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543 of the 545 seats in the Lok Sabha 272 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Registered | 716,985,101 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 58.21% ( 0.14pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held in India in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009 to elect the members of the fifteenth Lok Sabha. With a registered electorate of 716 million and a turnout of 417 million voters, it was the largest democratic election in the world until being surpassed by the 2014 general election.[2]
By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be held every five years or when Parliament is dissolved by the president. The previous elections were held in May 2004; the term of the 14th Lok Sabha would have naturally expired on 1 June 2009. The elections were organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and were held in multiple phases to better handle the large electorate and security concerns.[3] In February 2009, Rs.11.20 billion ($200.5 million) was budgeted for election expenses by parliament.[4]
A total of 8,070 candidates contested 543 seats elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.[5] The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the official opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the newly formed Third Front, led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and mainly constituted of regional parties, challenged the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, making the election a triangular fight.[6] Voter turnout over all five phases was around 58%. The results of the election were announced within three days of phase five, on 16 May.[7]
The UPA returned to government with an increased majority, with strong results in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal; in all, there was support from 322 of the 543 elected members, including external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other minor parties.[8]. Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.[9] He was sworn in to his second term by President Pratibha Patil on 22 May 2009 in the Ashoka Hall, Rashtrapati Bhavan. He would go on to complete a full five-year term; however, the UPA would lose to the NDA in a landslide in the next election.[10][11]