2014 general election
Also called: Sixteenth Lok Sabha election · Topic: Recent Developments in Indian Politics: Coalitions, Mandal and a New Consensus · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 8 "Recent Developments in Indian Politics"
Meaning
The 2014 general election chose the Sixteenth Lok Sabha. The BJP, led by Narendra Modi, won 282 seats. That was a majority on its own, the first time any single party had won a majority in 30 years. NCERT calls 2014 a "watershed", a turning point, because from 1989 every government had been a coalition or a minority government.
Example
The BJP did not need allies to stay in power, yet it still formed a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government with them. The Congress fell to 44 seats. In 2019 the BJP rose to 303 seats.
Don't confuse with
- 1984 general election: In 1984 the Congress won 415 seats. That was the last single-party majority before 2014. So 2014 was the first single-party majority in 30 years, not the first ever won by a party other than the Congress.