Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Indian General Election, 2009

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India will hold general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in 5 phases on April 16, April 22, April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, 2009. Results will be announced on May 16, 2009. The elections for 499 out of 543 Parliamentary Constituencies in all the states, NCT of Delhi and Union Territory of Puducherry (except Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland) will be held on the basis of the newly delimited constituencies as determined by the Delimitation Commission set up under the Delimitation Act, 2002

Elections in India for the Lok Sabha (the national parliament) must be held at least every five years under normal circumstances. With the last elections held in 2004, the term of the 14th Lok Sabha expires on June 1, 2009.

During the budget presented in February 2009, Rupees 1,120 Crores (Approx. EUR 180 M) was budgeted for election expenses.

Polling Schedule

The following is the polling schedule for states announced by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami on March 2nd, 2009:

April 16 - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep.

April 23 - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

April 30 - Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

May 7 - Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, westbengal and Delhi.

May 13 - Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Chandigargh and Puducherry

Lead up to the announcement of polling dates

India's Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami, had stated on December 28th, 2008, that the elections were likely to be held between April and May of 2009. He attributed this schedule to the examination period from February to March, making polling places unavailable.

Prime Ministerial Candidates


United Progressive Alliance Following the August 2008 confidence vote victory for the current government, a statement by Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi has caused speculation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the next elections. Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar has indicated that he is also a possible Prime Ministerial candidate post elections. On January 24th, 2009, Manmohan Singh underwent cardiac bypass surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Following the surgery, speculation of alternate PM candidates arose both within the Congress and amongst coalition partners. In an attempt to quell such speculations, Sonia Gandhi on February 6th, 2009, wrote in the Congress party magazine Sandesh that Manmohan Singh is the UPA coalition's Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2009 elections.

National Democratic Alliance The main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its coalition partners in the National Democratic Alliance, announced on December 11, 2007 that their candidate for prime minister would be BJP party leader Lal Krishna Advani, the Leader of the Opposition. On January 23, 2008, leaders from BJP and other NDA parties convened to officially elect him their candidate. No other party or alliance has announced a prime ministerial candidate.

United National Progressive Alliance A motley group of regional parties, as well as the Communist parties, have been striving to form a third front to counter the BJP-led and Congress-led alliances. Among the possible members are the United National Progressive Alliance, India's Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Once again, the media has speculated that Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, could potentially be projected as the front's Prime Ministerial candidate, but no official move has taken place yet. If Mayawati's party can win enough seats, she has openly stated that she would be willing to take the support of the national parties to become Prime Minister. No other candidate has publicly expressed interest in becoming Prime Minister thus far.

Coalition Member

*1 - Though not officially a UPA member, the Trinamool Congress announced on March 1st, 2009, that it would form an alliance with the Indian National Congress in the state of West Bengal for the 2009 general elections.


Reference News:

Reference News:

  1. ^ Election Commission of India announces 2009 election dates
  2. ^ Official press release by ECI announcing the 2009 election
  3. ^ Rs 1120 crore allocated for Lok Sabha polls
  4. ^ India to vote April 16-May 13 for a new government
  5. ^ Indian Parliament elections likely in April-May 2009
  6. ^ Manmohan PM candidate of the Congress: Sonia
  7. ^ Pawar won't give up on PM race
  8. ^ Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's bypass surgery update
  9. ^ Sonia does it again, picks Manmohan for PM job
  10. ^ India party declares PM candidate, BBC News Online, 11 December 2007
  11. ^ NDA endorses Advani as its prime ministerial candidate, The Hindu, 23 January 2008
  12. ^ Mayawati may rock Third Front.
  13. ^ Congress, Trinamool form alliance for LS polls

‹ 2004
Indian general election, 2009
543 seats
April 16, April 22, April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, 2009



Leader Manmohan Singh Lal Krishna Advani
Party Congress BJP
Leader's seat Assam
(Rajya Sabha)		 Gandhinagar
Last election 151 seats, 26.7% 130 seats, 22.2%


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_general_election,_2009#Prime_Ministerial_Candidates
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