2004 Indian General Election

The India Shining upset

20 April 26 April, 5 and 10 May 2004 · The UPA decade · 543 seats, 272 for a majority

General elections were held in India in four phases between 20 April and 10 May 2004. Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the 14th Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister before

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

BJP

Prime Minister after

Manmohan Singh

INC

Largest force

Indian National Congress

145 of 543 seats

Turnout

58.1%

The result

Sort by

Indian National Congress

Sonia Gandhi · 26.5% of votes

145

seats

Bharatiya Janata Party

Atal Bihari Vajpayee · 22.2% of votes

138

seats

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Harkishan Singh Surjeet · 5.7% of votes

seats

Samajwadi Party

4.3% of votes

seats

Rashtriya Janata Dal

2.4% of votes

seats

Bahujan Samaj Party

5.3% of votes

seats

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

1.8% of votes

seats

Shiv Sena

1.8% of votes

seats


Indian National Congress	218	Sonia Gandhi	145	—	10,34,08,949	26.5%	-1.8
Bharatiya Janata Party	181	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	138	—	8,63,71,561	22.2%	-1.6
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	60	Harkishan Singh Surjeet	43	—	2,20,70,614	5.7%	+0.3
Samajwadi Party	—	—	36	—	1,68,24,072	4.3%	—
Rashtriya Janata Dal	—	—	24	—	93,84,147	2.4%	—
Bahujan Samaj Party	—	—	19	—	2,07,65,229	5.3%	—
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	—	—	16	—	70,64,393	1.8%	—
Shiv Sena	—	—	12	—	70,56,255	1.8%	—

110 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.