A general election will be the next election for the 16th Lok Sabha in India. Voting will take place in all parliamentary constituencies of India to elect Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha. The current 15th Lok Sabha will complete its constitutional term on May 31, 2014.
Background :
By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be held at most every five years or whenever parliament is dissolved by the president. The previous election, to the 15th Lok Sabha, was conducted in April–May 2009 and its term would naturally expire on 31 May 2014. The election will be organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and are normally held in multiple phases to better handle the large electoral base and security concerns.
Since the last election, the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare, and other similar moves by Baba Ramdev, have galvanised a young population into political participation. Since the last general election, the BJP has made inroads by winning Vidhan Sabha control of Goa and winning despite a tradition of anti-incumbency in Punjab. However, it lost control of Uttaranchal, Himachel Pradesh and its southern bastion of Karnataka. It also failed in its having its nominated candidate with the 2012 presidential election, particularly after such allies as the Shiv Sena failed to follow coalition lines. Similarly, the Telangana movement for a separate Telengana from Andhra Pradesh also continued with agitations, including the initial central government decision to grant statehood and then rescind it after counter-protests. The move was accompanied by calls for other separate areas including Vidharba and Gorkhaland. Andhra politics was further shaken following death of its chief minister, Y. S. R. Reddy. His son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, then broke from the INC and founded the YSR Congress taking several politicians with him.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was chosen to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign after a party conclave in Goa. This came amid controversy Lal Krishna Advani opposed the decision and resigned from his party posts, only to later rescind his resignation. Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj were part of Team 2014, under Modi's leadership, for the campaign. Rajnath Singh, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani - who had opposed the decision to name Modi in favour of himself - would be the mentors for the BJP's campaign. A 12-member committee, which will be chaired by Modi, was appointed at the Goa conclave and will have other BJP stalwarts on its committee: M. Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Twenty sub-committees will assist the main committee with focus on such aspects of electioneering, including rallies, publicity, manifesto, social media, courting first time voters, "crowd sourcing" and a "charge-sheet" against the UPA. General Secretary Ananth Kumar said: "All the sub-committees will be steered under the leadership of Narendra Modi...The party has given Modi the responsibility of 2014 elections...Under his leadership the whole campaign will move forward," BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar said. Gadkari was also tasked with paying "special attention" to Delhi for its forthcoming assembly election; he will be assisted by Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu.
The Indian National Congress had announced, on the fourth anniversary of the second United Progressive Alliance government, that its campaign for the election would be led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, INC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary Rahul Gandhi. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said: "The government and the party have decided while Singh is the PM and Sonia is the Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi has energised the party cadre. So the 2014 elections would be fought under the leadership of the triumvirate." Sonia Gandhi appointed her son Rahul to head a six-member committee to formulate and implement alliances, the party manifesto and general publicity for the election.
In response to sagging opinion poll numbers for the general election, the INC sought to fast-track a decision on separating Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, create a coalition government with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Jharkhand, sought to take sole credit for the Food Security Bill and table a controversial landholding farmer-friendly Land Acquisition Bill.
For Further Infomation Please Click here
