IFES Election Guide - Election Profile for India

Election Profile:

Country: India
Official Name: Republic of India
Election Type: Parliamentary
Stage One: April 16, 2009
Stage Two: April 23, 2009
Stage Three: April 30, 2009
Stage Four: May 7, 2009
Stage Five: May 13, 2009

Source for election date

At stake in this election:

543 seats in the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Pratibha PATIL *
Head of Government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH
Assembly: India has a bicameral Parliament (Sansad) consisting of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) with 250 seats and the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha) with 545 seats.

* The electoral college consists of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by electoral college to serve a 5-year term.
In the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) 250 members are to serve 6-year terms*. In the People's Assembly (Lok Sabha), 543 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms and 2 members are appointed by the president.

* Up to 12 seats are appointed by the president and the remaining members are chosen by elected members of the state and territorial assemblies

Main parties in the electoral race:

Party: India National Congress (INC)
Leader: Sonia GANDHI
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 145
Party: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Leader: Rajnath SINGH
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 138
Party: Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPIM)***
Leader: Prakash KARAT
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 43
Party: Socialist Party (SP) / Samajwadi Party
Leader: Mulayam Singh YADAV
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 36
Party: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
Leader: Laloo Prasad YADAV
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 21
Party: Majority Society Party / Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
Leader: Mayawati KUMARI
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 19
Party: Dravida Progressive Federation / Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
Leader: M. KARUNANIDHI
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 16
Party: Shiva Sena / (SS)
Leader: Bal THACKERAY
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 12
Party: Communist Party of India (CPI)
Leader: Shri A.B. BARDHAN
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 10
Party: Telugu Land Party / Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
Leader: N. Chandrababu NAIDU
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 5
Party: Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK)
Leader: K MANI
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 6
Party: Telangana Rashtra Samithi / (TRS)
Leader: K. Chandrashekar RAO
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 5
Party: Jharkhand Liberation Front (JMM) / Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
Leader: Shibu SOREN
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 5
Party: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)
Leader: V. GOPALSAMY
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 4
Party: Biju Janata Dal (BJD)
Leader: Naveen PATNAIK
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 11
Party: Akali Religous Party (SAD) / Shiromani Akali Dal
Leader: Parkash Singh BADAL
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 8
Party: Janata Dal - United (JDU)
Leader: N/A
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 8
Party: Bahujan Samaj Party
Leader: Mayawati KUMARI
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 19
Party: Lok Jan Shakti Party
Leader: Ram Vilas PASWAN
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 4
Party: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
Leader: Sharad PAWAR
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 9
Party: Janata Dal - Secular / (JD(S))
Leader: H.D. Deve GOWDA
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 19
Party: All India Forward Bloc
Leader: D.D. SHASTRI
Seats won in last People's Assembly election: 0

*** The Communist Party of India - Marxist formed a Third Front alliance with the Communist Party of India, The Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, the Forward Bloc, Janata Dal (Secular), the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and the Telugu Desam Party.