Congress Party Alliance wins Indian Elections
17 May 2009

The Indian Election Commission Sunday (May 17, 2009) announced results for all the 543 elected seats of the Lok Sabha (Indian Lower House), giving the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) victory with 262 seats, just 10 short of the halfway mark. The clear mandate won by the UPA in the Lok Sabha will help the new government under returning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh continue its policies on various flagship programmes as well as tackle the economic crisis, the Congress said Sunday.

Congress Party President Sonia Ganhi, wife of assassinated former PM Rajiv Gandhi, said that the electorate "had made the right choice". Returning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said "I express my deep sense of gratitude to the people for giving us this massive mandate".

Among the biggest losers were the main opposition; the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance under the leadership of L K Advani and the Communist Party-led Third Front led by Prakash Karat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). A surprise winner was Shashi Tharoor standing for the Congress Party in Kerala. An author, peacekeeper, refugee worker and human rights activist, Tharoor launched an unsuccessful bid to become UN secretary-general in 2006. Another surprise winner was Shatrughan Sinha standing for the BJP in Bihar. A former Bollywood actor, Sinha is best known for his famous action roles and popularly known as "Shotgun Sinha".

The focus of the Congress party has been on economic stability and growth while the BJP had been focusing on taxation and recovering money stashed in tax havens abroad. "If what a business leader most wants is stability, then I believe that the people have delivered a much more stable government than the last, which was run on the whim of the Communist Comrades of West Bengal," commented Vikas Pota, on his popular Indiabriefingcentre blog.

Overall, the 2009 elections have been largely peaceful, with few riots. The turnout was about 60%, a 2% increase on 2004 elections.