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Indian general election, 2014

← 2009 Before 31 May 2014 (2014-05-31)
← outgoing members
All 543 seats in the Lok Sabha 272 seats needed for a majority
File:Flag of the Indian National Congress.svg Leader Narendra Modi Party INC BJP Alliance UPA NDA Leader's seat Did not contest Last election 262 seats, 37.22% 137 seats, 10.63% Current seats 228 137 Seats needed 44 135
Incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh INC

A general election will be the next election for the 16th Lok Sabha in India. Voting will take place in all parliamentary constituencies of India to elect members of parliament in the Lok Sabha. The current 15th Lok Sabha will complete its constitutional term on 31 May 2014.

Background

By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be held at most every five years or whenever parliament is dissolved by the president. The previous election, to the 15th Lok Sabha, was conducted in April–May 2009 and its term would naturally expire on 31 May 2014. The election will be organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and are normally held in multiple phases to better handle the large electoral base and security concerns.

Since the last general election, the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare, and other similar moves by Baba Ramdev, have galvanised a young population into political participation. The BJP has also made inroads by winning the Vidhan Sabha in the Goa election and winning despite a tradition of anti-incumbency in Punjab. However, it lost governing in Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and its southern bastion of Karnataka to the INC. It also failed in its having its nominated candidate with the 2012 presidential election, particularly after such allies as because the Shiv Sena and Janta Dal (United) failed to follow coalition lines. Similarly, the Telangana movement for a separate Telengana from Andhra Pradesh also continued with agitations, including the initial central government decision to grant statehood and then rescind it after counter-protests. The move was accompanied by calls for other separate areas including Vidharba and Gorkhaland. Andhra politics was further shaken following death of its chief minister, Y. S. R. Reddy. His son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, then broke from the INC and founded the YSR Congress taking several politicians with him.

On 8 December 2013, four 2013 elections in India resulted in victories or pluralities for the BJP in all provinces. The BJP won Rajasthan from the INC, it won a plurality in the INC bastion of Delhi (where there is a hung assembly) and held on to Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. The BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, was credited in the media for the result. However, in Madhya Pradesh the party's national vice-president and MP Prabhat Jha said of the Muslim vote: "Definitely they voted for us. More than 70% of the Muslim voters backed BJP’s programmes and policies." Indore Qazi Abdul Rehman Farooqui suggested that it was Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that ensured the result was an even bigger BJP majority saying that "had Modi not been projected as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Chouhan would have got more votes." The BJP's Arun Jaitley suggested the INC-led UPA government was now a lame duck.

Organisation

Use of technology

In January 2013, the Election Commission of India announced that it would be using an SMS based alert system called Communication Plan for Election (COMET) during the election. The system, aimed at sending messages to the millions of government officials on election duty, was successfully deployed in the provincial assembly elections in Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur in early 2012 and in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in late 2012. The COMET system "uses coded text messages through mobile phones to collect data about officials, information about scheduled events like staff reaching the polling station, mock polls conducted, start of polling, voting percentages every two hours, number of voters in after voting time was over, and whether the poll party reached safely at the high security Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs) deposit centre." The system would also send alerts to the local police in case of disturbances at any polling station.

Campaign

The price of onions, a staple in Indian cuisine, also faces a dramatic price increase. In the lead up to the election, consumer price inflation increased more than expected while, paradoxically, industrial production fell by more than expected causing a dilemma amid slowing growth.

Issues

On 30 July 2013, the Congress Working Committee unanimously passed a resolution for the creation of Telangana. It formally requested the INC-led central government to make steps in accordance with the constitution of India for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and the re-creation of Telengana. This was seen as an attempt by the INC to merge the Telangana Rashtra Samiti into itself for the general and provincial election after being marginalised in the Rayalseema and coastal regions by the YSR Congress. All-India Congress Committee general secretary for Andhra Pradesh Digvijay Singh said that TRS leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao had "repeatedly said that once Telangana was announced, he would merge his party with the Congress. We will await his decision and will be favourably inclined to accept the offer of a merger." TRS welcomed the decision, with Rao saying that his party was fine with Hyderabad being the joint capital for 10 years; Ongole was then suggested as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. YSR Congress party leader Jaganmohan Reddy said that he opposed the decision and would agitate against it, as all its MLAs resigned over the issue. However, former party member Konda Surekha attacked the party and its leader saying that he had backtracked on plenary party meeting supporting the issue. Andhra Pradesh BJP president G. Kishan Reddy gave credit for the move to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in saying that the INC took active interest in the issue after Modi had announced a tour to Hyderabad for 11 August. The BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar suggested that the INC move was under pressure and "that's why we will watch carefully and see whether the intention again to backstab or to really give Telangana, and will watch till Telangana is formed." He added that the BJP supports the creation of "Telangana and Vidarbha’s demand. announcement is the victory of the people of Telangana. BJP has always been in favour of Telangana. Congress promised it in 2004 but dilly-dallied for nine years. It has been a story of the struggle of the people of Telangana and nine years of betrayal by the Congress. The NDA’s agenda in 1999 promised creation of three states, and it was honoured. The Congress, in contrast, made a promise in 2004 but betrayed people for nine years." BJP national President Rajnath Singh re-iterated support and added, in regards to requests for the creation of Gorkhaland and Bodoland, "We were in favour of the Second States Reorganisation Commission earlier too. We now demand that the government should set it up and seek a report within a specific timeframe. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha also reacted in announcing an indefinite strike in calling for Gorkhaland. Meanwhile, the national Home Ministry said that due to the lack of development in the proposed areas and the proximity to other hotbeds in Chhattishgarh's Bastar and Maharashtra's Gadchiroli regions it could turn into a hotbed for the activities of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) if the administration is not quickly consolidated.

Bloomberg also highlighted India's slowing economy amidst a record high current account deficit and a falling rupee in summer 2013. It pointed out to a lack of infrastructure investment and a government increasingly likely to give subsidies the national finances cannot afford just before the election. Other points it mentioned were stagnant policymaking and an inefficient bureaucracy.

Parties

National Democratic Alliance

Bhartiya Janata Party

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was chosen to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign after a party conclave in Goa. This came amid controversy Lal Krishna Advani opposed the decision and resigned from his party posts, only to later rescind his resignation. Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj were part of Team 2014, under Modi's leadership, for the campaign. Rajnath Singh, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani would be the mentors for the BJP's campaign. A 12-member committee, which will be chaired by Modi, was appointed at the Goa conclave and will have other BJP stalwarts on its committee: M. Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Twenty sub-committees will assist the main committee with focus on such aspects of electioneering, including rallies, publicity, manifesto, social media, courting first time voters, "crowd sourcing" and a "charge-sheet" against the UPA. BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar said: "All the sub-committees will be steered under the leadership of Narendra Modi...The party has given Modi the responsibility of 2014 elections...Under his leadership the whole campaign will move forward." Gadkari was also tasked with paying "special attention" to Delhi for its forthcoming provincial assembly election; he will be assisted by Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The sub-committees will be composed of the following:

The manifesto committee will be led by Murli Manohar Joshi and will also feature Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh, MP Yashwant Sinha, former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Sushil Kumar Modi, Shahnawaz Hussain and others. A vision document, to be released with the manifesto to show what the NDA has achieved, will be prepared by Gadkari and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.

The publicity management with be led by Swaraj and MP Arun Jaitley with the aid of general secretary Amit Shah and Sudanshu Trivedi. The first time voters, about 20 percent of the electorate, will be managed for the party by Shah, Sidhu and two others. The programme to reach out to professionals will be organised by Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Prakash Javadekar and others. Crowd sourcing will be managed by Dharmendra Pradhan and Rameshwar Chaurasia. Other sub-committees include a team for traditional campaigns composed of Smriti Irani and two others.

Managing the "charge-sheet" against the "misrule" of the UPA in the central government and the provinces, would be Deputy Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, his Rajya Sabha counterpart MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and four others.
Others that will be supporting the campaign — many of whom are members of the Sangh Parivar - will be organised into the campaign by a team led by Gadkari and including Uma Bharati and five others. From August 2013, the party would organise over 100 rallies and will be planned and executed by Ananth Kumar and general secretary Varun Gandhi.

BJP's Mumbai leader, Ashish Shelar, was said to have kicked of campaign advertisements in the city with Modi's remarks in a summer 2013 interview with Reuters in which he said "I am a Hindu Nationalist." Singh said from the U.S.A.: "It's not necessary that party president should also be a crowd puller and a prime ministerial candidate. I have an assignment to do for my party. I have a job to deliver – that is victory of the party in the 2014 elections. Seven months before the elections, I have nominated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as Chairman of the party's Election Campaign Committee. What is unusual in that? We have nominated Modi like other parties do and why read between lines. I have named him as campaign head in view of his image, popularity and commitment to the party." He added that more coalition partners would come in as development would be the key issue and not Ram Janmabhoomi.

In the last weekend in September, Modi spoke to a rally of more than 200,000 people in New Delhi at a Japanese Park rally (unusual for a non-INC rally) following a rally of 500,000 in Bhopal. His slogan was "Badlo Dilli" (Change Delhi) in reference to the national election and the Delhi provincial assembly election. He also controversially referred to the INC's Rahul Gandhi as "Shahzada" saying: "The issue is whether the country will run as per the constitution or as per the whims of Shahzada. This is conflict between dynasty and democracy." His speech included four parts: Targeting Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's three terms in office as a mere ceremonial role and that her role in the 2010 Commonwealth Games squandered a chance to bring honour to the country due to the corruption scandals; he then focused on the "cult of corruption" and that the UPA's affection for Mohandas Gandhi was reduced only to collecting big currency notes that bear his photo; thirdly, he focused on corruption, misgovernance and the subsequent policy paralysis of the UPA government; and lastly, he focused on individuals gre in the democratic setup of the BJP as opposed the dynastic role of the INC. With his development credentials in Gujarat, he referenced the rise of the Gujarati middle class of six crores was turned to how Indians can develop with the rise of 1.25 billion people. The business community was in favour of Modi becoming prime minister.

United Progressive Alliance

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress had announced, on the fourth anniversary of the second United Progressive Alliance government, that its campaign for the election would be led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, INC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said: "The government and the party have decided while Singh is the PM and Sonia is the Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi has energised the party cadre. So the 2014 elections would be fought under the leadership of the triumvirate." Sonia Gandhi appointed her son Rahul 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 and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Jharkhand, sought to take sole credit for the Food Security Bill and table a controversial landholding farmer-friendly Land Acquisition Bill.

Rahul Gandhi criticised a UPA government ordinance that would allow convicted politicians to contest elections. "I tell you what my opinion on the ordinance is: That it is complete nonsense. It should be torn up and thrown away. That’s my opinion. The arguments that are being made in my organisation is that we need to do this because of political considerations. Everybody does this."

Others

Fourteen polltical parties including four Left parties, AIADMK, JD(U), SP, BJD, NCP, JD(S), Naga People's Front, Sikkim Democratic Front, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and RPI (Prakash Ambedkar) participated in a convention of the parties not in alliance with the NDA nor UPA, which was held on 30 October 2013.

Aam Admi Party

Following a surprise showing in the Delhi Legislative Assembly election, 2013, the Aam Aadmi Party was said to be considering partaking the general election. The party's leader Arvind Kejriwal announced that his party would contest all 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat. The party's Prashant Bhushan said that the party would "press for decentralisation of powers and participation of the people in policy making at the central level" and that fundamental changes would be sought in the police and bureaucratic system to increase accountability. Party spokesman Manish Sisodiya said: "We have launched a drive called 'Mission Buniyad' to recruit at least 10 members in every district of Gujarat. This process will be over by the month end. Despite the order from the Supreme Court, the Gujarat government is not issuing notification for the appointment of new Lokayukta. The present Lokayukta law of Gujarat is very weak and does not help in controlling corruption in the state. In the near future we will fight for a strong Lokayukta in the state like we are fighting for a strong Jan Lokpal at the centre." [sic] The party's Madhya Pradesh Secretary Akshay Hunka added: "We will definitely contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh and will be in a position to decide the number of seats we will be contesting in nearly a month’s time."

Janata Dal (United)

The media speculated that Modi still have a chance of gaining in Bihar at the expense of Kumar's party. During the coalition, 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. His popularity was seen as a test case in Bihar and if the BJP could increase its tally or the JDU could; it even speculated if Lalu Prasad Yadav could make a 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 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 politics.

national youth party gujarat state president announce to fight all 26 seat of gujarat.. pratik chavelikar is youngest state president of india.

Rashtriya Janata Dal

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasd Yadav of RJD 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."

Controversy

Incidents

Just prior to a scheduled rally in Patna in October 2013, eight bombs exploded causing five deaths.

Media

In the run-up to the election the media in India have been criticised for its establishment ties between family owners and political parties. This has caused self-censorship and editorial dismissals at certain media outlets, such as The Hindu for its ties to the INC.

Opinion polls

A survey of first time voters suggested Modi was the most popular prime ministerial candidate and Mamata Banerjee was the most popular outside the BJP or INC.

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External links

• Election Commission of India website

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