Lok Sabha elections 2004-2024

Detail

Basic terms used in this note

• Coalition government: a government formed by two or more parties together, because no single party has a majority of its own.
• Majority in the Lok Sabha: the Lok Sabha has 543 elected seats, so a party or alliance needs 272 to form a government on its own.
• Collective responsibility (Article 75(3)): the whole Council of Ministers answers to the Lok Sabha together. If the government loses a trust vote (a vote in which the House says whether it still has confidence in the government), it must resign.
• Outside support: a party votes for the government in the Lok Sabha but does not take any ministerial posts in it.

2004: the Congress joins coalition politics

• The Congress also entered coalitions in a big way in 2004. Before this, it had mostly governed on its own.
• Result: the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lost. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power.
• UPA: the Congress-led coalition formed after the 2004 election.

• The Left Front gave it outside support.

• The Congress partly revived. Its seat count rose for the first time since 1991: Congress 145, BJP 138 (2004).

• Very close contest: the gap in votes between the two alliances was negligible (NCERT).
• Choice of PM: Sonia Gandhi declined the post, and Manmohan Singh became Prime Minister (May 2004).
• How the agenda was set:
• National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP): a shared list of policy promises that every coalition partner agreed to follow.

• National Advisory Council (NAC): an advisory body of activists and experts, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, that helped draft social laws.

• Rights-based laws of the UPA years. Each of these laws gives citizens a right they can claim by law, not just a welfare scheme:

• Right to Information Act, 2005: any citizen can ask a public authority for information.
• National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), 2005: 100 days of paid work a year for rural households that ask for it. It was renamed MGNREGA in 2009.
• Forest Rights Act, 2006 (Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act): it recognises the land and forest rights of forest dwellers.
• Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009: it puts Article 21A into effect. Article 21A was added by the 86th Amendment, 2002, and gives free education to children aged 6–14.
• National Food Security Act, 2013: a legal right to subsidised food grains.

The Indo-US civil nuclear deal and the Left's exit (2005-2008)

• What it is: a deal that gave India civil nuclear cooperation (nuclear fuel, reactors and technology for power, not weapons) even though India has not signed the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty).
• Steps in order:

Step	Date	What happened
1. Joint Statement	18 July 2005	India and the US announced the framework for cooperation [3]
2. Hyde Act	2006	A US law that exempted India from parts of the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954
3. 123 Agreement	finalised 2007; signed 10 October 2008 in Washington	Named after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954, which requires such an agreement [4]
4. Separation plan + IAEA safeguards	2008–09	India divided its civil and military nuclear sites. It put 14 of its 22 reactors under IAEA safeguards (international inspection). India signed the safeguards agreement in February 2009 [3]
5. NSG waiver	6 September 2008	The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG, a group of countries that controls nuclear trade) allowed its members to trade with India [3]

• Terms of the 123 Agreement: it runs for an initial 40 years and renews automatically. Either side can end it, for example if the other side conducts a nuclear test [3].
• Why it mattered: it ended about three decades of technology denial against India and ended India's nuclear isolation [4].
• Political crisis:
• The Left withdrew support in July 2008 because it opposed closer strategic ties with the US.
• The UPA then had to prove its majority, so it faced a trust vote in July 2008. It won, amid "cash-for-votes" allegations (claims that some MPs were bribed).
• The UPA completed its full term.

2009: UPA-II

• The Congress rose from 145 to 206 seats, and the BJP fell to 116 (2009).
• Manmohan Singh began a second term.
• Corruption allegations hurt UPA-II: the 2G spectrum case, the Commonwealth Games (2010) and coal block allocation.
• The 2011 anti-corruption movement (led by Anna Hazare) led to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
• Lokpal: an anti-corruption ombudsman at the Union level.
• Lokayukta: the same kind of body in each state.

2014: a "watershed"

• The BJP named Narendra Modi its PM candidate in September 2013.
• BJP 282 seats: the first single-party majority in 30 years (the last was the Congress in 1984).
• Even with a majority of its own, the BJP formed an NDA government with its allies.
• The Congress fell to 44 (2014).
• Leader of Opposition (LoP): by convention, a party needs at least one-tenth of the House (55 seats) to get this post. The LoP's pay and status come from the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.

• With 44 seats, the Congress fell short of 55, so there was no recognised LoP in 2014.

• NCERT calls 2014 a "watershed" (a turning point). It was followed by quick decisions in social, foreign and economic policy.

2019: the 17th Lok Sabha

• BJP 303, Congress 52 (2019). The Congress was again short of 55, so there was again no recognised LoP.
• Other parties in NCERT's 17th Lok Sabha table: DMK 24, Shiv Sena 18, JD(U) 16, BJD 12, BSP 10.
• The lesson: coalition politics stayed relevant even when one party had a majority.

2024: the 18th Lok Sabha (verify current)

• Results declared on 4 June 2024 for all 543 seats. MPs from 41 parties were elected [2].
• Party positions (2024):

Party / alliance	Seats (2024)
BJP	240, short of 272 [2]
NDA total	293
TDP / JD(U)	16 / 12, the key allies
INDIA bloc total	about 234
Congress	99 [2]
Samajwadi Party	37, the largest party in UP [2]

• INDIA bloc (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance): an opposition alliance formed in July 2023 to take on the NDA.
• Mix of parties (2024): national parties won 346 seats (64%) and state parties 179 (33%) [2].
• Who was elected (2024):
• 74 women MPs (14%), down from 78 in 2019 [2].

• 52% were first-time MPs [2].

• Turnout (2024):

• 65.79% voter turnout at polling stations [5].
• 97.97 crore registered electors (2019: 91.20 crore).

• 64.64 crore votes cast (2019: 61.4 crore) [6].

• Third term: Modi began a third consecutive term in June 2024, the first PM to do so since Nehru.

• The LoP returned: with 99 seats, the Congress crossed the one-tenth mark. Rahul Gandhi (Rae Bareli) became the Leader of Opposition, with effect from 9 June 2024 [7].
• Coalition dependence came back. The government once again relies on its allies for a majority.

The big pattern, 2004-2024

• 2004-2014: a Congress-led coalition (UPA), first with Left support and later without it.
• 2014-2024: one party had a majority (BJP), but it still governed through the NDA.
• 2024 onwards: a BJP-led coalition in which allies matter again.

Prelims Hooks

• 2004: Congress 145, BJP 138. This was the first rise in Congress seats since 1991, and the Left Front gave the UPA outside support.
• 2009: Congress 206, BJP 116. 2014: BJP 282, Congress 44. 2019: BJP 303, Congress 52. 2024: BJP 240, Congress 99, SP 37.
• 2014 gave the first single-party majority since 1984, yet an NDA coalition government was still formed.
• The name "123 Agreement" comes from Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954, not from any Indian law.
• NSG waiver: 6 September 2008. India put 14 of 22 reactors under IAEA safeguards, and the 123 Agreement runs for an initial 40 years.
• The Left withdrew support in July 2008. The UPA survived the trust vote. A trust vote follows from Article 75(3) (collective responsibility to the Lok Sabha).
• The LoP needs at least one-tenth of the House (55 seats) by convention, and the post is backed by statute (the 1977 Act). There was no LoP in 2014 or 2019, but there has been one since June 2024.
• Match the laws to their years: RTI 2005, NREGA 2005, Forest Rights 2006, RTE 2009 (Article 21A, 86th Amendment 2002), NFSA 2013, Lokpal and Lokayuktas 2013.
• 2024 turnout was 65.79%. There were 74 women MPs, fewer than the 78 in 2019.

Mains Points

• Coalitions as a normal part of politics (GS-I/II): 2004-2024 shows the coalition era did not end with single-party majorities.
• In 2014 and 2019 the BJP still governed through the NDA.
• In 2024 allies such as the TDP and JD(U) became pivotal again.
• Upside: this brings in regional voices and strengthens federal bargaining.

• Downside: allies can block or delay policy, as the Left did with the nuclear deal in 2008.

• Rights-based governance under a coalition: the NCMP and NAC model turned welfare into legal rights (RTI, MGNREGA, RTE, NFSA). The debate is about who should shape policy: advisory bodies outside Parliament, or a Cabinet answerable to Parliament.

• Weak opposition and the LoP convention: in 2014-2024 the Congress was below the 10% mark, so there was no LoP.
• This weakened opposition input wherever the law gives the LoP a role, for example the CVC, the CIC and the Lokpal selection committee.

• Reform idea: recognise the leader of the largest opposition party in law, whatever its strength.

• Foreign policy vs coalition survival: the 2008 nuclear deal showed a government putting a strategic choice ahead of its coalition. The UPA lost the Left but survived a trust vote. This shows how Article 75(3) accountability works in practice.