Indian general election, 2014

The Indian general election of 2014 was held to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha, electing members of parliament for all 543 parliamentary constituencies of India. Running in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014, it was the longest election in the country's history. According to the Election Commission of India, 814.5 million people were eligible to vote, with an increase of 100 million voters since the last general election in 2009, making it the largest-ever election in the world. Around 23.1 million or 2.7% of the total eligible voters were aged 18–19 years. A total of 8,251 candidates contested for the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The average election turnout over all nine phases was around 66.38%, the highest ever in the history of Indian general elections.

The results were declared on 16 May 2014, fifteen days before the 15th Lok Sabha completed its constitutional mandate on 31 May 2014. The counting exercise was held at 989 counting centres. The National Democratic Alliance won a sweeping victory, taking 336 seats. The BJP itself won 31.0% of all votes and 282 (51.9%) of all seats, while NDA's combined vote share was 38.5% . It is the first time since the 1984 Indian general elections that a party has won enough seats to govern without the support of other parties. The United Progressive Alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, won 58 seats, 44 (8.1%) of which were won by the Congress, that won 19.3% of all votes. It was the Congress party's worst defeat in a general election. BJP and its allies won the right to form the largest majority government since the 1984 general election.

General election

A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.

In presidential systems, the term refers to a regularly scheduled election where both the president, and either "a class" of or all members of the national legislature are elected at the same time but sometimes refers to special elections held to fill prematurely vacated positions. A general election day may also include elections for local officials.

The term originates in the elections in the United Kingdom for the House of Commons.

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India

The elections held to elect the members of the Lok Sabha after expiry of the normal term of five years are called the General Elections. Elections to some State Legislative Assemblies may be held along with the Parliamentary Elections. Earlier up to 1957 simultaneous elections were held for both the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies. However, on account of early dismissal and mid-term elections the two got separated.

India

India, officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also shaped the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

List of elections in 2014

The following elections occurred in the year 2014.

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Times Now

Times Now is a 24-hour English news channel in India. It is owned and operated by The Times Group.

History

The channel was launched in 2006 by Times Global Broadcasting Company Limited, a joint-venture of The Times Group (Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.) and Reuters. Sunil Lulla was hired from the Sony Entertainment Television as CEO. In 2008, Reuters exited the venture by selling back its 25.82 percent stake in Times Global to BCCL.

Associated journalists

Arnab Goswami is the Editor-in-Chief and news anchor of Times Now.

Hector Kenneth is Director of News Operations. After years as a journalist, he came into prominence for his reports from the Gaza Strip. Hector began his career in sports.

Maroof Raza is the consultant and strategic affairs expert.

Distribution

Along with the other Times group channels (Zoom, ET Now and Movies Now) Times Now is distributed by Media Network and Distribution (India) Ltd (MNDIL), which is a joint venture between The Times Group and Yogesh Radhakrishnan, a cable and satellite industry veteran, under the brand Prime Connect.