India's 2014 elections: the BJP's Victory: Sagarika Dutt reviews the triumph of Narendra Modi's party in the recent Indian elections.

• Author: Dutt, Sagarika

The Indian general elections of 2014 to the 16th Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) were held between 7 April and 12 May. More than 500 million people cast their vote in these elections, and it is estimated that the turnout was the highest ever in the country's history. After a vigorous election campaign, the BJP, led by its idiosyncratic leader Narendra Modi, performed better than expected, winning the elections in a landslide and forming the new government. The international response to the BJP's triumph has been positive. The need to attract foreign direct investment was a key feature of the 2014-15 union budget presented by the new government in July.

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'On 16 May 2014 the people of India gave their verdict. They delivered a mandate for development, good governance and stability.' (Prime minister's official website) (1)

The Indian general elections of 2014 to the 16th Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) was held in nine phases between 7 April and 12 May in 28 Indian states and seven Union territories. India is the world's largest democracy and according to the Election Commission of India more than 800 million voters were eligible to vote in these elections, out of which 553.8 million cast their vote, resulting in a turnout of 66.4 per cent at the all India level. (2) An Indian newspaper noted that 'The turnout witnessed in this year's Lok Sabha elections has broken all records and is the highest ever in the history of the country'. In some states the turnout exceeded 80 per cent, for example, Nagaland, Tripura and West Bengal, all in the east and north-east of the country. Another notable feature of the elections was that in many states women's turnout was higher than that for men. These include Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Orissa, and Sikkim, among others. (3)

While the two main political parties contesting the elections were the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), there were a number of other parties that participated in the elections including the new Aam Aadmi Party founded by Arvind Kejriwal, and several well known regional parties like the Trinamool Congress, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Telegu Desum, the Shiv Sena, the Biju Janata Dal and the Shiromani Akali Dal. Incidentally, some of them have swept the polls in state elections, for example, the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha. (4) In the Seemandhra Assembly polls, the Telegu Desum Party and its electoral partner, the BJP, have returned to power after a gap of ten years. In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress won 34 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats (while the BJP won just two) and its fiery leader, Mamata Banerjee, continues to have a strong voice in West Bengal politics.

Relative performances

The exit polls predicted a BJP victory and 'the worst ever defeat for the Congress party led by its vice president, Rahul Gandhi, (5) son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and grandson of Indira Gandhi. The BJP actually performed even better than expected, winning 282 seats. The Lok Sabha has 543 seats, and only 272 seats are needed to win the elections. In recent decades both the Congress and the BJP have formed coalitions with other minor political parties to form a government, but this time the BJP could have formed a government on its own. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance now has 337 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Congress, on the other hand, as predicted has performed dismally, securing only 43 seats. The Congress-led UPA alliance, with a total of only 58 seats, is struggling to be the principal opposition party in the Lok Sabha. (6) The BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, who was also chief minister of Gujarat state, one of the fastest growing states in India, for thirteen years, led its campaign. The day after the election results were declared, the Statesman newspaper noted that 'led by the populist and aggressive Gujarat chief minister and its prime ministerial nominee, Modi, [aged] 64, the BJP powered its way across the country, sweeping through north [ern] and western India, and even making deep inroads into southern, eastern, and north-eastern parts of the country.' A triumphant BJP leader, Murli Manohar Joshi, said that there was a 'huge wave' for change in support of the BJP and Narendra Modi is on 'top of this wave'. (7)

In a developing state, the focus of any election campaign has to be on economic development. The BJP's election manifesto asserted that its government will be 'an enabler and facilitator in the rapid progress of' the Indian states. It will 'evolve a model of national development, which is driven by the states'. (8)...