General Elections

General Election

Even though Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government had six and half months to go, the BJP and its NDA allies decided to go in for an early poll hoping they will return to power with a big bang and an increased tally.

The India Shining and the feel good factor campaigns were unleashed to mesmerise voters with the hype and also to showcase the “achievements” of the government. The BJP, which would normally contest elections by arousing people’s passions, changed its strategy and went into the fray on good governance and development planks. But its entire poll strategy proved to be elitist and failed to strike a chord with the masses.

On the other hand, the Congress fought the elections on the secular plank and exposed the government also on its failures in fulfilling promises made to the weaker sections. Its party president Sonia Gandhi toured the country using Indira Gandhi's political idiom to woo the voters.

In the end, Verdict 2004 stumped most of the poll surveys and even a large part of the media. BJP-led NDA lost and a coalition headed by the Congress was invited to form the government. Sonia Gandhi was chosen as the leader of the coalition but refused Prime Ministership setting unprecedented example of a politician sacrificing power. She nominated Manmohan Singh who became the Prime Minister in May 2004, ending six years of BJP rule.

- Pankaj Vohra, Political Editor, Hindustan Times