2004 Indian general election

2004 Indian general election
← outgoing members elected members →
543 of the 545 seats in the Lok Sabha; 272 seats needed for a majority
Registered	671,487,930
Turnout	58.07% ( 1.92pp)
	Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election; Atal Bihari Vajpayee; BJP	Prime Minister after election ; Manmohan Singh; INC

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.

After facing criticism from her own party and from the country, Congress President Sonia Gandhi asked the 22nd Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, an 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.^[3]^[4]

Organisation

Polling dates

The election dates for the parliamentary elections were:^[5] ^[6]

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
		Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 4
		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		16	11	7	16
Total constituencies by end of phase		141	278	361	543
% complete by end of phase		26%	51%	66%	100%
		States/UTs		Constituencies
Number of states and UTs polling in single phase		24		219
Number of states and UTs polling in two phases		8		198
Number of states and UTs polling in three phases		2		120
Number of states and UTs polling in four phases		1		6
Total		35		543
Result		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".^[7]

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 & Vishwa 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 JD(U) & BJD, Dravidianist parties like AIADMK and parties largely representing non-Hindus like SAD, 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. 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)	NDA	UPA	Other
Conducted in month(s)
August 2002	250	195	100
February 2003	315	115	115
August 2003	247	180	115
January 2004	335	110	100

Exit polls

Polling organisation	NDA	UPA	Other
Polling organisation
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:-^[8]^[9]^[10]

State/UT-wise voter turnout details

State/UT	Seats	Electors			Voters			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 [1]

Results

Seat share of parties in the election

INC (26.60%)

BJP (25.32%)

CPI(M) (7.88%)

SP (6.60%)

RJD (4.40%)

BSP (3.48%)

DMK (2.93%)

SHS (2.20%)

Other (20.59%)

Vote share of parties in the election

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%)



Party		Votes	%	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				2
Total		389,779,784	100.00	545

Valid votes		389,779,784	99.96
Invalid/blank votes		168,546	0.04
Total votes		389,948,330	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		671,487,930	58.07
Source: ECI

Region-wise results

Region	Total seats	Indian National Congress		Bharatiya Janata Party		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^[11]

By state and territory

States

State (# of seats)	Alliance/Party				Seats Contested	Seats won	% of votes
Andhra Pradesh (42)	Alliance/Party					UPA		Indian National Congress	34	29	41.56
		Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)	6	5			6.83
		Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	1	1			1.04
		Independent	1	0			0.9
		NDA		Telugu Desam Party	33	5	33.12
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	9	0	8.4
	-	-		Communist Party Of India (CPI)	1	1	1.34
	-	-		All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	2	1	1.2
Arunachal Pradesh (2)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	2	2	53.85
		UPA		Arunachal Congress	1	0	19.88
		UPA		Indian National Congress	1	0	9.96
Assam (14)		UPA		Indian National Congress	14	9	35.07
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	12	2	22.94
				Independent	1	1	6.6
				Janata Dal (United)	1	0	1.3
	-	-		Asom Gana Parishad	12	2	19.95
Bihar (40)		UPA		Rashtriya Janata Dal	26	22	30.67
				Lok Janshakti Party	8	4	8.19
				Indian National Congress	4	3	4.49
				Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	1	0	0.8
				Nationalist Congress Party	1	0	1
		NDA		Janata Dal (United)	24	6	22.36
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	16	5	14.57
Chhattisgarh (11)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	11	10	47.78
		UPA		Indian National Congress	11	1	40.16
	-	-		Bahujan Samaj Party	11	0	4.54
Goa (2)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	2	1	46.83
		UPA		Indian National Congress	1	1	29.76
		UPA		Nationalist Congress Party	1	0	16.04
Gujarat (26)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	26	14	47.37
Gujarat (26)		UPA		Indian National Congress	26	12	43.86
Haryana (10)		UPA		Indian National Congress	10	9	42.13
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	10	1	17.21
	-	-		Indian National Lok Dal	10	0	22.43
	-	-		Haryana Vikas Party	9	0	6.25
Himachal Pradesh (4)		UPA		Indian National Congress	4	3	51.81
Himachal Pradesh (4)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	4	1	44.25
Jammu & Kashmir (6)		UPA		Indian National Congress	3	2	27.83
		UPA		Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party	2	1	11.94
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	6	0	23.04
	-	-		Jammu & Kashmir National Conference	6	2	22.02
	-	-		Independent	37	1	15.17
Jharkhand (14)		UPA		Indian National Congress	6	6	21.44
				Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	5	4	16.28
				Rashtriya Janata Dal	2	2	3.51
				Lok Janshakti Party	1	0	0.4
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	14	1	33.01
	-	-		Communist Party of India (CPI)	1	1	3.8
Karnataka (28)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	24	18	34.77
		NDA		Janata Dal (United)	4	0	1.9
		UPA		Indian National Congress	28	8	36.82
	-	-		Janata Dal (Secular)	28	2	20.45
Kerala (20)		Third Front		Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	13	11	31.52
				Communist Party Of India (CPI)	4	3	7.89
				Janata Dal (Secular)	1	1	2.3
				Kerala Congress	1	1	2.3
				Independent	1	1	2.1
		UPA		Muslim League Kerala State Committee	2	1	4.86
				Indian National Congress	17	1	32.13
				Kerala Congress(M)	1	0	1.4
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	19	0	10.4
		NDA		Indian Federal Democratic Party	1	1	1.7
Madhya Pradesh (29)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	29	25	48.13
		UPA		Indian National Congress	29	4	34.07
	-	-		Bahujan Samaj Party	28	0	4.75
Maharashtra (48)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	26	13	22.61
		NDA		Shiv Sena	22	12	20.11
		UPA		Indian National Congress	26	13	23.77
				Nationalist Congress Party	18	9	18.31
				Republican Party of India (A)	1	1	1
				Republican Party of India	1	0	0.4
				Peoples Republican Party	1	0	0.7
				Janata Dal (Secular)	1	0	0.6
Manipur (2)	-	-		Independent	3	1	22.46
		UPA		Indian National Congress	1	1	14.88
		UPA		Nationalist Congress Party	1	0	10.37
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	2	0	20.65
Meghalaya (2)		UPA		Indian National Congress	2	1	45.55
		NDA		All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)	1	1	28.27
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	1	0	8.63
Mizoram (1)		NDA		Mizo National Front	1	1	52.46
Mizoram (1)	-	-		Independent	1	0	45.67
Nagaland (1)		NDA		Naga People's Front	1	1	73.12
Nagaland (1)		UPA		Indian National Congress	1	0	25.78
Orissa (21)		NDA		Biju Janata Dal	12	11	30.02
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	9	7	19.30
		UPA		Indian National Congress	21	2	40.43
	-	-		Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	1	1	1.6
Punjab (13)		NDA		Shiromani Akali Dal	10	8	34.28
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	3	3	10.48
		UPA		Indian National Congress	11	2	34.17
				Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	1	0	1.8
				Communist Party Of India (CPI)	1	0	2.5
	-	-		Bahujan Samaj Party	13	0	7.67
Rajasthan (25)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	25	21	49.01
Rajasthan (25)		UPA		Indian National Congress	25	4	41.42
Sikkim (1)		NDA		Sikkim Democratic Front	1	1	69.84
Sikkim (1)		UPA		Indian National Congress	1	0	27.43
Tamil Nadu (39)		UPA		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	16	16	24.60
				Indian National Congress	10	10	14.40
				Pattali Makkal Katchi	5	5	6.71
				Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	4	4	5.85
				Communist Party Of India (CPI)	2	2	2.97
				Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	2	2	2.87
		NDA		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	33	0	29.77
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	6	0	12.83
Tripura (2)		Third Front		Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	2	2	68.80
		UPA		Indian National Congress	2	0	14.28
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	1	0	7.82
		NDA		All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)	1	0	5.09
Uttar Pradesh (80)	-	-		Samajwadi Party	68	35	26.74
	-	-		Bahujan Samaj Party	80	19	24.67
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	77	10	22.17
		NDA		Janata Dal (United)	3	1	0.8
		UPA		Indian National Congress	73	9	12.04
		UPA		Lok Jan Shakti Party	3	0	0.3
	-	-		Rashtriya Lok Dal	10	3	4.5
	-	-		National Loktantrik Party	7	1	0.6
	-	-		Independent	481	1	3.8
	-	-		Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	2	1	0.5
Uttarakhand (5)		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	5	3	40.98
		UPA		Indian National Congress	5	1	38.31
	-	-		Samajwadi Party	5	1	7.93
	-	-		Bahujan Samaj Party	3	0	6.77
West Bengal (42)		Third Front		Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	32	26	38.57
				Communist Party Of India (CPI)	3	3	4.01
				All India Forward Bloc (AIFB)	3	3	3.66
				Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)	4	3	4.48
		UPA		Indian National Congress	37	6	14.56
				Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	1	0	0.1
				Independent	1	0	0.2
				Party of Democratic Socialism	2	0	0.2
		NDA		All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)	29	1	21.04
		NDA		Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	13	0	8.06

Territories

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

Notes

^ Two seats were reserved for Anglo-Indians and filled by presidential nomination

References

^ "General Elections 2004: Facts and figures". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
^ Waldman, Amy (13 May 2004). "In Huge Upset, Gandhi's Party Wins Election in India (Published 2004)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
^ "The dissolution debate". frontline.thehindu.com. 26 February 2004. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". www.tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "General Election, 2004 (Vol I, II, III)". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
^ "General Election Schedule 2004".
^ "BJP spends Rs 150 cr on 'India Shining' campaign". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^ "2004 exit polls: when surveys got it horribly wrong". oneindia. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
^ "Can 2019 exit polls turn out to be wrong like 2004?". Moneycontrol. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ "Exit polls: How accurate are they? A look back at 2004, 2009, 2014 predictions". Financialexpress. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ "Lok Sabha Results Constituency Map: Lok Sabha Election Result with constituencies details along electoral map". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.

External links

[seats-1] Two seats were reserved for Anglo-Indians and filled by presidential nomination

[2] "General Elections 2004: Facts and figures". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.

[3] Waldman, Amy (13 May 2004). "In Huge Upset, Gandhi's Party Wins Election in India (Published 2004)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2023.

[4] "The dissolution debate". frontline.thehindu.com. 26 February 2004. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.

[5] "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". www.tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.

[6] "General Election, 2004 (Vol I, II, III)". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2021.

[7] "General Election Schedule 2004".

[8] "BJP spends Rs 150 cr on 'India Shining' campaign". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.

[9] "2004 exit polls: when surveys got it horribly wrong". oneindia. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2019.

[10] "Can 2019 exit polls turn out to be wrong like 2004?". Moneycontrol. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2022.

[11] "Exit polls: How accurate are they? A look back at 2004, 2009, 2014 predictions". Financialexpress. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2022.

[12] "Lok Sabha Results Constituency Map: Lok Sabha Election Result with constituencies details along electoral map". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.

[1]

[a]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]