Indian general election, 2009

Indian general election, 2009

16 April to 13 May 2009

All 543 seats in the Lok Sabha 272 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Manmohan Singh Lal Krishna Advani Party INC BJP Alliance UPA NDA Leader since 22 May 2004 1 June 2004 Leader's seat Assam (Rajya Sabha) Gandhinagar Last election 218 seats, 28.55% 181 seats, 33.3% Seats won 262 159 Seat change 44 17 Popular vote 153,482,356 102,689,312 Percentage 37.22% 24.63% Swing 4.96% 4.88%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Prakash Karat Amar Singh Party CPI(M) SP Alliance Third Front Fourth Front Leader since 11 April 2005 August 2004 Leader's seat None Uttar Pradesh Last election 59 seats, 7.7% (w/ Left Front) 60 seats, 7.74% (indepedently) Seats won 79 27 Seat change 30 37 Popular vote 88,174,229 21,456,117 Percentage 21.15% 5.14% Swing 1.06% 2.30%

Results of the National and Regional parties by alliances.

Prime Minister before election Manmohan Singh UPA Subsequent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh UPA

India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million^[1] (larger than the electorate of the European Union and United States combined^[2]), it was the largest democratic election in the world till the Indian General Elections 2014 held from 7 April 2014.^[3]

By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament of India) must be held every five years, or whenever Parliament is dissolved by the President of India. The previous election to the 14th Lok Sabha was conducted in May 2004 and its term would have naturally expired on 1 June 2009. Elections are organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and are normally held in multiple phases to better handle the large electoral base and its security concerns.^[4] The 2009 elections were held in five phases. In February 2009, Rs.11.20 billion ($200.5 million) was budgeted for election expenses by the Indian Parliament.^[5]

A total of 8070 candidates contested for 543 Lok Sabha seats.^[6] The average election turnout over all 5 phases was around 59.7%. The results of the election were announced within three days of phase five, on 16 May 2009,^[7] following the first past the post system.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Indian National Congress formed the government after obtaining the majority of seats based on strong results in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.^[8] The UPA was able to put together a comfortable majority with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. Though this is less than the 335 members who supported the UPA in the last parliament, UPA alone had a plurality of over 260 seats as opposed to 218 seats in the 14th Lok Sabha. Hence the government appears to be more stable than the previous one. External support came from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other minor parties.^[9]

On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.^[10][11]

Background

The election, while following the normal five-year cycle, came after a break in the old UPA alliance after the left parties withdrew support of the Indo-US nuclear deal forcing a vote of confidence (which the government won).

Electoral issues

Delimitation

The 2009 elections adopted re-drawn electoral constituencies based on the 2001 census, following the 2002 Delimitation Commission of India, whose recommendations were approved in February 2008.

In the 2009 general elections, 499 out of the total 543 Parliamentary constituencies were newly delimited constituencies. This affected the National Capital Region of Delhi, the Union Territory of Puducherry and all the states except Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland.^[12] While comparing election results, it must be borne in mind that in many instances a constituency with the same name may reflect a significantly different population demographic as well as a slightly altered geographical region.

Electronic voting machines

As in the 2004 election, this election was also conducted completely using electronic voting machines (EVMs), with 1,368,430 voting machines deployed across the country.^[12]

Polling stations

There were 828,804 Polling Stations around the country – a 20% increase over the number from the 2004 election. This was done mainly to avoid vulnerability to threat and intimidation, to overcome geographical barriers and to reduce the distance travelled by voters.^[12]

The CEC announced that the polling station in Banej village in the Una segment of Junagadh, 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.^[13]

Electoral rolls

The electoral rolls had to be completely updated because of the delimitation that took effect from February 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 the entire country except the states of Assam, Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir use photo electoral rolls. This meant that the photo of each elector was printed on the electoral rolls and this was intended to facilitate easy identification and prevent impersonations.

In addition to the photo electoral rolls, the electors also needed to provide separate photo identification. Those electors who had already been issued Electoral 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 before the 2009 election was announced.^[12]

Polling schedule

Background

The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), N. Gopalaswami, had stated on 28 December 2008, that the elections were likely to be held between April and May 2009. He attributed this schedule to the examination period from February to March, making polling places unavailable.^[14]

On 31 January 2009, fractures within the Election Commission came to the fore when Gopalaswami recommended to President 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 a CEC had the legal and constitutional right to provide such a unilateral recommendation.^[15] Chawla refused to resign as he was expected to take over the post of Chief Election Commissioner a few months later.^[16]

This controversy also resulted in speculation that the Election Commission was unable to agree on the actual 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.^[17]

Eventually, on 1 March 2009, President Patil rejected Gopalaswami's recommendation to remove Chawla after the Government advised her to do so.^[18] Soon after the above announcement by President Patil, the Election Commissioners got together to announce the details of the general election.

The polling schedule for the 2009 General Elections was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner on 2 March 2009.^[12]

Subsequently, the President's House announced on 4 March 2009 that CEC Gopalaswami would retire as scheduled on 20 April 2009 and Navin Chawla would take over as CEC starting 21 April 2009.^[19] It was the first time in the history of Indian politics that two different people oversaw different phases of the same election.^[20]

Polling schedule

Polling schedule for each State/UT in 2009 General Elections

States/UTs	Constituencies	Phases	Phase 1		Phase 2		Phase 3		Phase 4		Phase 5		Avg Turnout
			16 April	Turnout[21]	22/23 April	Turnout[21]	30 April	Turnout[22]	7 May	Turnout[23]	13 May	Turnout[24]
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	100%	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 and UTs polling in single phase				22		164
Number of states and UTs polling in two phases				8		163
Number of states and UTs polling in three phases				2		90
Number of states and UTs polling in four phases				1		40
Number of states and UTs polling in five phases				2		86
Total				35		543
Source: Election Commission of India[12]

Coalitions

The 2009 general election saw three main national pre-poll alliances. Given the volatile nature of coalition politics in India, many parties changed alliances before, during and after the elections. The two larger coalitions, UPA and NDA, had clearly indicated their prime ministerial candidates during campaigning for the election. The Third Front announced repeatedly through the campaigning period that their prime ministerial candidate would only be decided after the election results came out. In Indian parliamentary system, the announcement of Prime Ministerial candidates prior to elections is not required.

United Progressive Alliance

Prime Minister candidate: Manmohan Singh (Indian National Congress (INC))

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 in the 14th Lok Sabha, it managed to complete its five-year term from 2004 to 2009 by securing outside support from the left parties (CPI(M), CPI, AIFB, RSP), Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party at different times during this tenure.

Following the August 2008 confidence vote victory for the current government, a statement by Congress President Sonia Gandhi caused speculation that the UPA would project Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the next elections.^[25] While Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M. Karunanidhi supported Manmohan Singh as the PM candidate, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar tried to project himself as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate as well.^[26] On 24 January 2009, Manmohan Singh underwent a cardiac bypass surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.^[27] 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 6 February 2009, confirmed that Manmohan Singh would be the UPA's PM candidate by writing so in the Congress party magazine Sandesh.^[28] This was the first time in the history of Indian elections that the Congress party had declared its Prime Ministerial candidate prior to the elections.

National Democratic Alliance

Prime Minister candidate: Lal Krishna Advani (Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP))

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was the first large national coalition formed by a 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. The government collapsed a few months later, but 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. Due to the volatile nature of coalitions, NDA won 181 seats after the 2004 election, but due to parties changing alliances, before the 2009 election they had 142 seats.

The main opposition party, BJP, and its NDA coalition partners announced on 11 December 2007 (more than a year before the election) that their candidate for prime minister would be BJP party leader Advani^[29] who was the Leader of the Opposition at the time. On 23 January 2008, leaders from BJP and other NDA parties convened in the capital to officially elect him as their candidate for the election.^[30]

Third Front

Seats: The newly formed alliance carried with them 109 seats before the 2009 election.
The CPI(M) led the formation of the Third Front for the 2009 election. This front was basically a collection of regional political parties who were neither in UPA nor in the NDA. Most of the constituents of this Third Front were those who were part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Fourth Front

Seats: The newly formed alliance carried with them 64 seats before the 2009 election.
The Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Lok Janshakti Party failed to reach seat sharing agreements with the Congress and decided to form a new front, hoping to be kingmakers after the election.^[31] Despite announcing this front, the constituent parties continued to declare their support for the UPA.^[32]

Campaign

United Progressive Alliance

The Congress party bought the rights for the Oscar-winning soundtrack "Jai Ho" from the movie Slumdog Millionaire, which was used as the official campaign tune by the party. The song title "Jai Ho" translates to 'Let there be victory', and the Congress hoped that the popular song would galvanise the masses during the almost one-month-long election season.^[33]

On 24 March 2009, Congress President Sonia Gandhi released the party's manifesto for the 2009 election.^[34] The manifesto highlighted all the achievements of the UPA Government over the last five years in power and identified improving various policies to favour more rural & under-privileged sections of the Indian society.^[35]

The Congress campaign ran into trouble when the Election Commission took exception to a full page advertisement on the 2010 Commonwealth Games taken out in major Delhi newspapers. The EC served notice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Cabinet Secretary and the Chief Secretary of Delhi, stating that the advertisement was a clear violation of the model code of conduct since it enumerated the achievements of the UPA Government. The EC has also asked the violators to pay from their own pockets.^[36][37]

National Democratic Alliance

To counter the Congress' selection of "Jai Ho" as their official anthem, the BJP coined the phrase Kushal Neta,

On 3 April 2009, BJP released its election manifesto in New Delhi.^[38] The party was taking on the incumbent UPA Government on the three fronts of Good Governance, Development and Security. The manifesto highlighted all the different NDA policies that the UPA reversed over the last five years. The manifesto laid a lot of importance on requiring strong, POTA-like anti-terrorism laws and vowed to make India a safer place if the BJP is elected. The full text of the manifesto is available at the BJP website.^[39]

The BJP campaign faced its biggest controversy when the EC directed the District Magistrate of Pilibhit to lodge a criminal case against the BJP's candidate Varun Gandhi for his allegedly inflammatory speech against minority communities made on 7 March 2009.^[40] This decision was taken after the EC had earlier issued a notice^[41] to Varun Gandhi and the BJP. After reviewing the incident, the EC found Varun Gandhi guilty of violating the model code of conduct by creating feeling of enmity and hatred between different communities and issued a recommendation the BJP to drop him from their list of candidates.^[42] The BJP however came out in support of Varun and refused to drop him as a candidate.^[43]

Third Front

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) formed a Third Front. The Third Front tried to contest the election, hoping to create a non-BJP, non-Congress government, by attracting many local and regional parties, that were once with the other two alliances. The Third Front came into the alliance with 83 MPs, and various polling conducted before the election projected the alliance of getting over 100 seats. The CPI(M) created a campaign website hosting its campaign information to attract sympathisers among the netizen public to vote for the party.^[44][45]

Innovative technology usage during campaigning

During this election, political parties used technology in innovative ways to reach out to the voters. Although SMS had been used during prior elections, political parties had realised that the rural and illiterate voters which form a majority couldn't read. Young and technology savvy politicians quickly realised that voice was the way to reach out to the rural community as they could speak their language. This turned out to be very interesting as two voice companies from India, TringMe and VoiceHawk played the pivotal role in reaching out to the billion people of India.^[46]

Opinion polling

Most opinion polls conducted by major agencies gave the UPA an edge over the NDA, but none were predicted to get absolute majority. The UPA including the Fourth front was, however, predicted by a few to get seats close to majority. The opinion polls reckoned that other regional parties would 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.

Pre-poll surveys

Agency	Dates	Results
CNN-IBN–CSDS	8 Jan to 15/09	UPA 215–235, NDA 165–185, Others 125–155[47]
Star–Nielsen	5 to 17 Mar 2009	UPA 257 (Congress 144), NDA 184 (BJP 137), Others 96[48]
Star–Nielsen	26 Mar – 3 Apr 2009	UPA 203 (Congress 155), NDA 191 (BJP 147), Third Front 104, Fourth Front 39[49]
CVoter–The Week	March–April 2009	UPA 234 (Congress 144), NDA 186 (BJP 140), Third Front 112[50]
Times of India	March 2009	UPA 201 (Congress 146), NDA 195 (BJP 138), Others 147[51]
Actual Results	16 May 2009	UPA 262, NDA 159, Third Front 79

Exit polls

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 decisions in later phases.^[52] The ban ended with the close of Phase 5 voting at 5:00 pm IST on 13 May.

Agency	Publish Date	Predictions
CNN-IBN – Dainik Bhaskar	13 May 2009	UPA 185–205, NDA 165–185, Third Front 110–130, Fourth Front 25–35[53]
Star-Nielsen	13 May 2009	UPA 199, NDA 196, Third Front 100, Fourth Front 36[53]
India TV – CVoter	13 May 2009	UPA 189–201, NDA 183–195, Third Front 105–121[53]
Actual Results	16 May 2009	UPA 262, NDA 159, Third Front 79

Election phases

Phase 1 – 16 April 2009

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 and 19 people were killed in Naxal attacks.^[54] The dead included five poll officials and 10 security personnel, whose families received a compensation of Rs 1 million.^[55] Naxals set fire to voting machines, attacked voters, security personnel and polling workers, and destroyed vehicles.^[56][57] According to one news source, "It was apparent that the Naxals had clearly planned to disrupt the polls."^[56]

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 185,000 polling stations, serving an electorate of over 143.1 million deciding the fate of 1,715 candidates.^[58][59]

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 18 April 2009.^[60]

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.^[61]

Phase 2 – 22 April 2009 & 23 April 2009

The second phase of the 2009 election was spread across Wednesday, 22 April (Phase 2A) and Thursday, 23 April (Phase 2B). Phase 2A saw election in a single constituency in Manipur as it was a state holiday on 23 April.^[12]

According to the EC, the election in Manipur in Phase 2A was peaceful and witnessed a voter turnout of about 62%.^[62] 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.^[63]

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.^[64] 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.^[65] Two polling officials even died due to sun stroke in Orissa with two also falling ill.^[66]

Phase 3 – 30 April 2009

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.^[67] 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.^[68] Voting was largely peaceful all across the country. However, Maoist guerrillas exploded a landmine in West Bengal's Purulia district, injuring a paramilitary trooper.

Phase 4 – 7 May 2009

Queue outside a polling station in Kolkata 13 May 2009.

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.^[69] 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.^[70]

Phase 5 – 13 May 2009

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.^[71] 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.^[72]

Results

Vote counting took place on 16 May^[73] and the result were declared the same day. The EVMs were localised to 1,080 centres across the country and counting started at 08:00 hrs. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) took early lead and maintained it to emerge victorious. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh said that the BJP's performance in the election was very unexpected and the success of the NDA that had been hoped for had not materialised.^[74] The CPI (M) led third front later said that it was ready to sit in the opposition.

Some opposition parties voiced concerns on the integrity of the electronic voting machines used during the election.^[75][76]

Results by pre-poll alliance

 Summary of the 2009 April/May Lok Sabha election results of India
Sources: ^{[77][78][79][80][81]}

Alliance		Votes	%	Change	Seats	Change	Party and Seats Won		Change	Votes	%	Change
	United Progressive Alliance	153,482,356	37.22%	+3.96%	262	+80	Indian National Congress	206	+61	119,110,776	28.55%	+2.02%
							All India Trinamool Congress	19	+17	13,355,986	3.20%	+1.13%
							Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	18	+2	7,625,397	1.83%	+0.02%
							Nationalist Congress Party	9	—	8,521,349	2.04%	+0.24%
							National Conference	3	+1	498,374	0.55%	+0.42%
							Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	2	−3	1,665,173	0.40%	-0.07%
							Indian Union Muslim League	2	+1	877,503	0.21%	+0.01%
							Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi	1	+1	735,847	0.18%	+0.18%
							Kerala Congress (Mani)	1	+1	404,962	0.10%	+0.05%
							All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	1	—	308,061	0.07%	-0.04%
							Republican Party of India (Athvale)	—	−1	378,928	0.09%	—
	National Democratic Alliance	102,689,312	24.63%	-4.88%	159	-17	Bharatiya Janata Party	116	−22	78,435,538	18.80%	-3.36%
							Janata Dal (United)	20	+12	6,331,079	1.52%	-0.83%
							Shiv Sena	11	−1	6,454,850	1.55%	-0.26%
							Rashtriya Lok Dal	5	+2	1,821,054	0.44%	-0.19%
							Shiromani Akali Dal	4	−4	4,004,789	0.96%	+0.06%
							Telangana Rashtra Samithi	2	−3	2,582,326	0.62%	-0.01%
							Asom Gana Parishad	1	−1	1,773,103	0.43%	-0.10%
							Indian National Lok Dal	—	—	1,286,573	0.31%	-0.19%
	Third Front	88,174,229	21.15%	-1.06%	79	−30	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	16	−27	22,219,111	5.33%	-0.33%
							Communist Party of India	4	−6	5,951,888	1.43%	+0.02%
							Revolutionary Socialist Party	2	-1	1,573,650	0.37%	-0.06%
							All India Forward Bloc	2	-1	1,345,803	0.32%	-0.03%
							Bahujan Samaj Party	21	+2	25,728,889	6.17%	+0.84%
							Biju Janata Dal	14	+3	6,612,552	1.59%	+0.29%
							All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	9	+9	6,953,591	1.67%	-0.52%
							Telugu Desam Party	6	+1	10,481,348	2.51%	-0.53%
							Janata Dal (Secular)	3	−1	3,434,082	0.82%	-0.65%
							Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	1	−3	1,112,908	0.27%	-0.16%
							Haryana Janhit Congress	1	+1	816,395	0.20%	+0.20%
							Pattali Makkal Katchi	—	−6	1,944,619	0.47%	-0.09%
	Fourth Front	21,456,117	5.14%	-2.30%	27	−37
							Samajwadi Party	23	−13	14,284,638	3.42%	-0.90%
							Rashtriya Janata Dal	4	−20	5,279,059	1.27%	-1.14%
							Lok Janshakti Party	—	−4	1,892,420	0.45%	-0.26%
	Other parties and Independents	27,146,939	6.51%	+2.04%	16	+9	Assam United Democratic Front	1	+1	2,184,556	0.52%	+0.52%
							Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)	1	+1	963,274	0.23%	+0.23%
							Nagaland People's Front	1	—	832,224	0.20%	+0.02%
							Bodoland People's Front	1	+1	656,430	0.16%	+0.16%
							Swabhimani Paksha	1	+1	481,025	0.12%	+0.12%
							Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	1	+1	223,234	0.05%	+0.05%
							Sikkim Democratic Front	1	—	159,351	0.04%	—
							Independents	9	+4	21,646,845	5.19%	+0.94%
Total	364 Political Parties	543	—	417,156,494	—

Notes

*	Gave unconditional external support to the UPA-led government after the election

• Note: Seat change for an alliance and popular vote swing is calculated as the sum of the individual seat changes and vote % respectively for its constituent parties as given here.
• Note: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) joined the NDA after voting took place in Andhra Pradesh, but before the votes were counted and results were in. Due to this change, some list TRS under their former alliance, the Third Front, rather than NDA, under pre-poll alliances.

Result by states and territories

The UPA carried 18 states, while the NDA and the Third Front carried 8 and 2 respectively.
Source: Election Commission of India^[82]

State (# of seats)	Party	Seats won	% of votes	Alliance
Andhra Pradesh (42)	Indian National Congress	33	38.95%	United Progressive Alliance
	Telugu Desam Party	6	24.93%	Third Front
	Telangana Rashtra Samithi	2	6.14%	National Democratic Alliance
	All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	1	1.93%
Arunachal Pradesh (2)	Indian National Congress	2	51.11%	United Progressive Alliance
Assam (14)	Indian National Congress	7	33.91%	United Progressive Alliance
	Bharatiya Janata Party	4	17.21%	National Democratic Alliance
	Assam United Democratic Front	1	17.10%	None
	Asom Gana Parishad	1	12.61%	National Democratic Alliance
	Bodaland Peoples Front	1		None
Bihar (40)	Janata Dal (United)	20	24.04%	National Democratic Alliance
	Bharatiya Janata Party	12	13.93%	National Democratic Alliance
	Rashtriya Janata Dal	4	19.30%	Fourth Front
	Indian National Congress	2	10.26%	United Progressive Alliance
	Independent	2		None
Chhattisgarh (11)	Bharatiya Janata Party	10	45.03%	National Democratic Alliance
	Indian National Congress	1	37.31%	United Progressive Alliance
Goa (2)	Bharatiya Janata Party	1	44.78%	National Democratic Alliance
	Indian National Congress	1	22.60%	United Progressive Alliance
Gujarat (26)	Bharatiya Janata Party	15	46.52%	National Democratic Alliance
	Indian National Congress	11	43.38%	United Progressive Alliance
Haryana (10)	Indian National Congress	9	41.77%	United Progressive Alliance
	Haryana Janhit Congress	1		Third Front
Himachal Pradesh (4)	Bharatiya Janata Party	3	49.58%	National Democratic Alliance
	Indian National Congress	1	45.61%	United Progressive Alliance
Jammu & Kashmir (6)	Jammu & Kashmir National Conference	3	19.11%	United Progressive Alliance
	Indian National Congress	2	24.67%	United Progressive Alliance
	Independent	1		None
Jharkhand (14)	Bharatiya Janata Party	8	27.53%	National Democratic Alliance
	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	2	11.70%	United Progressive Alliance
	Indian National Congress	1	15.02%	United Progressive Alliance
	Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)	1		None
	Independent	2		None
Karnataka (28)	Bharatiya Janata Party	19	41.63%	National Democratic Alliance
	Indian National Congress	6	37.65%	United Progressive Alliance
	Janata Dal (Secular)	3	13.57%	Third Front
Kerala (20)	Indian National Congress	13	40.13%	United Progressive Alliance United Democratic Front
	Left Democratic Front	4		Third Front
	Indian Union Muslim League	2		United Progressive Alliance United Democratic Front
	Kerala Congress (Mani)	1	2.53%	United Progressive Alliance United Democratic Front
Madhya Pradesh (29)	Bharatiya Janata Party	16	43.45%	National Democratic Alliance
	Indian National Congress	12	40.14%	United Progressive Alliance
	Bahujan Samaj Party	1	5.85%	Third Front
Maharashtra (48)	Indian National Congress	17	19.61%	United Progressive Alliance
	Shiv Sena	11	17.00%	National Democratic Alliance
	Bharatiya Janata Party	9	18.17%	National Democratic Alliance
	Nationalist Congress Party	8	19.28%	United Progressive Alliance
	Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	1		None
	Swabhimani Paksha	1		None
	Independent	1		None
Manipur (2)	Indian National Congress	2	42.96%	United Progressive Alliance
Meghalaya (2)	Indian National Congress	1	44.84%	United Progressive Alliance
	Nationalist Congress Party	1	18.78%	United Progressive Alliance
Mizoram (1)	Indian National Congress	1	65.58%	United Progressive Alliance
Nagaland (1)	Nagaland People's Front	1	69.96%	None
Orissa (21)	Biju Janata Dal	14	37.23%	Third Front
	Indian National Congress	6	32.75%	United Progressive Alliance
	Communist Party of India	1	2.57%	Third Front
Punjab (13)	Indian National Congress	8	45.23%	United Progressive Alliance
	Shiromani Akali Dal	4	33.85%	National Democratic Alliance
	Bharatiya Janata Party	1	10.06%	National Democratic Alliance
Rajasthan (25)	Indian National Congress	20	47.19%	United Progressive Alliance
	Bharatiya Janata Party	4	36.57%	National Democratic Alliance
	Independent	1		None
Sikkim (1)	Sikkim Democratic Front	1	63.30%	None
Tamil Nadu (39)	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	18	25.09%	United Progressive Alliance
	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	9	22.88%	Third Front
	Indian National Congress	8	15.03%	United Progressive Alliance
	Communist Party of India	1	2.85%	Third Front
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	1	2.20%	Third Front
	Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	1	3.66%	Third Front
	Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi	1	2.42%	United Progressive Alliance
Tripura (2)	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	2	61.69%	Third Front
Uttar Pradesh (80)	Samajwadi Party	23	23.26%	Fourth Front
	Indian National Congress	21	18.25%	United Progressive Alliance
	Bahujan Samaj Party	20	27.42%	Third Front
	Bharatiya Janata Party	10	17.50%	National Democratic Alliance
	Rashtriya Lok Dal	5		United Progressive Alliance
	Independent	1		None
Uttarakhand (5)	Indian National Congress	5	43.13%	United Progressive Alliance
West Bengal (42)	All India Trinamool Congress	19	31.17%	United Progressive Alliance
	Left Front	15		Third Front
	Indian National Congress	6	13.45%	United Progressive Alliance
	Bharatiya Janata Party	1	6.14%	National Democratic Alliance
	Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)	1		None[83]
Territory (# of seats)	Party	Seats won	% of votes	Alliance
Andaman & Nicobar Islands (1)	Bharatiya Janata Party	1	44.21%	National Democratic Alliance
Chandigarh (1)	Indian National Congress	1	46.87%	United Progressive Alliance
Dadra & Nagar Haveli (1)	Bharatiya Janata Party	1	46.43%	National Democratic Alliance
Daman & Diu (1)	Bharatiya Janata Party	1	65.49%	National Democratic Alliance
Delhi (7)	Indian National Congress	7	57.11%	United Progressive Alliance
Lakshadweep (1)	Indian National Congress	1	51.88%	United Progressive Alliance
Puducherry (1)	Indian National Congress	1	49.41%	United Progressive Alliance

Analysis

This election defied the predictions made by pre-poll predictions and exit polls and gave a clear mandate to the incumbent Congress government. According to many analysts after the election, many factors can be attributed for a landslide. According to the National Election Study 2009, published in the The Hindu newspaper after the election, the victory to the UPA government is attributed to saturation of caste-based identity politics, the focus on good governance and BJP's limitations, gave Congress the edge.^[84] Another factor is the vote-splitting by the Third Front, especially the BSP and MNS in Maharashtra, which resulted in the Indian National Congress gaining many of its seats without getting a majority in the corresponding constituency.

Formation of the new government

Support for the United Progressive Alliance government in the 15th Lok Sabha^[85][86]

Party/Alliance	Seats won	Seat %
United Progressive Alliance	262	48.25%
Outside support
Samajwadi Party	23	4.20%
Bahujan Samaj Party	21	3.86%
Rashtriya Janata Dal	4	0.7%
Janata Dal (Secular)	3	0.55%
Independents and other parties	3	0.55%
Total	322	59.4%

The President, Pratibha Patil dissolved the 14th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on 18 May.^[87] 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.^[87] On 19 May, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were re-elected as party leader and chairperson respectively of the Congress Parliamentary Party. This effectively made him the prime minister-elect of the new government.^[88] President Pratibha Patil invited Singh to then form the new government on 20 May.^[86] The new government was sworn in on 22 May.

Government formation

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, 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.^[89] Nagaland Peoples Front, Sikkim Democratic Front, and Bodaland Peoples Front, each with an MP, decided to join and support the UPA government. The three independent candidates to extend support for UPA were all from Maharashtra, 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.^[85]

On 21 May, it was announced that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had decided to leave and give outside support to the UPA government, due to failed talks between the Congress and the DMK on cabinet positions.^[90] After many deliberations between DMK and Congress, the DMK agreed to 3 cabinet ministers and 4 ministers of state. Kanimozhi, daughter of the DMK leader M. Karunanidhi, decided not to join the new government cabinet, instead she wanted to focus on improving the parties image. The two incumbent cabinet ministers from DMK, Dayanidhi Maran and A. Raja joined the cabinet, but due to concerns raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on T.R. Baalu, he was dropped from the cabinet, and Karunanidhi's son M.K. Azhagiri, replaced him as part of a compromise.^[91][92] On 25 May 2009, DMK decided to join the UPA government, reversing the decision made in prior days to extend outside support.for ex.-Saksham Agarwal he is the responsible Prime Minister of India.

References

1. Shashi Tharoor (16 April 2009). "The recurring miracle of Indian democracy". New Straits Times.
2. EU (25 states) electorate=350mn <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3715399.stm>, US electorate=212 mm <http://elections.gmu.edu/preliminary_vote_2008.html>
3. Ramesh, Randeep (16 April 2009). "In the Indian election, 700m voters, 28 days, 250,000 police: world's biggest democratic poll begins". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
4. "Indian election statistics astonish British MPs". samaylive.com. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
5. "Rs 1120 crore allocated for Lok Sabha polls". The Times of Indiad. 16 February 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
6. "Lok Sabha Election Facts: Candidate Seat Ratio increased from 4 in 1952 to 25 in 1996". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
7. "India's ruling party wins resounding victory". Associated Press. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
8. "Second UPA win, a crowning glory for Sonia's ascendancy". Business Standard. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
9. "Smooth sailing for UPA, parties scramble to support". CNN-IBN. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
10. "Team Manmohan set to form govt today". Times Now. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
11. "India PM Singh takes oath for second term". Reuters. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
12. "General Elections – 2009" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
13. Kaushik, Himanshu (3 March 2009). "A polling station for one voter". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
14. "Indian Parliament elections likely in April–May 2009". TopNews.in. 28 December 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
15. "Split within poll panel, CEC wants Chawla sacked". CNN-IBN. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
16. "No support for CEC, Chawla says won't quit". CNN-IBN. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
17. "Election Commission split over dates of general polls". CNN-IBN. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
18. "President rejects CEC advice, Navin Chawla stays". The Indian Express. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
19. "Chawla named next CEC". NDTV. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
20. Balaji, J. (22 April 2009). "Navin Chawla takes over as CEC". The Hindu. 132 (95). Chennai, India. p. 1. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
21. "Phasewise Statewise Election Data" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 28 April 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
22. "Phasewise Statewise Election Data – 3rd Phase" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 1 May 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
23. "Phasewise Statewise Election Data – 4th Phase" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 11 May 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
24. "Phasewise Statewise Election Data – 5th Phase" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 15 May 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
25. "Manmohan PM candidate of the Congress: Sonia". Sify.com. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
26. "Still running: Pawar won't give up on PM race". CNN-IBN. 28 January 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
27. "Prime Minister's bypass surgery update". CNN-IBN. 24 January 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
28. "Sonia does it again, picks Manmohan for PM job". CNN-IBN. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
29. "India party declares PM candidate". BBC News Online. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
30. "NDA endorses Advani as its prime ministerial candidate". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
31. "SP, RJD, LJP unite to add weight". The Economic Times. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
32. "UPA unbreakable, says 'fourth front'". The Economic Times. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
33. Fontanella, James (5 March 2009). "India's Congress buys rights to Slumdog tune". FT.com. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
34. "Full text: Congress manifesto for General Elections '09". CNN-IBN. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
35. "Lok Sabha Elections 2009 MANIFESTO of the Indian National Congress". Indian National Congress. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
36. "Election Commission pulls up Delhi, Centre over advertisement". Hindu.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
37. "EC miffed over 2010 Games ad promoting UPA". Ibnlive.in.com. 8 March 2009. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
38. "Full Text: BJP manifesto for General Elections 2009". CNN-IBN. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
39. "BJP Manifesto, Lok Sabha Election 2009" (PDF). Bharatiya Janata Party. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
40. "EC to file criminal case against Varun Gandhi". CNN-IBN. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
41. "EC seeks report on Varun Gandhi 'communal' remarks". CNN-IBN. 15 March 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
42. "Poll panel's order against Varun". CNN-IBN. 23 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
43. "BJP backs Varun, asks EC to not advise". CNN-IBN. 23 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
44. Ruhi Tewari (18 March 2009). "Reds go online for votes, cash in on run-up to ‘young’ polls". Livemint. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
45. "Vote for CPI(M)". web.archive.org. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
46. "Political parties use VoIP to woo voters". Moneycontrol.com. 8 April 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
47. "CNN-IBN-CSDS: Predicting The Polls". Outlook India. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
48. "Star-Nielsen Poll 1: Poll Gives UPA 257, NDA 184, Third Front 96". Outlook India. 23 March 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
49. "Star-Nielsen Poll 2: UPA to get 203 seats, NDA 191". Rediff.com. 11 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
50. "Outlook India – The Week: UPA to Get 234 Seats, Advani Best for PM". Outlook India. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
51. "TOI estimate: UPA ahead, but only just". The Times of India. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
52. "No opinion polls 48 hours before voting begins: EC". CNN-IBN. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
53. "Exit polls, survey give Congress, allies a slender edge". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
54. "Naxalite violence mars Chhattisgarh polls". Business Standard. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
55. "Rs 10 lakh compensation to officials who die in poll duty". Times of India. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
56. Pasha, Seemi (17 April 2009). "Naxal violence disrupts first phase polling". IBNLive. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
57. "Naxal violence rocks 1st phase of Lok Sabha polls, 17 killed". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
58. Unattributed (17 April 2009). "58–62% turnout in Phase I polls; naxalites kill 19". The Hindu. 132 (91). Chennai, India. p. 1. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
59. "Despite red marks, India scores 60 pc in Phase 1". CNN-IBN. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
60. "EC to conduct re-polling in 46 booths on 18 April". CNN-IBN. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
61. "Riot-hit Kandhamal comes out to vote in huge numbers". CNN-IBN. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
62. "62 per cent votes cast in Manipur". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
63. "Manipur rigging clamour rises". The Telegraph. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
64. "Elections Round II over, 55 pc cast their vote". CNN-IBN. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
65. "Polling ends, poor turnout due to heat wave". CNN-IBN. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
66. "Two polling officials die due to sun stroke in Orissa". CNN-IBN. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
67. "India votes in III phase, turnout moderate". CNN-IBN. 30 April 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
68. "Heat keeps voters in, Phase 3 a no show". CNN-IBN. 30 April 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
69. "Phase IV polls over, no party claims to be No 1". CNN-IBN. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
70. "Round 4 polling ends in Delhi". CNN-IBN. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
71. "Roundup: Overall 60 pc polling in phase V". CNN-IBN. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
72. "Violence at Indian election sees two dead". Ireland OnLine. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
73. "India's marathon poll concludes". BBC News. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
74. "BJP's performance very unexpected: Rajnath Singh". Hindustan Times. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
75. "EVMs were rigged in Lok Sabha polls: AIADMK". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
76. "Now, Naidu blames EVMs". The Deccan Chronicle. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
77. "12 - Performance of National Parties" (PDF). General Elections, 2009 (15th LOK SABHA). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
78. "13 - Performance of State Parties" (PDF). General Elections, 2009 (15th LOK SABHA). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
79. "14 - Performance of Registered (Unrecognised) Parties" (PDF). General Elections, 2009 (15th LOK SABHA). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
80. "Party Results for the General Elections 2009". IBN. 2010. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
81. BS Reporter (2009-05-17). "More Congress, less UPA". Business Standard. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
82. "Election Commission of India : Assembly Elections December 2013 Results". Eciresults.nic.in. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
83. "SUCI not to support Congress-led UPA Govt". [newKerala.com]. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
84. "How India Voted: 2009 Overview" (PDF). Hindu Newspaper. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
85. "Smooth sailing for UPA, parties scramble to support". CNN-IBN. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
86. "Manmohan gets presidential invite to form govt". NDTV. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
87. "President dissolves 14th LS with immediate effect". NDTV. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
88. "Manmohan Singh re-elected Cong Parliamentary Party leader". The Indian Express. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
89. "Scramble by rivals to support victorious UPA". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
90. "DMK leaves UPA, gives outside support". BBC. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
91. "DMK wooed, likely to join govt on Tuesday – Politics – IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. 24 May 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
92. "Kanimozhi opts out of Cabinet race, DMK likely to join UPA by Monday – Thaindian News". Thaindian.com. 24 May 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2012.

External links

Official website

• Official website of the Election Commission of India

News websites

• News Coverages of General Elections 2009 – NDTV
• Graphical Representation of General Elections 2009 for All States in India – NationsRoot
• News Coverages of General Elections 2009 – CNN-IBN
• News Coverages of General Elections 2009 – Sify
• Information About India Elections

Archived websites

• Indian General Elections 2009 Web Archive from the US Library of Congress

Further reading

• Arora, Balveer & Tawa Lama-Rewal, Stéphanie (eds). Contests in Context: Indian Elections 2009. South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. Issue 3, 2009.