How India Managed the World's Largest Democratic Election in 2009
In short: In 2009, India conducted a massive five-phase general election involving 716 million registered voters. It was a logistical feat that required over 1.3 million electronic voting machines and nearly 830,000 polling stations. This historic event also marked the first time two different officials oversaw phases of the same national election.
The 2009 general election was a complex, triangular contest between the incumbent United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and a newly formed Third Front. The UPA, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sought re-election after completing a full five-year term, a feat not achieved by a prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962. The campaign was notable for the Congress party's decision to officially declare Singh as its prime ministerial candidate, a first in the party's history, aimed at silencing internal speculation following his cardiac surgery in January 2009.
Logistically, the election was defined by the 2002 Delimitation Commission's work, which redrew 499 of the 543 parliamentary constituencies based on the 2001 census. This massive restructuring meant that many voters faced new geographical boundaries and demographic shifts. To manage the scale, the Election Commission of India (ECI) deployed 1,368,430 electronic voting machines and increased the number of polling stations by 20% compared to 2004. These measures were designed to mitigate security risks and reduce travel distances for voters, including a unique station in the Gir Forest that served only one elector.
The election process was further complicated by an unprecedented internal conflict within the ECI. In early 2009, Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami recommended the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, citing partisan behavior. When the government rejected this, it led to a situation where Gopalaswami retired on 20 April 2009, and Chawla assumed the role the following day. Consequently, they became the first two individuals in Indian history to oversee different phases of the same national election. Despite these tensions and the volatile nature of coalition politics, the UPA returned to power with an increased majority, supported by 322 of the 543 elected members.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: 2009 Indian general election
- Also: Wikidata — 2009 Indian general election · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — 2009 Indian general election in Uttar Pradesh · CC0
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