Apr | Mon, 20 Apr | Sat, 25 Apr | |||
| Last Date for Withdrawal of Candidature | Thu, 02 Apr | Wed, 08 Apr | Mon, 13 Apr | Wed, 15 Apr | Mon, 13 Apr | Wed, 22 Apr | Mon, 27 Apr | Tue, 28 Apr | |
| Date of Poll | Thu, 16 Apr | Wed, 22 Apr | Thu, 23 Apr | Thu, 30 Apr | Thu, 7 May | Wed, 13 May | |||
| Counting of Votes | Sat, 16 May | ||||||||
| Date before which election shall be Completed | Thu, 28 May | ||||||||
| Number of States & UTs | 17 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 1 |
| Number of Parliamentary Constituencies | 124 | 1 | 140 | 77 | 1 | 29 | 85 | 72 | 14 |
| Source: [10] | |||||||||
| States/UTs | Constituencies | Phases | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 | Phase 5 | Avg Turnout | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Apr | Turnout[20] | 22/23 Apr | Turnout[20] | 30 Apr | Turnout[21] | 7 May | Turnout[22] | 13 May | Turnout[23] | ||||
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 1 | 1 | 1 | 64.15% | - | - | - | - | 64.15% | ||||
| Andhra Pradesh | 42 | 2 | 22 | 69.75% | 20 | 75.50% | - | - | - | 72.40% | |||
| Arunachal Pradesh | 2 | 1 | 2 | 65.00% | - | - | - | - | 65.00% | ||||
| Assam | 14 | 2 | 3 | 67.61% | 11 | 70.06% | - | - | - | 69.68% | |||
| Bihar | 40 | 4 | 13 | 43.21% | 13 | 45.83% | 11 | 46.12% | 3 | 37.00% | - | 44.27% | |
| Chandigarh | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 65.51% | 65.51% | ||||
| Chhattisgarh | 11 | 1 | 11 | 58.19% | - | - | - | - | 58.19% | ||||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 73.22% | - | - | 73.22% | ||||
| Daman & Diu | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 71.85% | - | - | 71.85% | ||||
| Delhi | 7 | 1 | - | - | - | 7 | 51.79% | - | 51.79% | ||||
| Goa | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 55.42% | - | - | - | 55.42% | ||||
| Gujarat | 26 | 1 | - | - | 26 | 47.92% | - | - | 47.92% | ||||
| Haryana | 10 | 1 | - | - | - | 10 | 67.67% | - | 67.67% | ||||
| Himachal Pradesh | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 58.35% | 58.35% | ||||
| Jammu & Kashmir | 6 | 5 | 1 | 49.68% | 1 | 44.73% | 1 | 26.43% | 1 | 25.38% | 2 | 45.63% | 39.66% |
| Jharkhand | 14 | 2 | 6 | 51.16% | 8 | 48.86% | - | - | - | 49.77% | |||
| Karnataka | 28 | 2 | - | 17 | 60.00% | 11 | 58.48% | - | - | 59.44% | |||
| Kerala | 20 | 1 | 20 | 73.33% | - | - | - | - | 73.33% | ||||
| Lakshadweep | 1 | 1 | 1 | 86.10% | - | - | - | - | 86.10% | ||||
| Madhya Pradesh | 29 | 2 | - | 13 | 51.39% | 16 | 51.22% | - | - | 51.30% | |||
| Maharashtra | 48 | 3 | 13 | 55.74% | 25 | 49.18% | 10 | 41.24% | - | - | 49.17% | ||
| Manipur | 2 | 2 | 1 | 83.70% | 1 | 75.50% | - | - | - | 79.80% | |||
| Meghalaya | 2 | 1 | 2 | 64.40% | - | - | - | - | 64.40% | ||||
| Mizoram | 1 | 1 | 1 | 50.93% | - | - | - | - | 50.93% | ||||
| Nagaland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 90.21% | - | - | - | - | 90.21% | ||||
| Orissa | 21 | 2 | 10 | 64.90% | 11 | 62.00% | - | - | - | 63.35% | |||
| Puducherry | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 79.70% | 79.70% | ||||
| Punjab | 13 | 2 | - | - | - | 4 | 72.78% | 9 | 68.13% | 69.58% | |||
| Rajasthan | 25 | 1 | - | - | - | 25 | 48.50% | - | 48.50% | ||||
| Sikkim | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 82.00% | - | - | 82.00% | ||||
| Tamil Nadu | 39 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 39 | 72.46% | 72.46% | ||||
| Tripura | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 83.91% | - | - | - | 83.91% | ||||
| Uttar Pradesh | 80 | 5 | 16 | 45.37% | 17 | 45.48% | 15 | 46.12% | 18 | 48.00% | 14 | 47.55% | 46.45% |
| Uttarakhand | 5 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 5 | 53.67% | 53.67% | ||||
| West Bengal | 42 | 3 | - | - | 14 | 80.71% | 17 | 82.60% | 11 | 76.30% | 78.93% | ||
| Total Constituencies | 543 | 124 | 59.07% | 141 | 56.66% | 107 | 52.12% | 85 | 52.32% | 86 | 65.74% | 56.97% | |
| Total States/UTs polling on this day | 17 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 9 | ||||||||
| States/UTs | Constituencies | ||||||||||||
| 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: [10] | |||||||||||||
The two larger coalitions had clearly indicated their prime ministerial candidates during campaigning for the election.
Following the August 2008 confidence vote victory for the current government, a statement by Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi caused speculation that the UPA would project Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the next elections.[24] While DMK 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 January 24, 2009, Manmohan Singh underwent cardiac bypass surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.[26] 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 February 6, 2009, wrote in the Congress party magazine Sandesh that Manmohan Singh would be the UPA coalition's Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2009 elections.[27]
The main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its coalition partners in the National Democratic Alliance, announced on December 11, 2007, that their candidate for prime minister would be BJP party leader Lal Krishna Advani,[28] the Leader of the Opposition. On January 23, 2008, leaders from BJP and other NDA parties convened to officially elect him their candidate.[29]
The Congress party has bought the rights for the Oscar winning soundtrack Jai Ho from the movie Slumdog Millionaire and this song will be used as the official campaign tune by the party. The song title Jai Ho translates to Let there be victory, and the Congress hopes that this popular song will galvanise the masses during the almost one month long election season.[30]
OnMarch 24, 2009, Congress President Sonia Gandhi released the party's manifesto for the 2009 election.[31] The party's slogan for the election is 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 highlights all the achievements of the UPA Government over the last five years in power and identifies improving various policies to favour more rural & under-privileged sections of the Indian society. The full text of the manifesto is available at the Congress website.[32]
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.[33]
OnApril 3, 2009, BJP released its election manifesto in New Delhi.[34] The party is taking on the incumbent UPA Government on the 3 fronts of Good 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.[35]
The CPI(M) has created a campaign website hosting its campaign information to attract sympathisers among the netizen public to vote for the party.[36][37]
The 2009 general election had three main national pre-poll alliances. Given the volatile nature of coalition politics in India, the alliances may change over time – before and after the polls.
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, it has 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.
Before the election, the UPA comprised of the following constituent parties:
| Parties | |
|---|---|
| Indian National Congress | |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam[60] | |
| Nationalist Congress Party[61] | |
| Trinamool Congress[62][63] | |
| Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | |
| Indian Union Muslim League | |
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | |
| All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen | |
| Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi | |
| Kerala Congress (Mani) | |
| Republican Party of India (Athvale) | |
| Sikkim Democratic Front | |
| Former Members | |
| Telangana Rashtra Samithi (joined the NDA) | |
| Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (joined the Third Front) | |
| Pattali Makkal Katchi (joined the Third Front) | |
| People's Democratic Party | |
| Samajwadi Party[64] (joined Fourth Front) | |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal[64] (joined the Fourth Front) | |
| Lok Janshakti Party[64] (joined the Fourth Front) | |
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was the first large national coalition formed by one 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. However, the Government collapsed a few months later. 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.
Before the election, the NDA comprised of the following constituent parties:
| Parties | |
|---|---|
| Bhartiya Janata Party | |
| Shiv Sena | |
| Janata Dal (United) | |
| Shiromani Akali Dal | |
| Indian National Lok Dal | |
| Rashtriya Lok Dal | |
| Asom Gana Parishad[65] | |
| Nagaland People's Front | |
| Gorkha Janmukti Morcha | |
| Uttarakhand Kranti Dal | |
| Kamtapur Progressive Party | |
| Ladakh Union Territory Front | |
| Mizo National Front | |
| Telangana Rashtra Samithi[66] | |
| Former Members (after 2004 election) | |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (joined the Third Front) | |
| Telugu Desam Party (joined the Third Front) | |
| Trinamool Congress (joined the UPA) | |
| Biju Janata Dal (joined the Third Front) | |
| Indian Federal Democratic Party (merged with Kerala Congress) | |
Before the election, the Third Front comprised of the following constituent parties:
Parties that left the UPA, due to failed talks in either seat sharing or differences, decided not to join either the NDA or Third Front, and created a new front, hoping to be kingmakers, after the election. Before the election, the Fourth Front comprised of the following constituent parties:
| Parties |
|---|
| Samajwadi Party |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal |
| Lok Janshakti Party |
The first phase of the 2009 election took place on Thursday, 16 April with elections in 124 constituencies across 15 states and 2 union territories. There were incidents of violence in a few places in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra and between 17 to 19 people were killed in Naxal attacks.[69] The dead included five poll officials and 10 security personnel, whose families received a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.[70] Naxals set fire to voting machines, attacked voters, security personnel and polling workers, and destroyed vehicles.[71][72] According to one news source, "It was apparent that the Naxals had clearly planned to disrupt the polls."[71]
Despite these incidents, the ECI expressed satisfaction about the conduct of the polls due to peaceful polling in many other parts of the country. Initial reports from the ECI place the voter turnout for this phase at approximately 60 percent. This phase of the election was held in 1.85 lakh (185,000) polling stations, serving an electorate of over 14.31 crore (143,100,000) deciding the fate of 1,715 candidates.[73][74]
The ECI ordered repoll in 46 polling booths across 7 of the states where polling took place in the first phase. These include 29 polling booths in Andhra Pradesh, 5 each in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, 3 in Nagaland, 2 in Kerala and 1 each in Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. The repoll in all these polling booths were held on April 18, 2009.[75]
One of the positive stories emerging from this phase of election was from Kandhamal district, where refugees of the 2008 Kandhamal riots came out in huge numbers to exercise their franchise. It is estimated that there was a turnout of 90% amongst Kandhamal refugees and 50% across the entire district. The administration had earlier identified large parts of the area as naxal affected and vulnerable. Hence, the administration had deployed extra security in the area and the ECI has arranged for special transport to shuttle the refugees from the refugee camps to the polling booths. Both of these actions helped achieve the high turnout.[76]
The second phase of the 2009 election was spread across Wednesday, 22 April (Phase 2A) and Thursday, April 23 (Phase 2B). Phase 2A saw election in a single constituency in Manipur as it was a state holiday on April 23.[10]
According to the EC, the election in Manipur in Phase 2A was peaceful and witnessed a voter turnout of about 62%[77]. Following the election, though, the CPI and MPP have alleged vote rigging by Congress workers during the polls in Phase 2A.The MPP claimed that the Congress workers captured 11 booths in the Andro Assembly segment of Imphal East.[78]
Phase 2B saw polling in 12 states for 140 constituencies – the most in any phase of this election. This phase was largely peaceful and saw about 55% turnout. There were stray incidents of violence in areas with active Naxalite groups in Jharkhand and Bihar.[79] The poor turnout in this phase was blamed on a heat wave sweeping the country that took the noon-time temperature on election day up to between 42 and 46 degrees Celsius in various parts of the country.[80] Two polling officials even died due to sun stroke in Orissa.[81]
The third phase of the 2009 election was held on Thursday, 30 April with elections in 107 constituencies spread across nine states and two union territories. The fate of 1,567 candidates was decided in this phase including those of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP's Prime Minister candidate L.K. Advani and former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) President Deve Gowda.[82] This phase included voting in Mumbai where the turnout was relatively low. The voter turnout around the country was moderate and this was primarily blamed on the extreme heat on election day.[83] Voting was largely peaceful all across the country. However, Maoist guerrillas exploded a landmine in West Bengal's Purulia district, injuring a paramilitary trooper.
The fourth phase of the election was held on Thursday, 7 May with elections for 85 seats across eight states involving 1,315 candidates. The phase's high-profile candidates included External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and former chief ministers Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rajnath Singh, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Farooq Abdullah. Apart from bomb attacks in West Bengal's Asansol and Murshidabad districts that killed one person each and some violence in Rajasthan, this phase was relatively peaceful.[84] This phase saw voting in the nation's capital Delhi where the voter turnout was around 53%, much higher than the previous 2 elections in Delhi.[85]
The fifth and final phase of the 2009 election was held on Wednesday, 13 May with voting across seven states and two union territories for 86 constituencies. Overall the turnout was 62%. Numerous cases of voter omissions were reported in Tamil Nadu which had 39 seats up for grab. In Jammu & Kashmir, two polling stations could not be reached by the polling officials due to extreme snow which prevented their helicopters from landing at the site. The polling officials were forced to trek through deep snow to reach the polling stations and polls took place 2 days later on 15 May in these two stations.[86] A few cases of violence were also reported in this phase. One DMK official was stabbed to death in Tamil Nadu in a clash between the political parties and another person was killed in West Bengal in clashes between Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) party workers.[87]
Most opinion polls conducted by major agencies till date are giving the UPA an edge over the NDA, but none are predicting either to come close to the requisite figure for a majority, while reckoning other regional parties could play an important role by winning a substantial number of seats. In results where the "Fourth Front" is indicated, the SP, RJD and LJP are not being counted in the UPA figure.
| Agency | Dates | Results |
|---|---|---|
| CNN-IBN–CSDS | 8 Jan to 15/09 | UPA 215–235, NDA 165–185, Others 125–155 [88] |
| Star–Nielsen | 5 Mar to 17 Mar 2009 | UPA 257 (Congress 144), NDA 184 (BJP 137), Others 96 [89] |
| Star–Nielsen | 26 Mar – 3 Apr 2009 | UPA 203 (Congress 155), NDA 191 (BJP 147), Third Front 104, Fourth Front 39 [90] |
| Outlook India–The Week | March – April 2009 | UPA 234 (Congress 144), NDA 186 (BJP 140), Third Front 112 [91] |
| Times of India | March 2009 | UPA 201 (Congress 146), NDA 195 (BJP 138), Others 147 [92] |
In February 2009, the ECI banned the publishing of all exit polls starting 48 hours before Phase 1 of the election until the end of Phase 5. This was intended to prevent exit polls from earlier phases affecting voter decision in later phases.[93] The ban ended with the close of Phase 5 voting at 5:00 pm IST on May 13.
| Agency | Publish Date | Predictions |
|---|---|---|
| CNN-IBN – Dainik Bhaskar | May 13, 2009 | UPA 185–205, NDA 165–185, Third Front 110–130, Fourth Front 25–35 [94] |
| Star-Nielsen | May 13, 2009 | UPA 199, NDA 196, Third Front 100, Fourth Front 36 [94] |
| India TV – CVOTER | May 13, 2009 | UPA 189–201, NDA 183–195, Third Front 105–121 [94] |
The counting of votes from all the phases started on 16th May 2009 at 08:00 hrs. The EVMs were localized to 1,080 centers across the country. The UPA took early lead and maintained it to emerge victorious. BJP leader Rajnath Singh said that "The BJP's performance in the results is very unexpected. The success for the NDA that we had hoped for has not materialised. The reasons for this will be discussed later".[95] The CPM led third front later said it is ready to sit in the opposition.
Template:Indian general elections results by alliance 2009
Source: Election Commission of India
Template:Indian general election results by party 2009
Source: Election Commission of India[97]
The 15th Lok Sabha saw many MPs with pending criminal charges. At least 150 MPs have criminal cases against them, with 73 serious cases ranging from rape to murder.[98] While BJP has 42 MPs with criminal charges, Congress has 41. From UP, out of 80 seats, 31 have criminal cases.[99] The previous Lok Sabha had 128 MPs with criminal cases.
| Party/Alliance | Seats won |
|---|---|
| United Progressive Alliance (without DMK) |
244 |
| Rashtriya Lok Dal | 5 |
| Janata Dal (Secular) | 3 |
| Independents | 4 |
| Outside support | |
| Samajwadi Party | 23 |
| Bahujan Samaj Party | 21 |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 18 |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal | 4 |
| Total | 322 |
The President, Pratibha Patil dissolved the 14th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on May 18.[102] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh submitted the resignation of his Council of Ministers to the President, for him to be re-elected as the Prime Minister as well as for a new Council of Ministers to be elected.[103] On May 19, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were re-elected as Party leader and Chairperson respectively of the Congress Parliamentary Party. This effectively makes him the Prime Minister-elect of the new government.[104] Finally, the President invited Dr. Singh to form the new government on May 20.[101] The new government is to be sworn in on May 22.
Due to the fact that UPA was able to get 262 seats — just short of 10 seats for a majority — all the external support came from parties who gave unconditional support to Manmohan Singh and the UPA. The Janata Dal (Secular), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party all decided to do so to keep out any possibility of a BJP government in the next 5 years.[105] The three independent candidates to extend support for UPA were all from Maharastra, and they were Sadashiv Mandlik, from Kolhapur constituency, Raju Shetty, from the political party Swabhimani Paksha, who won from Hatkandagle and Baliram Jadhav from Bahujan Vikas Aghadi party who won the Palghar constituency.[106].
On May 21, it was announced that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had decided to give outside support to the UPA government, due to failed talks between the Congress and the DMK on cabinet positions.[107]
Due to the victory of Congress and allies, a UPA-led government was formed under Manmohan Singh, and led to a new Lok Sabha.
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