General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 election. Around 23.1 million or 2.71% of the total eligible voters were aged 18–19 years. A total of 8,251 candidates contested the 543 elected Lok Sabha seats. The average election turnout over all nine phases was around 66.44%, the highest ever in the history of Indian general elections until the 2019 election.
The results were declared on 16 May, 15 days before the 15th Lok Sabha completed its constitutional mandate on 31 May 2014. The counting exercise was held at 989 counting centers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received 31% of the vote and won 282 seats, while its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a total of 336 seats. Although the Indian National Congress (INC) was defeated by a landslide, the BJP's vote share was the lowest by a party winning a majority of seats since independence, The BJP won 31.2% votes, while NDA's combined vote share was 38.5%. However, the governing coalition had the largest majority since the 1984 elections, and it was the first time since 1984 that a party had won enough seats to govern without the support of other parties.
In contrast, the result was the worst-ever performance by the Indian National Congress (INC), which had ruled India for most of its post-independence history. The INC received 19.3% of the vote and won only 44 seats, with its wider alliance, the United Progressive Alliance, winning a total of just 59. In order to become the official opposition party in India, a party must have 55 seats; as a result, there was no official opposition party.
Background As per the requirements of the Indian Constitution, elections to the Lok Sabha must be held at an interval of five years or whenever parliament is dissolved by the president. The previous election, to the 15th Lok Sabha, was conducted in April–May 2009, and its term would have naturally expired on 31 May 2014. The election to the 16th Lok Sabha was organised and conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and was held in multiple phases, to better handle the large electoral base and security concerns.
Since the last general election in 2009, the anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare, and other similar moves by Baba Ramdev and Arvind Kejriwal (founder of Aam Aadmi Party), gathered momentum and political interest. Kejriwal went on to form a separate political party, Aam Aadmi Party, in November 2012. The 2012 presidential election resulted in Pranab Mukherjee of Indian National Congress becoming the president. Andhra politics was further shaken following the death of its chief minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. His son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, then broke from the INC and founded the YSR Congress Party, taking several politicians with him.
The final session of parliament started on 6 February and ended on 21 February. Amongst the agenda in the final session was passing The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 in tackling corruption and the creation of Telangana.
Organisation
Spending limit The Cabinet of India revised the limit of election expenditure by a candidate for parliamentary constituencies to in bigger states and to in smaller states and all union territories except Delhi. This revision of the ceiling on the elections were attributed to the increase in the number of electors and polling stations as well as the increase in the cost inflation index.
Accessibility Satyendra Singh, a doctor with a disability, showed the lack of preparedness by the Election Commission of India (ECI) towards electors with disabilities through the Right to Information Act. The Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi, Vijay Dev then started a campaign on providing accessibility for the disabled, along with him. Singh conducted sensitisation workshops for election officers and helped in setting up a registration link for voters with disabilities to register to vote and provide their requirements.
Election schedule The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), V. S. Sampath, announced the polling schedule on 5 March. Voting was scheduled to be held in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May, and the results of the election were announced on 16 May. Simultaneous elections were held for the Vidhan Sabha of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Sikkim.
+Phase-wise polling constituencies in each stateState/Union territoryTotal constituenciesElection dates and number of constituenciesPhase 1Phase 2Phase 3Phase 4Phase 5Phase 6Phase 7Phase 8Phase 97 April9 April10 April12 April17 April24 April30 April7 May12 MayAndhra Pradesh2525Arunachal Pradesh22Assam14536Bihar40677776Chhattisgarh11137Goa22Gujarat2626Haryana1010Himachal Pradesh44Jammu and Kashmir611112Jharkhand14554Karnataka2828Kerala2020Madhya Pradesh2991010Maharashtra48101919Manipur211Meghalaya22Mizoram11Nagaland11Odisha211011Punjab1313Rajasthan25205Sikkim11Tamil Nadu3939Telangana1717Tripura211Uttar Pradesh80101112141518Uttarakhand55West Bengal42469617Andaman and Nicobar Islands11Chandigarh11Dadra and Nagar Haveli11Daman and Diu11Delhi77Lakshadweep11Puducherry11Constituencies54367925122117896441Total states/UTs polling on this day 2 5 14 3 13 12 9 7 3Total constituencies by end of phase613105110232349438502543% complete by end of phase1%2%19%20%43%64%81%92%100% States/UTs Constituencies Number of states and UTs polling in single phase 21 167 Number of states and UTs polling in two phases 5 92 Number of states and UTs polling in three phases 5 116 Number of states and UTs polling in five phases 2 48 Number of states and UTs polling in six phases 2 120 Total 35 543 Result 16 May 2014
Campaign
Issues Important issues during the campaign included high inflation, lack of jobs, economic slow down, corruption, security and terrorism, religious division and communalism, and infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water. In a survey by Zee News, inflation was indicated to be the main issue in the election.
Economy Bloomberg highlighted India's slowing economy amidst a record high current account deficit and a falling rupee in summer 2013. It pointed out a lack of infrastructure investment and a government increasingly likely to give subsidies that the national finances cannot afford just before the election. Other points it mentioned were stagnant policymaking and an inefficient bureaucracy. The economy was the main issue in the campaign. The lack of a clear mandate as a result of the election could lead to an increase in the price of gold in the country. Modi also brought up the issue of farmer suicides that resulted from high debt and poor yield on their crops. Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha criticised the incumbent Chidambaram in saying that he had a "habit that he will get a strong economy, and he will ruin it before he leaves... Shri Chidambaram will be remembered in history as a spoiler, as someone who specialises in sub-five per cent growth rate, for his hubris, arrogance".
Price rise The price of onions, a staple in Indian cuisine, faced a dramatic increase. In the lead up to the election, consumer price inflation increased more than expected while, paradoxically, industrial production fell by more than expected, causing a dilemma amid slowing growth. The price of salt was also indicative of general food inflation.
Corruption
During the UPA-2 government, a number of scams came to public attention, deteriorating the image of the government among the common man. These scams included coal scam, 2G spectrum case, AgustaWestland Chopper scam and CWG scam.
Celebrity candidates Celebrity candidates from non-political spheres were nominated in the election. These included: Raj Babbar (INC), Bhaichung Bhutia (AITC), Biswajit Chatterjee (AITC), Sandhya Roy (AITC), Smriti Irani (BJP), Jaaved Jaaferi (AAP), Prakash Jha (JD(U)), Mohammad Kaif (INC), Kamaal Rashid Khan (SP), Vinod Khanna (BJP), Ravi Kishan (INC), Kirron Kher (BJP), Bappi Lahiri (BJP), Hema Malini (BJP), Mahesh Manjrekar (MNS), Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Nandan Nilekani (INC), Gul Panag (AAP), Jaya Prada (RLD), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (BJP), Paresh Rawal (BJP), Rakhi Sawant (RAP), Indranil Sen (AITC), Moon Moon Sen (AITC), Vijay Kumar Singh (BJP), Shatrughan Sinha (BJP), P. C. Sorcar Jr. (BJP), Babul Supriyo (BJP), Manoj Tiwari (BJP), Innocent Vincent (LDF-IND), Nagma (INC), Dev (AITC), and Siddhanta Mahapatra (BJD).
Parties and alliances
National Democratic Alliance
The constituents of the National Democratic Alliance and the seats they contested and won are shown at the right in the table: The NDA garnered an overwhelming number of 336 seats in this election. This has propelled it to form the government in the country.
Party Seats Contested Won Bharatiya Janata Party 427 282 Telugu Desam Party 30 16 Shiv Sena 20 18 Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam 14 0 Shiromani Akali Dal 10 4 Pattali Makkal Katchi 8 1 Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 7 0 Lok Janshakti Party 7 6 Rashtriya Lok Samta Party 3 3 Apna Dal 2 2 Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) 2 0 Swabhimani Paksha 2 1 Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi 1 0 Puthiya Needhi Katchi 1 0 Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi 1 0 All India N.R. Congress 1 1 Republican Party of India (A) 1 0 Rashtriya Samaj Paksha 1 0 Revolutionary Socialist Party (Bolshevik) 1 0 Kerala Congress (Nationalist) 1 0 National People's Party 1 1 Naga People's Front 1 1 Mizo National Front 1 0 National Democratic Alliance 543 336
Bharatiya Janata Party Organisation Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was appointed to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign after a party conclave in Goa. This came amid controversy as L. K. Advani opposed the decision and resigned from his party posts, only to later rescind his resignation. Advani proposed Shivaraj Chouhan as prime ministerial candidate and compared him with Vajpayee. Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj were part of the team for the campaign. Rajnath Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani were the mentors for the BJP's campaign. A 12-member committee, led by Modi, was appointed at the Goa conclave which included M. Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Key leader's constituencies Modi contested the election from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat. In Varanasi, the sizeable Muslim minority population was viewed by the media as an important voter target and the BJP's minority cell leader Salim Mohommad took part in campaigning. Advani wanted to contest from Bhopal but later agreed to contest again from his incumbent seat Gandhinagar. He also rejected a proposal to be appointed to the Rajya Sabha in favour of running in the election. Advani was given the Gandhinagar seat because Modi wanted him to contest from Gujarat, according to Rajnath Singh. Arun Jaitley contested for the Lok Sabha for the first time (having previously been a Rajya Sabha member) from Amritsar against former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The move was controversial as incumbent MP from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu was unhappy in not being allocated the constituency. Yet he said that as Jaitley was his "guru" he would accept the decision, but would not run from any other constituency. The reason for not allocating the ticket to Sidhu was said to be because of his spat with the Shiromani Akali Dal Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and party President Sukhbir Singh Badal, as well as other BJP personnel. Jaswant Singh was denied nomination from Barmer constituency so he decided instead to contest the seat as an independent.
Campaign and Issues