General elections were held in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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 The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

seats. The average election turnout over all nine phases was around 66.40%, the highest ever in the history of Indian general elections until 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 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) received 31% of the vote and won 282 seats, while its

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

(NDA) won a total of 336 seats. Although the Indian National Congress (INC) was defeated by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

, 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 The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(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 The United Progressive Alliance (UPA; Hindi: Saṁyukta Pragatiśīl Gaṭhabandhan) was a Political group, political alliance in India led by the Indian National Congress. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election, 2004 general ele ...

, 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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. 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 The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

(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 Arvind Kejriwal (; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national conve ...

(founder of

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

), 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 Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...

becoming the president. Andhra politics was further shaken following the death of its

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. His son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, then broke from the INC and founded the

YSR Congress Party The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (, YSRCP or YCP), often shortened to simply the YSR Congress Party, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party based in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The party was initially registere ...

, 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 The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, commonly known as The Lokpal Act, is an anti-corruption Act of Parliament, Act of Indian Parliament in India which "seeks to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into alleg ...

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 Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theor ...

. 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 The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections. An election commissioner is appointed by the President of India on the recommendatio ...

(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 An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

were held for the ''

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

'' of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Sikkim.

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 Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language right-wing news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation. The channel has been involved in several controve ...

'', inflation was indicated to be the main issue in the election.

Economy

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

'' highlighted India's slowing economy amidst a record high current account deficit and a falling

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

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 Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally av ...

, faced a dramatic increase. In the lead up to the election, consumer price inflation increased more than expected while, paradoxically,

industrial production Industrial production is a measure of output of the industrial sector of the economy. The industrial sector includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Although these sectors contribute only a small portion of gross domestic product (GDP), they ...

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 The 2G spectrum case was a political controversy in which politicians and private officials of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government India were allegedly involved in selling or allotting 122 2G spectrum licenses on conditi ...

, AgustaWestland Chopper scam and CWG scam.

Celebrity candidates

Celebrity candidates from non-political spheres were nominated in the election. These included:

Raj Babbar Raj Babbar (born 23 June 1952) is an Indian Hindi and Punjabi language, Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. He is a three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the sta ...

(INC),

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

(AITC), Biswajit Chatterjee (AITC), Sandhya Roy (AITC), Smriti Irani (BJP), Jaaved Jaaferi (AAP),

Prakash Jha Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film producer, actor, director and screenwriter, mostly known for his political and socio-political films such as ''Hip Hip Hurray (film), Hip Hip Hurray'' (1984), ''Damul'' (1984), ''Mrityudand ...

(JD(U)), Mohammad Kaif (INC), Kamaal Rashid Khan (SP),

Vinod Khanna Vinod Khanna (6 October 1946 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, film producer, and politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. Recognised as a style and fashion icon, he wa ...

(BJP), Ravi Kishan (INC), Kirron Kher (BJP),

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

(BJP), Hema Malini (BJP),

Mahesh Manjrekar Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əɦeːʃ maːɲd͡zɾekəɾ born 16 August 1958) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, alongside Marathi language, ...

(MNS), Bhagwant Mann (AAP),

Nandan Nilekani Nandan Mohanrao Nilekani is an Indian entrepreneur. He co-founded Infosys and is the non-executive chairman of Infosys replacing R Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan, who were the co-chairs of the board, on 24 August 2017. After the exit of Vishal S ...

(INC), Gul Panag (AAP),

Jaya Prada Jaya Prada Nahata (born Lalitha Rani Rao; 3 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works majorly in Telugu cinema and Hindi cinema as well as in Tamil films in late '70s, '80s and early '90s. Jayaprada is the recipient ...

(RLD), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (BJP),

Paresh Rawal Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has Paresh Rawal filmography, appeared in over 240 films and is the recipient of various L ...

(BJP), Rakhi Sawant (RAP),

Indranil Sen Indranil Sen (born 3 June 1965) is an Indian politician, Bengali artist, actor, and film producer. He is currently serving as the minister of state of the Tourism Department under the Government of West Bengal since September 2023. He is a mem ...

(AITC),

Moon Moon Sen Moon Moon Sen, also credited as Moonmoon Sen (born Srimati Sen; 28 March 1954), is an Indian actress, known for her works in Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Marathi films. She eventually starred in Bollywood films. S ...

(AITC),

Vijay Kumar Singh Vijay Kumar Singh may refer to: * Vijay Kumar Singh (politician, died 2021), Indian politician * V. K. Singh (born 1950), Indian politician and general in the Indian Army * Vijay Kumar Singh (Bihar), Indian politician * Vijay Kumar Singh, the prota ...

(BJP),

Shatrughan Sinha Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (born 15 July 1946) is an Indian actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Asansol constituency as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier he was elected as Member of Parliament ...

(BJP), P. C. Sorcar Jr. (BJP),

Babul Supriyo Babul Supriyo (b. 15 December 1970) is an Indian playback singer, live performer, television host, actor and politician who currently serves as Third Banerjee ministry, Cabinet Minister of Ministry of Information Technology and Electronics (West ...

(BJP), Manoj Tiwari (BJP), Innocent Vincent ( LDF-IND),

Nagma Nagma Arvind Morarji (born Nandita Arvind Morarji; 25 December 1974), known mononyomusly as Nagma. is an Indian politician and former actress. She gained prominence as a leading actress in the 1990s and appeared in films across various India ...

(INC), Dev (AITC), and

Siddhanta Mahapatra Sidhant Mohapatra (born 4 May 1966), popularly known as Munna Bhai, is an Indian actor and politician primarily working in Odia cinema, with appearances in Telugu and Tamil films. Known as the "Dynamic Superstar" by his fans for his versatil ...

(BJD).

Parties and alliances

National Democratic Alliance

The constituents of the

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.

Bharatiya Janata Party

;Organisation Gujarat Chief Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

was appointment to lead the

'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.

Murli Manohar Joshi Murli Manohar Joshi (born 5 January 1934) is an Indian politician. He is one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and served as its President from 1991 to 1993. In addition to his role in the BJP, he has been a lifelong ...

and Sushma Swaraj were part of the team for the campaign.

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician and lecturer who is serving the Defence Minister of India since 20 May 2019. He was also the Deputy Leader of the House, Lok Sabha since 2014. He also served the Home Minister in th ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

and Lal Krishna 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 Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who serves as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India since 2014. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, current ...

, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Goa Chief Minister

Manohar Parrikar Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar (13 December 1955 – 17 March 2019) was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party who was the Chief Minister of Goa for three terms. He also served as the Union Minister of Defence ...

. ;Key leader's constituencies Modi contested the election from

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

in Uttar Pradesh and

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

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 Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

but later agreed to contest again from his incumbent seat

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar () is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the industrial corridor between the megacities of Delhi and Mumbai. 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 Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

'' member) from

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

against former Punjab Chief Minister Captain

Amarinder Singh Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942) is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. His father, Yadavindra Singh, was the last Maharaja of the princely st ...

. 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 Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

" 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 The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Eternal Party'') is a centre-right Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are ma ...

Punjab Chief Minister

Parkash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal (8 December 1927 – 25 April 2023) was an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017, the longes ...

and party President

Sukhbir Singh Badal Sukhbir Singh Badal (born 9 July 1962) is an Indian politician and businessman who served twice as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and is currently the president of Shiromani Akali Dal, and was a member of Parliament from the Firozpur Lok ...

, as well as other BJP personnel.

Jaswant Singh Major Jaswant Singh (3 January 193827 September 2020) was an Indian Army officer and politician. He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and was one of India's longest serving parliamenta ...

was denied nomination from Barmer constituency so he decided instead to contest the seat as an independent. ;Campaign and Issues The BJP released its manifesto on 7 April 2014. The party promised to set up a Price Stabilization Fund and to evolve a single 'National Agriculture Market' to check price rise and go for e-Governance, policy-driven governance and simplification of the tax regime to prevent corruption. It wanted to encourage labour-intensive manufacturing, focus on traditional employment bases of agriculture, the upgrade of infrastructure and housing and self-employment opportunities for job creation. Harnessing satellite technology; setting up National Optical-Fibre Network up to the village level; Diamond Quadrilateral project – of High Speed Train network were among several other things that the party promised. The Himachal Pradesh BJP attacked the UPA's "one rank, one pension" scheme as an "election stunt", according to the convenor of the BJP's ex-servicemen cell, Brigadier (Retired) Lal Chand Jaswal. The move followed the BJP raising the issue in the previous years and Modi's announcement at an ex-servicemen's rally at

Rewari Rewari is a city and a municipal council in Rewari district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is the district headquarters of Rewari district. It is located in south-west Haryana around 82 km from DelhiSujanpur on 17 February. Modi also criticised the INC and Rahul Gandhi for giving a ticket to former Maharashtra Chief Minister

Ashok Chavan Ashok Shankarrao Chavan (born 28 October 1958) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra. He is the son of the late former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankarrao Chavan. He was one of the most influential leaders of Indian National Congress in Ma ...

despite his indictment in the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai. He further criticised Gandhi's comments about his governance of Gujarat at rally in Bijapur. At a rally in

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

, Haryana, part of the wider National Capital Region, Modi said: "People gave ruling Congress 60 years, I just need 60 months to prove that the BJP is the best option for India" and alleged that the INC was protecting Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, after he was said to have "sold farmers land" and made money. "Robert Vadra's empty bank account was credited with $8.30m (Rs 500 million) in just three months. BJP wants answers". He also criticised the INC's Nandan Nilekani as he had "squandered crores of rupees in giving a unique identity (

Aadhaar Aadhaar (Hindi: आधार, ) is a twelve-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by all residents of India, based on their biometrics and demography, demographic data. The data is collected by the Unique Identification ...

) to millions of people, which even the Supreme Court questioned, as it did not address the security concerns". Amongst the

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, individuals came up with satirical takes on sports, movies (in Hindi and English) and songs, amongst other things, in support of the BJP campaign slogan that were premised on "''Aab ki baar, Modi sarkar''" ( his time, [we will have aModi government">e_will_have_a.html" ;"title="his time, [we will have a">his time, [we will have aModi government. Modi was noted for focusing, in his rallies across the country, on the 23 million first-time come-of-age voters. By the last day of campaigning on 10 May, Narendra Modi had undertaken the largest mass outreach in India's electoral history by travelling about 300,000 km for 437 public meetings in 25 states and 1350 innovative 3D rallies according to the BJP. In regards to foreign relations of India, Modi in a rally in Arunachal Pradesh, a state which borders China with a history of border disputes, swore to protect the country and criticised "Chinese expansionism". He also highlighted the importance of diplomats discussing issues like trade facilitation and promoting Indian business abroad.

Others

;Lok Janshakti Party Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan announced on 30 January that the LJP, RJD and INC will jointly contest the election from Bihar's constituencies. He later announced on 27 February that he will instead join the NDA. LJP contested polls with the BJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) on 40 seats with 30 seats for BJP, three seats for RLSP and seven seats for LJP. LJP and RLSP won all the seats allotted to them with BJP winning 22 seats. The election was seen by many BJP leaders as a show of strength after fallout with JD(U). After the election results, Nitish Kumar was forced to resign from the post of Chief Minister after being marginalized to just 2 seats. ;Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), led by Tamil film actor

Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...

joined the NDA on 26 February. ;Lok Satta Party On 10 April, while campaigning in Telangana,

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

of the Lok Satta Party stated that while his party had a few differences of opinion with the BJP manifesto, they had decided to support the NDA in the "national interest". On the other hand, Dr.

contested from the Malkajgiri. Malkajgiri had eligible voters in the election making it the largest parliamentary constituency of the country in terms of number of voters. ;Shiv Sena, Swabhimani Paksha and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha The Swabhimani Paksha (SWP) a political party of Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana (SSS) joined the Shiv Sena-BJP- Republican Party of India (A) alliance in February. The SSS, which represents the interests of farmers in western

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

was offered two seats – Madha in Solapur, where NCP leader Sharad Pawar sits, and Hathkanangale, the seat of SSS leader Raju Shetti. Shetti also sought Baramati but this was rejected by the Shiv Sena and BJP, who decided to leave a seat each from their quotas of 22 and 26 to accommodate SSS. Rashtriya Samaj Paksha also joined the alliance in January. In addition to the aforementioned four parties that were contesting from Maharashtra, RSP was also in the alliance. ;Shiromani Akali Dal

contested 10 out of 13 seats in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

United Progressive Alliance

The constituents of the

and the seats they contested and won are shown at the right in the table: This election turned out to be an unprecedented disaster for the UPA as they garnered the lowest number of seats in their history. In March, the INC, RJD and NCP announced that they would jointly contest in Bihar. The INC contested 12 seats, NCP fought on 1 seat and the RJD, being a regional party, would seek the rest of 27 seats.

Indian National Congress

The

had announced, on the fourth anniversary of the second

government, that its campaign for the election would be led by incumbent Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

, INC chairperson

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...

and general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi was appointed to head a six-member committee to formulate and implement alliances, the party manifesto and general publicity for the election. In response to sagging opinion poll numbers for the general election, the INC sought to fast-track a decision on separating Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, create a coalition government with the

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (; ) is a political party in the Indian state of Jharkhand, founded by Binod Bihari Mahato, Shibu Soren, and A. K. Roy. Hemant Soren is the president of the JMM. JMM is also an influential political party in the state ...

and the

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...

in Jharkhand, sought to take credit for the

Food Security Bill The National Food Security Act, 2013 is an Indian Act of Parliament which aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of the country's 1.4 billion people. It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 Ju ...

and passing Land Acquisition Bill. ;Prime Minister candidate Incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he would not return to his role should the INC get a majority or plurality. Rahul Gandhi told ''

Dainik Bhaskar ''Dainik Bhaskar '' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper in India which is owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to the World Association of Newspapers, it ranked fourth in the world by circulation in 2016 and per the Indian Audit ...

'' that he was "ready to take charge" of any responsibility the party gave him and he added that: "My focus for India is a long term vision, where all Indians are treated with equality, respect and are given equal opportunities." At the party meeting it was decided not to name a prime ministerial candidate amid fears it would turn the election into a presidential one. This was criticised by the BJP. Sonia Gandhi would instead lead the party's campaign. He also called the election a turning point. Sonia Gandhi then said that the party will face upcoming challenges and the election with a "lot of determination;" she added that the election would be a battle for India. "Divisive forces are stretching social fabric to breaking point. Opposition's way is to spread disharmony. There's a face hidden behind the mask of compassion." ;Rahul Gandhi In January, in an interview, Gandhi admitted that some Congress members may have been involved in the

1984 anti-Sikh riots The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs w ...

and further stated that Modi's government was responsible for pushing the 2002 riots while the Congress government in 1984 tried to stop the anti Sikh riots. Fellow UPA member, Praful Patel said that the 2002 matter should be put to rest. As Gandhi was reported to have sought an early declaration of the party's candidates, the INC was scheduled to hold its first meeting of the central election committee on 13 February to finalise all their candidates by the end of the month. Similarly, the screening committees for several unnamed part of the country had already occurred so as to shortlist the candidates. On 8 March, its list of 194 candidates was announced, including 35% of candidates that were below the age of 50 years. The INC was reported to be concerned by the possibility of a reduced mandate in Gandhi's seat of

Amethi (Lok Sabha constituency) Amethi is one of the 80 Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) constituencies in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This constituency covers the entire Amethi district and was created in 1967. Like its neighbouring constituency Rae Bar ...

amidst an unusual challenge by his high-profile competitor, the BJP's Smriti Irani. It even led to his mother, Sonia, campaigning there for the first time in 10 years. ;Opinion polls The INC dismissed the opinion polls pointing to a NDA plurality as misleading and partisan. In its manifesto the party promised "

inclusive growth Inclusive growth is economic growth that raises standards of livings for broad swaths of a population. It is widely accepted that inclusive growth is challenging to be achieved in the real world. Both the intangibility and long term perspective mak ...

" and that it would initiate a raft of welfare schemes, including a right to healthcare for all and pensions for the aged and disabled. Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's INC campaigning included scheduled stops in Odisha and, on 20 April, in Maharashtra prior to the third phase. Rahul Gandhi claimed in a rally in Chhattisgarh that Modi would "divide the nation into pieces, and make people fight against each other." ;Media During the election, former prime ministerial aide Sanjaya Baru published " The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh" in which he criticised Singh as not being fully in charge of his government in having to compete with the dynastic INC leader, Sonia Gandhi, for influence within his own cabinet. Singh's office retorted in saying it is "smacks of fiction and coloured views of a former adviser." After Baru said "it is no secret that Sonia Gandhi was the super prime minister," Priyanka Vadra replied "I think Manmohan Singh ji is the super PM."

Others

;Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Minister for New and Renewable Energy and

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir union territory and Ladakh. Founded as the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference by ...

chairman

Farooq Abdullah Farooq Abdullah (born 21 October 1937) is an Indian politician who serves as current president of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982 till 2002, and ...

, controversially, told a rally in Srinagar that in regards to Modi becoming prime minister "if it happens then Kashmir will not remain a part of India. I say it publicly. Kashmiris will not accept a communal person". He added before going to a scheduled rally in

Magam Magam is a tehsil in central Kashmir's Beerwah sub-district. It is also a town, notified area committee, and a block in Budgam district in the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is away from sub-district headquarter ...

that "those who vote for Modi should drown themselves in sea". ;Nationalist Congress Party Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was in alliance with the INC in the states of Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. ;Rashtriya Janata Dal

leader Lalu Prasad Yadav said of the BJP's ruling chances that "Modi and Advani can never become the prime minister in their lifetime. Secular forces in this country would never allow the saffron outfit to come to power". In relation to the INC's Rahul Gandhi he said that Gandhi wants to bring change to the country; he added in relation to Digvijay Singh that he was a "good man". ;Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

(JMM) contested polls in alliance with INC and RJD in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

. JMM and INC contested in four and ten seats each, respectively. JMM leader Shibu Soren will run from Dumka, while the other three party's seats could come from Rajmahal, Giridih and the purpose-built city of Jamshedpur.

Left parties

;Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India The

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

declared their campaign slogan as "Reject Congress, Defeat BJP." On 3 April, the party published its fourth list of candidates for a total of 94 candidates. In West Bengal, CPI (M) contested as part of the Left Front. 32 out of the 42 Left Front candidates in West Bengal came from the CPI (M), while 20 of its candidates were running for the first time. In Kerala, the CPI (M) contested as a constituent of the

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of Left-wing politics, left-wing political parties led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the current List of current Indian ruling and opposition parties, r ...

. In the list of the 15 CPI (M) candidates in Kerala released in mid-March, four were incumbent ''Lok Sabha'' members and five others were independents. The Kollam seat was allocated to M. A. Baby after the RSP left the LDF and joined the United Democratic Front. In Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, the CPI (M) made an electoral pact with the CPI and other left parties. In Andhra Pradesh, however, no agreement could be reached between the CPI (M) and the CPI due to differences on the Telangana issue; CPI (M) opposed bifurcation, while the CPI supported creating Telangana. In Telangana region, CPI contested one seat (in alliance with Indian National Congress), while CPI (M) contested two seats.

Other parties

;Aam Aadmi Party The

(AAP), formed in 2012, contested 432 seats and won 4 seats. The party's manifesto focused on anti-corruption measures. Earlier in 2013, the party had made an impressive electoral debut by winning the second highest number of seats in the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections. After forming a short-lived

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

in Delhi, AAP was seen as a major challenger to the other political parties. However, the party lost deposits on 413 seats, surpassing the record of Doordarshi Party, which had lost deposit on 321 seats in 1991. AAP's leader

unsuccessfully contested against the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from

. Its spokesperson

Prashant Bhushan Prashant Bhushan (born 15 October 1956) is an Indian author and a public interest lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. He was a member of the faction of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement known as Team Anna which supported Anna Ha ...

argued that AAP's national debut performance was better than that of the winning party BJP in its first national elections in 1984. ;All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, sta ...

(AIADMK) opted not to join any alliance and contested all seats in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and the union territory of Puducherry on its own. Party General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa told a March rally that she would modernise the armed forces by enhancing their capabilities so that they were on par with the superpowers. In saying so, she criticised the UPA's governance, including its economic, diplomatic, and defence policies, adding that the modernization of the armed forces was hindered by the steady curtailment of its funding. The party won an unprecedented 37 out of the 40 parliamentary constituencies it contested and emerged as the third-largest party in the 16th Lok Sabha of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

. It was a massive victory that no other regional political party had ever achieved in the history of general elections. ;All India Forward Bloc On 21 March, the

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a Left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a Political faction, faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and was strongest ...

released its first list of candidates that covered 38 seats in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Delhi. According to the party's Secretary Debabrata Biswas the main objective of the party was "to strengthen and unite the Left, democratic and secular forces to achieve an alternative policy for reconstruction of the country." In West Bengal the party contested the election as part of the Left Front. To defend the two West Bengal seats that it won in 2009, the party decided to field incumbent MP Narahari Mahato in the Purulia seat and a new candidate in the Cooch Behar seat. ;Bahujan Samaj Party On 19 March,

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with Religious ...

(BSP) leader Mayawati declared that the party would contest the election on its own and fielded candidates in all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati was confident that the BSP would seek a mandate to form a government with support of secular parties. The party secured the third highest vote share in the Country and yet did not win a single seat. ;Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation At a press conference held on 10 March, General Secretary of the

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Dipankar Bhattacharya said his party would field 85 candidates in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jharkhand and Puducherry. ;Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) opted not to join an UPA pre-poll alliance and contested all seats in Tamil Nadu with its own regional alliance. Party leader Karunanidhi announced Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) with local parties like VCK, MMK, IUML and Puthiya Tamizhagam. DMK was not able to secure even a single seat throughout the country. ;Janata Dal (United) The media speculated that Modi still had a chance of gaining in Bihar at the expense of Nitish Kumar's

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

. Whilst the BJP were in coalition with JD(U), Modi was not allowed to speak at rallies in the party by mutual understanding and was only allowed for special events such as a funeral or party conclave, even Modi's flood relief aid to Bihar was termed communal. Bihar was seen as test case for Modi's popularity if the BJP could increase its tally at the expense of the JD(U). There was also speculation that

Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 with a brief interruption in 1995 and as the union minister for Railways from 2004 to 2009. He is the founder and president o ...

could make a relative comeback after the 2010 provincial election if he is not convicted over the fodder scam. It also suggested that this would be an eager race as it could determine if Kumar's decision to leave the NDA in June 2013 was prudent and if he has any national political scope left; while for Modi it would give crucial seats to the BJP and be able to attract potential allies as Bihar is largely based on

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

politics. In January 2014, Kumar referred to Gandhi's stand against corruption as a "farce" after hearing of a meeting between Gandhi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav despite Yadav being out on bail, after being convicted in the fodder scam. He termed their alliance as "natural" and stated that them coming together was no surprise. ;All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen

Asaduddin Owaisi Asaduddin Owaisi (born 13 May 1969) is an Indian politician who is serving as the third and current president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) since 2008. He is a five time Member of Parliament (India), Member of Parliame ...

announced 5 candidates from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) participated in various parliamentary constituencies of Telangana State. Asaduddin Owaisi -

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Narla Mohan Rao -

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

Divakar Dharanikota Sudhakar - Malkajgiri P.V.N. Reddy - Nandyal,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

(from 2014 onwards) Guahati Mothilal - Bhongir ;Maharashtra Navnirman Sena The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) announced its first list of seven candidates. Six of them contested against candidates of Shiv Sena. The party, however, also supported Modi's prime ministerial candidature. The move read as an implicit acceptance of the BJP's Nitin Gadkari's call not to contest against the NDA and to support its own candidates. ;Nav Bharat Democratic Party Nav Bharat Democratic stepped into the political arena with 9 candidates spread across Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The party was established by RK Misra. ;Samajwadi Party Samajwadi Party president

Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialism, socialist figure and founder of the Samajwadi Party. Over the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three t ...

claimed that the Third Front government will be formed in the center with the help of his party. To counter the "Modi-effect" on other constituencies near Varanasi, Yadav decided to contest from Azamgarh and Mainpuri. The party decided not to field any candidates against the INC's Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from Rai Bariely and Amethi, respectively, in response to the INC's decision not to field any candidates against Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri and Kannauj, respectively. ;Sikkim Democratic Front On 10 March, the

Sikkim Democratic Front Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Sikkim. It was the ruling party in Sikkim from 12 December 1994 to 23 May 2019. History The party was founded by Pawan Kumar Chamling in 1993. It has ruled the ...

declared that its incumbent MP, Prem Das Rai, would run for re-election. The party also released a list of 32 candidates for the 2014 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election that will be held simultaneously with the election. ;All India Trinamool Congress

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a breakaway faction f ...

leader

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

declared that the party would contest all 42 seats in West Bengal by itself, making this the first occurrence of the party contesting a general election in West Bengal without an alliance with either of the two largest parties, BJP and INC. Banerjee told a rally in

Cooch Behar district Cooch Behar district (), also known as Koch Bihar district, is one of the List of districts of West Bengal, 23 districts of the state of West Bengal in India. The district is the part of Jalpaiguri division, Jalpaiguri Division. Cooch Behar ci ...

, near the international border with Bangladesh, that she would take up the issue of the border enclaves upon ascertaining the views of the local people living in the adversely possessed areas. She further noted that she had opposed the central government's agreement in 2011 over the Teesta treaty of water-sharing between the two countries on the grounds of receding waters affecting drinking water availability. ;YSR Congress Party Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy's

fielded candidates across

(Rayalaseema & Coastal Andhra) and some districts of Telangana. The party fielded several bureaucrats, businessmen and relatives of politicians for Lok Sabha seats in

(Rayalaseema & Coastal Andhra), including D. Kishore Rao, the former secretary of the Gujarat Human Rights Commission. In a statement in March, Reddy stated that he would ally himself with whoever would win the election.

Surveys and polls

Opinion polls

Opinion polls generally showed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to be the front runner in the election with the emergence of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) as the single largest party.

Exit polls

The Election Commission of India banned the publication of all

exit poll An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working fo ...

s starting 48 hours before Phase 1 of the election until the end of Phase 9. This was intended to prevent exit polls from earlier phases affecting voter decisions in later phases. The ban ended after the close of Phase 9 voting at 6:30pm IST on 12 May 2014.

Controversies

During the course of the campaign, several controversies arose with parties being accused by one another and the

of violating

Election Commission of India's Model Code of Conduct The Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for the conduct of political parties and candidates during elections. It is a set of norms which deal with matters including meetings, processions, election ...

that is in force during the election. In the run-up to the election the media in India was criticised for its establishment ties between family owners and political parties. It caused self-censorship and editorial dismissals at certain media outlets. ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' temporarily suspended its CVoter opinion poll in late February after a News Express sting operation suggesting Polling Agencies like Ipsos and CVoter fudged the numbers to show BJP candidate Narendra Modi in the lead.

Voting

In total there were 1.4 million

electronic voting machine An electronic voting machine is a voting machine based on electronics. Two main technologies exist: ''optical scan voting system, optical scanning'' and ''direct-recording electronic voting machine, direct recording'' (DRE). Optical scanning ...

s in 930,000 voting centres. The voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system which enables EVM to record each vote cast by generating the EVM slip, was introduced in 8 constituencies of

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, Bangalore South, Chennai Central,

Jadavpur Jadavpur is a neighbourhood of Kolkata, South Kolkata in Kolkata district in West Bengal, India. Jadavpur is one of the important junctions in South Kolkata. Jadavpur University and a number of research institutes of national and international ...

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

, Patna Sahib and

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

as a pilot project. Also,

Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

ballot sheets for the blind were arranged at polling stations. The scale of the election required 1.1 million of civil servants and 5.5 million civilian employees to handle the election. It was the first election that had the "

none of the above "None of the above" (NOTA), or none for short, also known as "against all" or a "scratch" vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system ...

" option and allowed Non-Resident Indians to vote; though only in India. Security was increased during the election, particularly as the

Communist Party of India (Maoist) The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a banned Marxist–Leninist-Maoist communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the Republic of India through protracted people's war. It was founded on 21 S ...

(CPI (Maoist)) called for a boycott of the election. On 12 April, even though there was no voting this day, a vehicle in Chhattisgarh hit a CPI (Maoist) landmine resulting in the deaths of two bus drivers and five election officials, with four more injured, while travelling from Kutru to Bijapur in preparation for the fifth phase of voting. On the same day, within an hour, they also ambushed a vehicle resulting in the deaths of five paramilitary soldiers in the Darbha forest. The election was the longest and the most expensive general election in the history of the country, with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election did cost the exchequer 3500 crore (577 million), excluding the expenses incurred for security and by the individual political parties. Parties were expected to spend 30,500 crore (5 billion) in the election, according to the Centre for Media Studies. This was three times the amount spent in the previous election in 2009, and was then the world's second highest after the 7 billion spent on the 2012 US presidential election. The election reportedly boosted the hospitality sector as, according to ASSOCHAM, tourist arrivals from the countries such as the US, UK, France, Singapore and the U.A.E. have gone up by 10–15 percent, while the movement of domestic tourists jumped by 62%.

Turnout

Based on data from Election Commission India *Phase 1: 7 April Turnout was 75% in Assam and 84% in Tripura. Assam's INC Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that "there is no Narendra Modi magic in Assam. The Congress has been winning every form of elections since 2001 in Assam, and we are going to repeat the performance this time." Additionally, the borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan were closed for security reasons. *Phase 2: 9 and 11 April The turnouts were recorded at 82.5% in

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

, 71% in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

, 66% in

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

and 70% in

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

's voting was deferred to 11 April, where the turnout was 60%. *Phase 3: 10 April About 110 million of people were eligible to vote for 91 seats. The turnout was 76% in Kerala, 64% in Delhi, 55.98% in Madhya Pradesh, 54.13% in Maharashtra, 65% in Uttar Pradesh and 66.29% in Jammu. Kerala and Chandigarh set new voter turnout records. A higher proportion of eligible electors voted in 2014 than in 2009. *Phase 4: 12 April Voter turnout set new records or were near record levels with 75% in Goa, 75% in Assam, 81.8% in Tripura and 80.97% in

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

(including the 2014 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election). West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nearly cancelled the polls in her region after initially refusing to changes to the appointments of civil service departments, but was forced to constitutionally do so. *Phase 5: 17 April The largest voting day involved nearly 200 million eligible voters, 1,769 candidates for 121 seat. The voting turnout in Uttar Pradesh was 62%, West Bengal was 80%, over 70% in Odisha, 69% in Jammu and Kashmir, 54% in Madhya Pradesh and 62% in Jharkhand. Manipur had 74% and Maharashtra had a 61.7% turnout. In Karnataka, the average voting was up on 65% against 58% in the previous election, though urban voters were lower. In Chhattisgarh, the voter turnout was 63.44% compared to 57.6% in 2009, while Rajasthan recorded a 63.25% voter turnout, compared to 48.09% in 2009. In Bihar's seven constituencies, the turnout was 56%, compared to 39% in 2009. In one of six constituencies from Jammu and Kashmir, Udhampur, the turnout of 70% was significantly higher than the 2009 figure of 45%. Overall across India, the turnout on the day was over 65% and nearly all constituencies had a higher voter turnout than 2009. *Phase 6: 24 April The second largest voting day entailed 180 million eligible voters across 201,735 voting centres to elect 117 members of parliament from 2,098 candidates. Tamil Nadu set a new voter turnout record for Lok Sabha elections with 73%, while West Bengal experienced the highest voter turnout for the day at 82%. As compared to that, urban centres such as Mumbai and Chennai saw lower voter turnouts, but bettered their figures from previous years. Mumbai witnessed a 53% turnout, compared to 41% in 2009. The rural areas of Maharashtra saw over 60% turnout, Madhya Pradesh had 64%, Uttar Pradesh had over 60%, Chhattisgarh had about 66%, Assam had over 70%, Bihar has about 60%, Jharkhand had 63.4%, Rajasthan had about 60% and Pudhucherry had about 82%. One of six constituencies from Jammu and Kashmir, Anantnag, had the lowest turnout of 28%, after a boycott call by separatists, an attack on 22 April that killed three people, and with thousands of

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the In ...

s protesting in the afternoon that their names were missing from the electoral roll. As with previous phases, the overall voter turnout for the day was higher than 2009. In both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the turnout was about 9% higher, while Uttar Pradesh saw a 13% increase. *Phase 7: 30 April The 7th phase of voting entailed about 140 million eligible voters to elect 89 members of parliament from 1,295 candidates in 7 states and 2 Union Territories.7th phase: 73% voter turnout in Punjab, 60% in Bihar
Sandra Fernandez, One India News, 30 April 2014 Punjab set a new record in its voter turnout for general elections with 73%.Gujarat sees highest jump in voter turnout over the last elections
''The Times of India'' Gujarat saw the highest jump in voter turnout for the day with 62% turnout compared to 48% turnout in 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The nine constituencies in West Bengal reported over 81% turnout.
''India Today'' Uttar Pradesh witnessed 57% turnout compared to 48% in 2009, while Bihar saw 60% compared to 52% in 2009. One of six constituencies from Jammu and Kashmir, eligible to vote in this phase, had the lowest turnout for the day at 26% compared to 25.55% in 2009, after a boycott call by separatists. Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, which will become India's new state on 2 June 2014, saw nearly 72% turnout to elect Lok Sabha members as well as its first state government. The aggregate turnout so far in the first 7 phases for 438 parliamentary seats has been 66.20%, significantly more than 57.41% figure in 2009 general elections. *Phase 8: 7 May The 8th phase saw voting for 64 Lok Sabha seats in 7 states with 897 candidates competing.Record-breaking Bengal rakes up 81% turnout in last leg of phase 8 Lok Sabha polling
''Hindustan Times'' Along with the general elections, polls were also held for the first Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh excluding Telangana region. The voter turnout was high, with West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh each setting their respective general election voter turnout records. West Bengal recorded 81% polling compared to 78% for 2009. Andhra Pradesh recorded nearly 76% voter turnout. Himachal Pradesh saw about 66% turnout compared to 58% for 2009. Uttarakhand also set a new voter turnout record with 62% compared to 53% in 2009. The 2 constituencies of Jammu & Kashmir that voted witnessed a 49.9% turnout, while constituencies of Bihar saw 58% compared to 45% in 2009.Nearly 64% Polling in Phase 8 of Elections, 7% Better Than 2009
NDTV India Uttar Pradesh experienced a 55.5% turnout compared to 43.4% in 2009. *Phase 9: 12 May The 9th and last phase of voting entailed over 90 million eligible voters to elect 41 members of parliament from 606 candidates in 3 states. The 6 seats in Bihar saw a voter turnout of 58%, compared to 46% in 2009. Uttar Pradesh's 18 constituencies witnessed a 55.3% turnout, compared to 46.6% in 2009. In West Bengal, the 17 constituencies that voted, saw a turnout of about 80% compared to 82% in 2009. The 2014 general elections, according to the Election Commission of India, recorded a cumulative total of 66.38% voter turnout, or 551.3 million out of 814 million eligible people casting their vote, according to provisional figures. The 2014 turnout surpassed India's previous highest voter turnout record of 64% in 1984 general elections.Highest ever turnout of 66.38% recorded in this Lok Sabha election
''The Times of India'' The voter turnout in 2009 general elections was 58.19%, while 2004 general elections saw a voter turnout of 56.98%.
''Business Standard'' The 2014 general elections entailed 8,202 candidates competing for 543 seats.

Re-polls

Many locations required re-polling for various reasons. There was re-polling on 9 polling stations in Orissa on 25 April. The Election Commission ordered re-polls in 52 polling booths (30 in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, 11 in Uttar Pradesh and 11 in West Bengal) because of complaints of booth capturing, rigging, violence or as demanded by the locals. The re-poll was held on 13 May. In Uttar Pradesh, re-polls were held in 3 polling booths in Muzaffarnagar, 7 in Ferozabad and 1 in Badaun. Re-polling also occurred on 14 May in Arunachal Pradesh and on 15 May in the states of Nagaland and Haryana. The Left parties and BJP alleged mass rigging and booth capturing by Trinamool Congress at thousands of polling stations in West Bengal. AAP demanded re-polling in 108 booths. Congress demanded re-polling at 1,344 polling stations in Nagaland. Re-polling was done in two polling stations in Tamil Nadu on 10 May and in 3 polling stations in

(Rayalaseema & Coastal Andhra) on 13 May. In Bihar, there was re-polling on 2 polling stations of Sitamarhi on 11 May and 3 polling stations in Muzaffarnagar went to re-polling on 13 May. On 15 May, there was re-polling in one booth in Tamil Nadu, and at 5 booths in West Bengal, Bihar, Nagaland. It was reported that not a single voter turned up for a re-poll at 5 polling stations in Nagaland on 15 May. On 12 May, the Bombay High court declined to order supplementary polling for voters in Maharashtra whose names were missing from the electoral rolls. There were speculated to be as many as 100,000 voters missing from the electoral roll in Pune and as many as 200,000 missing from electoral roll in Mumbai.

Voting pattern

The BJP secured 39% support from first time voters, while Congress received 19% of the first time votes. The NDA won 39 of 74 seats where Muslim voters make up between 21 and 95% of the total electorate. The BJP won all 16 seats in Uttar Pradesh. It also secured 5 out of 9 such seats in Bihar. Analyst Saeed Naqvi believes that Amit Shah managed to convince Dalits and OBC voters to elect the BJP as "Muslim appeasers in an atmosphere of perpetual communal tension". The BJP won all 26 seats in Gujarat, marking the first time a single party won all seats in the state. The previous record was held by the Congress which won 25 of the 26 seats in the 1984 general election. The assembly segment-wise result of Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh shows that the BJP was number one in 328 seats, while the ruling SP led in just 42. Congress was ahead in 15, BSP 9 and Apna Dal 9. In 2012, SP had formed government by winning 224 assembly seats. BSP had won 80, BJP 47, Congress 28 and Apna Dal one. Similarly, in Maharashtra BJP-Shiva Sena alliance has got a lead in 246 assembly segments out of the total 288. By securing seven of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, BJP remained ahead on 52 assembly segments in the state. Its ally HJC could not win any of the Lok Sabha seats it contested, but its candidates remained ahead in seven assembly segments. BJP contested 8 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, leaving two constituencies for its alliance partner HJC. BJP candidates remained ahead in all 27 assembly segments of Ambala, Karnal and Faridabad parliamentary constituencies. BJP won all seats except Rohtak where its candidate Om Prakash Dhankar lost to Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's son and sitting MP Deepender Hooda.

Results

About one-third of all winners had at least one pending criminal case against them, with some having serious criminal cases. A candidate with criminal case(s) had 13% chance of winning the election, whereas a candidate with a clean record had only 5% chance of winning. (Here, chance of winning = .) Out of the 542 members analysed, 443 (82%) had total assets of or more. In the 15th Lok Sabha, out of 521 members analysed, 300 (58%) members had assets of or more. The average assets per member are (in 2009, this figure was ).

Proportionality

The proportionality of parliamentary seats won in the 2014 election, as measured by the

Gallagher index The Gallagher index measures an electoral system's relative Proportional representation, disproportionality between votes received and seats in a legislature. As such, it measures the difference between the percentage of votes each party gets and ...

, yielded an index score of 17.53, indicating a disproportionate outcome that strongly favoured the BJP while being significantly disadvantageous for most other parties and independents.

Results by Region

Summary

By alliance

(336)

(60)
Others (147)

By state

Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1) Andhra Pradesh (25) Arunachal Pradesh (2) Assam (14) Bihar (40) Chandigarh (1) Chhattisgarh (11) Dadra & Nagar Haveli (1) Daman & Diu (1) NCT of Delhi (7) Goa (2) Gujarat (26) Haryana (10) Himachal Pradesh (4) Jammu and Kashmir (6) Jharkhand (14) Karnataka (28) Kerala (20) 19 July 2018 Jose K Mani quit the lower house after being nominated to

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Lakshadweep (1) Madhya Pradesh (29) Maharashtra (48) Manipur (2) Meghalaya (2) Mizoram (1) Nagaland (1) Odisha (21) Puducherry (1) Punjab (13) Rajasthan (25) Sikkim (1) Tamil Nadu (39) Telangana (17) Tripura (2) Uttar Pradesh (80) Uttarakhand (5) West Bengal (42)

Reactions

Domestic

;;Economic The country's economic indicators were performing well in advance of the result in expectation of a BJP win, on the perception that Modi is business-friendly. The benchmark Sensex, BSE Sensex and CNX Nifty indices hit record highs and the

Indian rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve ...

strengthened following months of poor performance. On the result day, as early vote counts gave the BJP a majority lead, the Sensex reached a record high of 25,375.63 points. It ended the day at a new closing high of 24,121.74. The Nifty reached a record high of 7,563.50, before ending the day at a new closing high of 7,203. The Indian rupee rose to an 11-month high of 58.62 against the US dollar and closed at 58.79.

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

revised its December 2014 target for the Sensex to 28,000, and Macquarie revised its 12-month target for the Nifty to 8,400 from 7,200.

Edelweiss ''Leontopodium nivale'', commonly called edelweiss () ( ; or ), is a mountain flower belonging to the daisy or sunflower family Asteraceae. The plant prefers rocky limestone places at about altitude. It is a non-toxic plant. Its leaves and f ...

set its December 2014 targets for the Sensex and Nifty at 29,000 and 9,000 respectively. ;;Media '' India Times'' suggested that the election was watched in Pakistan with Modi being the less popular candidate than AAP's Kejriwal. Comparisons were made between the latter and the

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

. Analysts suggested a high turnout would favour the BJP as it indicates an increase in participation of urban voters who are the party's traditional vote bank. Others have suggested however, that this could indicate an increase in voting amongst the 150 million Muslims that generally support the INC. Varghese K George, the political editor of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' said that both readings rely on too many assumptions but that the only reading so far was the BJP was "doing well ndModi is managing to make some connection with voters and the Congress is doing pretty badly." ;;Politicians When it became clear that the BJP would win the election, Narendra Modi tweeted, "India has won! ''Bharat ki Vijay''. '' Ache din ane wale hai'' (good days are ahead)." This tweet instantly became India's most retweeted Twitter post. Manmohan Singh congratulated Modi by telephone. Congress President Sonia Gandhi accepted the defeat and congratulated the new government saying, "I congratulate the next government. I take full responsibility for the loss of Congress." Rahul Gandhi also did the same saying, "The new government has been given a mandate by the people. As Congress Vice President I hold myself responsible. The Congress party has done badly." Although the Congress had been voted out of power in past too, but this was the first time since the 1977 general elections that the Congress did not happen to be the single largest party in terms of percentage of votes obtained. At a voteshare of around 19%, it was the lowest ever share of votes polled by the Congress party nationally since the country's first general elections, surpassing the record of 25.82% voteshare polled in 1998 general elections. It was also for the first time in the history of the nation that INC had less than 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha, surpassing the record of 114 seats in 1999 general elections. Since the Congress had won less than 54 seats, it would be also for the first time in the history of the nation that a non-Congress government does not has an official LoP from the INC. Hence these results are considered to be the worst ever performance of the Indian National Congress in its history. Former Union Minister of Rural Development

Jairam Ramesh Jairam Ramesh (born 9 April 1954) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He is a Member of Parliament representing Karnataka state in the Rajya Sabha. In July 2011, Jairam was elevated to the Union Council of Minis ...

said, "I am surprised by the results, especially in Telangana and Jharkhand. There was clearly a Modi effect." At the

Congress Working Committee The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It is composed of senior party leaders and is r ...

(CWC) meeting on 19 May, general secretary Mohan Prakash claimed that Israeli intelligence agency

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

and the RSS had been working together since 2009 to defeat the UPA government. Prakash further claimed that this was because of Israel's unhappiness with the UPA government. According to him, this was because the UPA only had limited political relations with Israel, unlike the previous NDA government. Outgoing Finance Minister P. Chidambaram criticised the style of functioning and work culture at the Congress headquarters for the loss, and suggested adopting a more corporate approach. Some Congress members blamed Japanese communication agency

Dentsu , simply known as , stylized as dentsu, is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is the largest advertising agency in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in ...

, which had been hired by the party, at a cost of nearly 6 billion, to handle their election advertising campaign and image makeover of Rahul Gandhi along with another agency Burson-Marsteller. Chairman of the party's communication department

Ajay Maken Ajay Maken (born 12 January 1964) is a politician from the Indian National Congress party. He is the treasurer of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). A three time member of the Parliament ...

harshly criticised Dentsu India executive chairman Rohit Ohri for a "spineless campaign".

Priya Dutt Priya Dutt Roncon (born 28 August 1966) is an Indian people, Indian politician and social worker. She was elected for the first time to the 14th Lok Sabha from Mumbai North West (Lok Sabha constituency), Mumbai North West constituency in Mahara ...

, Secretary of the party's communication department, pointed out the gap between the people and the Congress leadership stating, "We need to bridge that gap. We need to bring that right up to the leadership. There is a lot of criticism. We have to look at where we have gone wrong in the past 10 years." ''

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

'' described the accusations against Mossad, RSS and Dentsu as "bizarre theories", and noted that "everyone except vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been held responsible for their crushing defeat." Union minister in the outgoing government Milind Deora told ''The Indian Express'' on 21 May that although "many factors" led to the party's defeat and Rahul's leadership alone could not be blamed, "it was not about one person's image but the people surrounding that person also. Deora stated that many party members felt that the decision makers in the party had "no electoral experience...no stature, standing, respect and credibility in the party". He accused the people who "were in charge of important departments and held key positions" of not listening to party cadres and MPs, which he believed prevented a "diverse opinion" from being heard and "shut out a lot of people". Deora stated, "A lot of us felt our voices were never heard. We felt our voices don't matter. This has to change. The MPs and ministers should not feel we are being not heard. It is not the advisors alone. The people who take the advice also have to bear responsibility. Those who gave advice and those who received the advice as also those who feel they can give better advice – all have to bear responsibility." Deora felt the party had to "open up" and "promote avenues for dissent and debate internally". When asked who was to blame, Deora said, "there are many people from top to bottom ... there was lack of coordination and the response was slow ... there was a very unresponsive attitude. ... the buck stops with the party." Although this statement received support from several Congress members, Deora clarified on Twitter, "My comments are out of emotions of deep loyalty to the party, pain of our performance & a sincere desire to see us bounce back. Nothing more." Senior party leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi expressed hope that an "honest and ruthless introspection" would be carried out fix the problems. He further stated that while Deora's statement may not have been fully correct, a "large portion of what he said is correct". Congress members such as Jairam Ramesh, Madan Gopal and Kanishka Singh criticised Rahul Gandhi's aides. ;;Individuals Rajnikanth congratulated Narendra Modi on Twitter for his "historic win". The actor also congratulated Jayalalithaa for her party's performance in the election. Tamil actor

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...

also tweeted congratulations to Modi. Several Bollywood celebrities including Subhash Ghai, Vishal Dadalani, Lata Mangeshkar, Ranvir Shorey, Vivek Oberoi, Baba Sehgal, Shekhar Kapur, Arshad Warsi, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Sangeeth Sivan, Kabir Bedi, Anupam Kher, Madhur Bhandarkar, Atul Kasbekar and Pritish Nandy tweeted congratulations to Modi and the BJP for their victory. President of Film Federation of India Ravi Kottarakara congratulated Modi "on behalf of the entire Indian film fraternity". CEO of the Film & TV Producers Guild of India Kulmmet Makkar described the "clear mandate" as being "great" for the Indian film industry. He also expressed "positive hopes" from the new government.

International

* – President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

sent congratulations. Karzai, who attended school in

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

, spoke to Modi in Hindi. Spokesperson Aimal Faizi tweeted, "President #Karzai extends his warm Congratulations to @narendramodi on victory in elections. Afghans always regard #India as a true friend" * – Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

called Modi to congratulate him. He tweeted, "I've spoken to @narendramodi and congratulated him on his success. I look forward to strengthening ties between India and Australia". He further said that he was looking forward to meet Modi during the upcoming G-20 Summit to be held in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in November 2014. * – Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

wrote, "The decisive verdict given by the people of your great country is a strong testimony to your dynamic, inspiring and visionary leadership qualities and manifestation of the trust and confidence reposed in you by the people of the largest democracy in the world. I am delighted to see a great friend of Bangladesh leading an extremely friendly country, India, in the coming days." She further stated, "I hope that you would find my country your second home and first destination for your official visit abroad". Hasina also sent a separate letter to BJP President

congratulating him and party members for their "landslide victory", on behalf of the

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief

Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

, and the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

also sent messages congratulating Modi. * – Prime Minister

Tshering Tobgay Tshering Tobgay (; born 19 September 1965) is a Bhutanese politician who is the seventh List of Prime Ministers of Bhutan, prime minister of Bhutan since 2024 and also served in office from 2013 to 2018. Tobgay is the leader of the People's Democr ...

and King

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (born 21 February 1980) is the fifth Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) of Bhutan. His reign began in 2006 after his father Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated the throne. A public coronation ceremony was held on 6 November ...

called Modi and congratulated him on his victory. * – Brunei Sultan

Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah Muiz'zaddin Wad'daulah (born 15 July 1946) is the List of sultans of Brunei, Sultan of Brunei since 1967, and Prime Minister of Brunei, prime minister of Brunei since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is one ...

sent a message of congratulations to Modi. In his message, the Sultan wished Modi success and looked forward to working with him to strengthen long-standing ties of friendship and co-operation between Brunei and India, including through work in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

and the Asean-India Dialogue. * – Canadian High Commissioner Stewart Beck said, "I had the pleasure to meet with Modi during his time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and I look forward to working with him to grow Canada's bilateral relationship with India. I also wish to congratulate the people of India on exercising their right to vote and showing the world the strength of their democratic system." Prime minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

sent a congratulatory message to Modi on 17 May. * – Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson

Hua Chunying Hua Chunying ( zh, s=华春莹; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China since 2024. She most notably served as spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After graduating ...

said, "China is willing to make joint efforts with the new Indian government, maintain high level exchanges, deepen cooperation in all areas and bring the China-India strategic partnership to new height." The Chinese government formally congratulated Modi on 23 May. The Chinese government had been waiting for Modi to be officially be sworn in before issuing a formal message, as they were conscious of protocol. Modi made four visits to China during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, resulting in over US$900 million worth of Chinese investments in Gujarat. Premier Li Keqiang congratulated Modi on 26 May. He stated that China viewed India as a "natural cooperative partner" and expressed his desire to work together for "peaceful, cooperative and common development" that would "not only bring benefits to their own people but also contribute to peace, stability and prosperity of Asia and beyond". * – Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called Modi and congratulated him on his victory. * – French Ambassador to India François Richier stated, "This massive vote of confidence highlights the vitality of Indian democracy. France is keen to work hand in hand with the new Indian leadership. Paris statement will follow formal announcement by Election Commission." President Francois Hollande congratulated Modi by telephone on 19 May. He invited him to come to France "when he wished". French Embassy officials stated, "He [Hollande] confirmed that he [Modi] would have France's support in the task at hand and reiterated his commitment to the strategic partnership and friendship between France and India, a partner and ally of France." * – On 15 May, the day prior to the results being declared, German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner stated, "An elected Prime Minister of India does not need a visa for Germany, he is welcome there". Chancellor Angela Merkel called Modi on 19 May, congratulated him on his victory and invited him to Berlin. * – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Narendra Modi to congratulate him. A statement read, "He [Netanyahu] said that he was looking forward to work with Mr. Modi and enhance bilateral cooperation". * – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Modi and congratulated him on his victory. * – Prime Minister Najib Razak congratulated Modi and the BJP on Twitter, and also stated that he was "looking forward to continuing strong Malaysia-India partnership" under the new government. * – President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom congratulated Modi and sent wishes for "every success and prosperity". The President stated that India had chosen "the most proficient leadership". Modi was also congratulated by former President Mohamed Nasheed on Twitter. Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Rajeev Shahare stated that relations between the countries would strengthen under the new prime minister. * – Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam sent a message to Modi on 16 May, congratulating Modi for "the impressive and well-deserved victory of his party". Ramgoolam stated that "these elections in the largest democracy of the world are yet again a testimony to the exceptional robustness of Indian democracy", and added that "Mauritius applauds and commends India for upholding her acclaimed democratic credentials to which Mauritius feels particularly attached". He further stated "your electoral victory is a defining moment in the contemporary history of your great country. It certainly reflects the trust that the people place in you to chart the future course of your nation. You embody the politics of hope and delivery to your people in their aspirations for development and prosperity". * – Prime Minister Sushil Koirala congratulated Narendra Modi on his victory and invited him to visit Nepal. President Ram Baran Yadav also called Modi and BJP President Rajnath Singh to congratulate them on the BJP's victory. * – Prime Minister John Key congratulated Modi by letter. Key expressed hope that the two countries would be able to negotiate a free trade agreement, which they began discussing in 2010. However, talks later stalled and the last round of discussions was held in July 2013. The Prime Minister stated, "We are sort of hopeful we can reignite the free trade agreement with Modi as the new Prime Minister. He has obviously been very pro-business and he has had an overwhelming mandate delivered to him so you can see the Indian people want and expect to see high levels of economic growth. One of those things is trade, so we are certainly going to be taking it up with the new Indian Government at the appropriate time." * – Prime Minister Erna Solberg called Modi and congratulated him on his victory. * – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated Modi and offered good wishes on the BJP's "impressive victory". Sharif also invited Modi to visit Pakistan. * – Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani congratulated Modi on his party's victory in the general election in a telephone conversation. * – President Vladimir Putin congratulated Modi and the BJP on the election victory gave a high assessment of the traditionally friendly ties between Russia and India. These ties have a foundation in the Declaration on Strategic Partnership, which was signed while the BJP was in power and set a development course for bilateral relations for years to come. * – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Modi and the BJP on Twitter and Facebook, and also stated that he was "looking forward to working with the new Indian Government to strengthen India-Singapore relations". Modi replied to the tweet stating, "@leehsienloong Thank you very much. Singapore is a valued friend & I am sure we will make our ties stronger in the times to come". Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote, "I recall our meetings and frank exchange of views since 2006 when I visited Gujarat. You have always shown a strong resolve to bring economic prosperity to the Indian people.... I am confident that you will lead India to greater heights as Prime Minister, and further build on the excellent ties between our two countries." * – President Jacob Zuma said in a statement on 17 May, "With India under the leadership of Mr Modi, the Government of South Africa looks forward to consolidating the strong bilateral political and economic relations that exist between our two sister Republics." * – President Mariano Rajoy sent a letter congratulating Modi on his "brilliant victory" in the election. Rajoy expressed his admiration for the "democratic spirit that reigned over such a complex election process". The President concluded his letter stating that he was looking forward to meeting Modi in person and offered his "warmest regards and deepest personal respect". * – President Mahinda Rajapaksa called Modi and congratulated him for a "great" victory. The President tweeted, "Called @narendramodi a short while ago; Congratulated on BJP victory & invited for a state visit to #SriLanka" * – Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay thanked the UPA government "or their unwavering support for the Tibetan people during its two full terms", and also congratulated the BJP-led NDA for their victory. * – Prime Minister David Cameron called Modi and congratulated him on the "election success" and stated that he was keen on working together, one of the first Western leaders to do. A spokesperson stated, "The prime minister called Narendra Modi this morning to congratulate him on his victory in the Indian elections and the record turnout, making this the biggest democratic election in history. Modi said he would be delighted to accept the Prime Minister's invitation to visit the UK. Both leaders agreed on the importance of the UK-India relationship and agreed to work together to strengthen it in the months ahead." Cameron also tweeted using his official account, "Congratulations @narendramodi on victory in India's elections. Keen to work together to get the most from UK-India relationship". British Foreign Minister William Hague stated, "I congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on their success and look forward to forging an even closer partnership with India in the months ahead. UK has strong ties with India and the British government looks forward to working with the new Indian government to build on this relationship and deliver security, growth and prosperity for both our nations." * – White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "We congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on winning a majority of seats in this historic election. Once the government is formed, we look forward to working closely with the prime minister and the Cabinet to advance our strong bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values. The prime minister of India will be welcomed to the US." The White House National Security Council tweeted, "US congratulates BJP on its victory in India's historic election. We look forward to working with government once formed to advance our partnership". Secretary of State John Kerry tweeted, "Congrats to @narendramodi and BJP. Look forward to working w/you/growing shared prosperity/security w/world's largest democracy". Narendra Modi responded to each tweet from world leaders thanking them for their support. The media reported the order in which Modi responded to the tweets, and noted that Barack Obama was the last to receive a reply from him. ''The New York Times'' observed that "the order in which he thanked them and one notable omission, later rectified, was more interesting than the content of the tweets themselves." The paper further stated, "The silence underscored what will be uncomfortable diplomatic theater in the weeks and months to come. The United States refused to issue Mr. Modi a visa in 2005 as a response to his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. As Mr. Modi's star rose in the past year, American leaders reached out, but a thaw on Mr. Modi's side has been almost imperceptible." State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said, "I think our relationship between the United States and India is so strong and enduring we won't worry about the Twitter rank order". John Kerry reiterated the United States' willingness to work with the new government as well as the importance of India-US relations on 20 May. He also added that he was looking forward to returning to India soon and "echo President Obama's invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit the United States at the earliest opportunity." ''The Times of India'' noted that the first leader to receive a tweet from Modi was David Cameron. The United Kingdom was among the first countries to end a US-led diplomatic boycott of Modi. ''Mint'' stated that Modi's "more expansive responses" were to the leaders of Japan and Russia. According to former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh, "It is natural that Modi feels affinity with some leaders who are strong leaders, proudly nationalistic, trying to fix the economy with firm measures." ; International media Prior to the announcement of the result, ''The Washington Post'' highlighted "...2014 will be the biggest year in the history of democracy, with more people than ever before going to the polls to decide their own fate...this really looks to be one of the most fascinating political events this year, and not just because of its scale...It's a fascinating moment in democracy, and one that shouldn't be ignored". ''The New York Times'' added that "the sheer size of the electorate makes this election the largest ever in the world and an inspiring celebration of universal adult suffrage," but also wrote "lurking behind the feel-good spectacle is the reality that India's elections are awash in illegal cash, serious violence and dirty tricks." ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' wrote of the election that the "process is awesome in its complexity, and the campaigns have given rise to robust debate...But here's something else not to miss: It's all pretty damn colorful." It highlighted five reasons that make the election interesting: Kejriwal's effect, Modi's wife; exit polls are barred but betting on the future prime minister was not and Modi was in the lead; "vote buying" through cash, alcohol or other means; and 3D computer graphics, 3D campaigning. It also predicted better India-Japan relations, relations with Japan at the expense of China–India relations, relations with China under Modi, and asked whether a redefinition of India and nuclear weapons, India's nuclear weapons program would result from the elections. An editorial in the ''China Daily'', the Chinese government's official English-language newspaper, compared Modi's "preoccupation with development" with China's "own experiences and development philosophy", and argued that this had "inspired unprecedented optimism here over our South Asian neighbour's growth potential". The paper also argued that "western rhetoric" which stated that both countries were "destined to stand against each other" had been proven wrong by the fact that India and China had "by and large, managed their differences well over the decades". It also welcomed Modi's invitation to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing-in ceremony. ;Individuals and organisations The 14th Dalai Lama sent a letter congratulating Modi for the BJP's "decisive victory". The Dalai Lama expressed hope that just as Modi had brought development and prosperity to Gujarat, India would continue to "flourish and prosper" under his leadership. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) congratulated Narendra Modi, and expressed hope that his leadership would further strengthen India's relations with the US and Israel. Director of AJC's Asia Pacific Institute (API) Shira Loewenberg stated, "We look forward to working with Modi and the new government to further strengthen and deepen India's extensive relations with the United States and Israel. BJP has long been a friend to Israel and the Jewish people."

Government formation

Manmohan Singh tendered his resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee on 17 May. He continued as caretaker Prime Minister, at the request of the President, until 26 May 2014, when Narendra Modi and his cabinet were sworn to office.Narendra Modi Sworn in as Prime Minister of India
''The Wall Street Journal'', 26 May 2014

Support for the new government

Though the above parties supported BJP, BJP had already won 282 seats (more than the majority number required) hence BJP did not need their support, also the new Prime Minister didn't include them in First Modi ministry, Council of Ministers. This situation was different from

, he had to include many parties of NDA in his cabinet, due to lack of seats.

Notes

References

External links

Election Commission of India website

List of Members Elected General Election of the 16th Lok Sabha, 2014
{{Indian elections 2014 Indian general election, 2014 elections in India, General April 2014 in India, General May 2014 in India, General General elections in India

Background

Organisation

Spending limit

Accessibility

Election Schedule

Campaign

Issues

Economy

Price rise

Corruption

Celebrity candidates

Parties and alliances

National Democratic Alliance

Bharatiya Janata Party

Others

United Progressive Alliance

Indian National Congress

Others

Left parties

Other parties

Surveys and polls

Opinion polls

Exit polls

Controversies

Voting

Turnout

Re-polls

Voting pattern

Results

Proportionality

Results by Region

Summary

By alliance

By state

Reactions

Domestic

International

Government formation

Support for the new government

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links