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Office
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THE ELECTION COMMISSION
Chief Election Commissioner
T S Krishna Murthy
23720012
23717027
B B Tandon
23739933
Election Commissioners
B B Tandon
23720013
23717035
23355631
N Gopalaswami
23716552
23713689
23711023
SECRETARIAT
Deputy Election Commissioners
Dr. Noor Mohammad
23717047
23717049
23717059
A N Jha
23356025
23715028
23318506
Principal Secretaries
Anand Kumar
Rajesh Aggarwal
23717039
23717043
23355623
23716557
Secretaries
K R Prasad
S K Kaura
A K Majumdar
Tapas Kumar
K Ajay Kumar
R K Srivastava
K F Wilfred
23318497
23717045
23710318
23717164
23710221
23717338
23052026
23356027
23717025
23319179
23052007
23711850
22598836
23052010
Legal Counsel
S K Mendiratta
23716712
23357542
Advisor
K J Rao
23714197
23717153
Consultant
S P Singh
23356026
23717080
T S Krishna Murthy
N Gopalaswami
From the Desk of the Chief Election Commissioner
I
t is the duty of the Election Commission of India,
under the Constitution, to hold free and fair elections,
to both the Houses of Parliament, State Legislatures
and the offices of the President and Vice-President of India.
The Election Commission of India, an independent
constitutional authority, has played a fundamental and
critical role in the evolution of Indian democracy and the
same has been acclaimed by the international community.
The Commission has recently completed successfully
General Elections, 2004 to the House of the People and
four State Legislative Assemblies. These elections witnessed
the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which are
reliable and temper proof, for the first time in all the
Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies. All stakeholders hailed the use of EVMs. These elections had fewer
incidents of violence. The credit for this goes mainly to
Central Para-military and Police Forces of various States. I
compliment them for a great job done. The Commission
made strenuous efforts to increase awareness among the
electors. It was the endeavour of the Commission that the
general elector emerges as a winner in these elections. The
media was versatile and played an important role. They
were instrumental in bringing various critical issues to the
fore for the benefit of the general elector.
The Commission used to bring out a Newsletter titled
‘Documentation Quarterly’, which was discontinued for
various administrative reasons. A communication gap
between the general elector and the Commission has been
felt since then. I am happy that the new quarterly
publication titled ‘Election India’ is reviving the practice.
I am sure that all will welcome this initiative.
Editorial Board: Dr. Noor Mohammad, AN Jha, Anand Kumar,
Rajesh Aggarwal, S K Mendiratta, K J Rao
Design Assistance: Anjuli Vijay, Mohit Kaicker
Designed and produced by: India Tourism Development Corporation for the
Election Commission of India. Printed at: Rakesh Press, New Delhi
(T S KRISHNA MURTHY)
Chief Election Commissioner of India
2
The Election News
Mr. J M Lyngdoh demits the office
Mr. J M Lyngdoh, Chief Election Commissioner of
India, demitted office on 7 February, 2003. He was
conferred upon a 2003 Magasaysay Award for
Government Service in recognition of his convincing
validation of free and fair elections in Gujarat and Jammu
& Kashmir held in the year 2002 and best hope of secular
democracy in strife torn India. Mr. Lyngdoh served as
Election Commissioner of India from 1 March, 1997 to
12 June, 2001 and as Chief Election Commissioner of
India from 13 June, 2001 to 7 February, 2004.
Mr. J M Lyngdoh biding goodbye to Mr. T S Krishna Murthy and
Mr. B B Tandon, Election Commissioners and Justice (Retd) Kuldeep
Singh, Chairman, Delimitation Commission of India
Mr. T S Krishna Murthy takes over as the Chief Election Commissioner of India
Mr. T S Krishna Murthy taking charge
as Chief Election Commissioner of India
Mr. T S Krishna Murthy, Election Commissioner of India took over as the new
Chief Election Commissioner of India on 8 February, 2004. Mr. Krishna Murthy
was appointed as Election Commissioner of India on 30 January, 2000 after over
36 years of distinguished Civil Service. He served on the panel of fiscal experts for
the International Monetary Fund in 1996 and 1998. Mr. Krishna Murthy holds a
Degree in Law & Post Graduate Degrees in Economics and Fiscal Studies.
Mr. Krishna Murthy retired from Civil Service as Secretary to the Government of
India, Department of Company Affairs in the year 1997. He was the first Chairman
of Investor Protection and Education Fund set up by the Government of India to
look after the interests of corporate investors.
Mr. N Gopalaswami is the new Election Commissioner of India
Mr. N Gopalaswami, Home Secretary, Government of India, joined the threemember Election Commission of India as new Election Commissioner on
8 February, 2004. He has 38 years of distinguished Civil Service behind him. He
held important positions in the Government of Gujarat and the Government of
India. He was Managing Director of Gujarat Communications & Electronics
Limited and later, Member-Secretary, National Human Rights Commission and
Secretary, Department of Culture, Government of India. Mr. Gopalaswami is a
Post Graduate in Chemistry from Delhi University.
Mr. N Gopalaswami takes over as new
Election Commissioner of India
3
Indian Elections go fully electronic for the first time
The Election Commission of India conducted General Elections 2004 to Lok Sabha, the House of People of the
Indian Parliament and four State Legislative Assemblies completely electronically with the help of Electronic Voting
Machines (EVMs) for the first time. In these elections, 1.075 million EVMs were used in 543 Parliamentary and
697 Assembly Constituencies.
Foreign delegates witness General Elections to Lok Sabha
Forty-six delegates from Australia, Bhutan, Malaysia,
Mauritius, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and IFES
witnessed the General Elections 2004 to Lok Sabha,
during the last phase of these elections.
Mr. James Burchett, Chairman, Australian Election
Commission, Pol. Gen. Vasana Puemlarp, Chairman,
Electoral Commission of Thailand and Tan Sri Abdul
Rashid Abdul Rahman, Chairman, Election Commission
of Malaysia led their respective delegations.
Foreign delegates observing sealing of EVMs
Mr. Anil Kumar Bachoo, Minister of Public
Infrastructure, Mr. Deelchand Jeeha, Minister of
Information Technology and Mr. Mohammad Irfan
Abdool Rahman, Electoral Commissioner were part of
the Mauritian delegation. Ambassador Lion Weil
represented IFES.
Foreign delegates visiting a polling station
The foreign delegates were particularly interested in seeing
the functioning of EVMs. During the course of their
stay they visited the distribution and collection centres
besides polling stations on the poll day. The delegates
could see the use of EVMs in both urban and rural areas.
They were delighted to see the functioning of EVMs
and surprised with quickness of the results.
Foreign delegates watching the election results
4
Election Commission installs helplines and touch screens for electors’ convenience reminds the electors to exercise their franchise through BSNL and MTNL –
candidates woo the voters through SMSs and e-mails
The Election Commission installed helplines and touch screens in various urban cities for the convenience of
electors. Through helplines, electors could locate their names in the electoral rolls and find the polling stations
they were to vote at. The Commission reminded the voters to exercise their franchise through BSNL and
MTNL. The candidates wooed the voters through SMSs and e-mails. The candidates were seen at their best
to use the novel methods to impress the electors. The General Elections 2004 were indeed hi-tech, EVMs
notwithstanding.
All thirty-five States & Union Territories launch their websites
The websites for all thirty-five States & Union Territories were launched during the General Elections 2004.
These sites had background information of local interest, forms of use in local languages and contact numbers
of various Election Officers in the State and Districts. Scanned affidavits of all the candidates, indicating their
educational qualifications and antecedents, were also put on these websites. Many States & Union Territories
also put their voters’ list on these websites.
President congratulates the Election Commission
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, Hon’ble President of India, while addressing the newly constituted Parliament,
congratulated the Election Commission of India for smoothly conducting the 14th Lok Sabha elections using
Electronic Voting Machines for the first time.
Election Commission declares the schedule for revision of
Electoral Rolls with respect to 1.1.2005
The Election Commission has decided to undertake intensive revision of electoral rolls in the North Eastern
States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and the State of
Jammu & Kashmir and special summary revision in the remaining States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, and
Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli,
NCT of Delhi, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. In respect of Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra, the intensive
and special summary revision respectively will be taken up after the completion of General Elections to their
respective State Legislative Assemblies to be held in the later part of 2004.
5
The Years Gone By...
The Election Commission of India was setup as the permanent constitutional body on 25 January, 1950 under
Article 324 of the Constitution of India. Mr. Sukumar Sen was appointed as the first Chief Election Commissioner.
Since then, twelve Chief Election Commissioners guided this body to become fiercely independent.
J M Lyngdoh
M S Gill
T N Seshan
V S Ramadevi
14 June 2001 to
7 February 2004
12 December 1996 to
13 June 2001
12 December 1990 to
11 December 1996
26 November 1990 to
11 December 1990
R V S Peri Shastri
R K Trivedi
S L Shakdhar
T Swaminathan
1 January 1986 to
25 November 1990
18 June 1982 to
31 December 1985
18 June 1977 to
17 June 1982
7 February 1973 to
17 June 1977
Dr. Nagendra Singh
S P Sen Verma
K V K Sundaram
Sukumar Sen
1 October 1972 to
6 February 1973
1 October 1967 to
30 September 1972
20 December 1958 to
30 September 1967
21 March 1950 to
19 December 1958
6
General Elections 2004
Elections in India are events involving political mobilization and organizational complexity on an amazing scale. The
General Elections to the 14th Lok Sabha, the House of People were due in October 2004, but consequent to early
dissolution of the House, the Election Commission of India decided to hold the elections to the Lok Sabha, State
Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Sikkim, as well as fifteen bye-elections in various
states during April-May 2004.
India, The Largest Democracy – General Elections 2004
Total Seats (Lok Sabha)
543
Electorate
671524934
Number of polling stations
687402
Number of election personnel engaged
Approx. 4 million excluding para-military and police personnel
Number of EVMs used
1.075 million
Direct expenditure incurred
Approx. Rs 13000 million
Number and Types of Lok Sabha Constituencies
For General Candidates
Reserved for Scheduled Caste Candidates
Reserved for Scheduled Tribe Candidates
Total Constituencies
423
79
41
543
Schedule of Elections
On 29 February, 2004, the Election Commission of India announced the schedule of elections, with polling to be
held in four phases. The phasing of the elections has become a necessity over the years due to large requirement of
para-military forces and time needed for their movement across various states. That phasing of polls pays rich dividends
was brought out by the fact that poll related violence came down substantially. Later, the Commission decided to
hold elections for two seats in Tripura on 22 April, 2004 instead of 20 April, 2004 and for one seat in Andaman &
Nicobar Islands on 20 April, 2004 instead of 10 May, 2004.
Schedule of Elections
Day of Polling
20 April, 2004
26 April, 2004
05 May, 2004
10 May, 2004
Number of Seats
142
136
83
182
7
Model Code of Conduct
The Model Code of Conduct, agreed to by all the political parties in 1968, was first effectively put to use as a major
instrument for ensuring fair elections and providing level playing field by the Election Commission in 1991. As in
the earlier elections, the Model Code of Conduct was closely monitored and strictly enforced by the Commission.
The Commission sent senior civil servants as Observers to various constituencies. Services of about 2000 officers
were availed of during the election period. To ensure that the ruling alliance does not get undue advantage over the
political rivals, a number of measures were taken. There was a ban on transfers of officials, declaration of new schemes
and initiation of new works. The Government could not make any promises to lure the electorate. The Commission
watched the conduct of civil servants engaged in performing election and related duties. It ordered transfers of those
whose impartiality came under question. The police and para-military forces were deployed to instill a sense of
security and confidence among the electors.
Use of Electronic Voting Machines
The Representation of People Act, 1951 was amended by the Indian Parliament in 1989 to facilitate the use of
EVMs. However, they were really put to use only after a decade, when the Commission took a bold initiative for
introducing EVMs in 16 Assembly Constituencies during State Legislative Assembly Elections in November 1998.
In General Elections 2004, EVMs were used for the first time throughout the country – making the elections go fully
electronic. The user-friendly EVMs could be used even by the illiterates with ease. Since the EVMs work on battery,
electricity was not a problem. The polling personnel carried EVMs in convenient boxes. The use of EVMs was
preceded by an elaborate training programme and widespread campaign to educate the voters, candidates, political
parties, media and the election staff. The failure rate of the machines was negligible. All stakeholders hailed the use of
EVMs. The use of EVMs saved around 1,50,000 trees which would have otherwise been cut for production of about
8000 tonnes of paper required for printing the ballot papers, if traditional system of ballot boxes was adopted. The
use of EVMs made possible reduction in the number of polling stations from 0.77 million to about 0.7 million, as
the maximum number of voters per polling station could be increased to 1500 from earlier prescribed limit of 1200.
EVMs were taken to polling stations on foot, bicycles, yaks, horses, elephants, camels, by road, boat, helicopter and
all imaginable means.
Election staff checking EVMs
Election staff carrying EVMs on elephant back
8
The Political Parties
For these elections, there were six National Parties, forty-five State Parties and 702 Registered Unrecognized Parties.
Since about a decade, regional and smaller parties gained importance in Indian polity. They have played a major role
in Government formation through pre-poll and post-poll alliances. There are no permanent friends or foes in politics –
becomes clear when Indian context is analysed.
National Parties and Their Symbols
Bharatiya Janata
Party
Bahujan Samaj Communist Party Communist Party Indian National
Party
of India (Marxist)
of India
Congress
Nationalist
Congress Party
The Candidates
There were 5435 candidates for 543 Lok Sabha seats
Number of Candidates
and 4504 candidates for 697 seats in four State Legislative
Lok Sabha
5435
Assemblies. The number of women candidates was 354
and 324 respectively. Though the ceilings for expenses to
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
1896
be incurred by the candidates were raised, due to strict
Karnataka Legislative Assembly
1715
observance of Model Code of Conduct and monitoring
Orissa Legislative Assembly
802
of election expenses, the overt publicity remained
Sikkim Legislative Assembly
91
subdued. To ensure a level playing field, the Supreme
Court of India ordered regulation of advertisements on
Age Profile of Candidates
electronic media to be put by the candidates and political
Oldest Candidate
94 years
parties. The candidates were required to file affidavits
Youngest Candidate
25 years
declaring their assets and liabilities, educational
qualifications, Government dues and criminal cases
Average Age of Candidate
52.7 years
pending against them, if any. These affidavits were
displayed on the notice boards of the offices of the Returning Officers, and placed on the website of the Election
Commission to enable the electors make their informed choice. Some of the Non-Governmental Organisations
compiled this information and circulated the same for the benefit of the voters.
The Voters
All Indian citizens of and over the age of 18 and ordinarily residents in the country are eligible to vote. There were
over 671 million electors, out of which about 389 million exercised their franchise. To curb the bogus voting, apart
from the Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC), the Commission prescribed a list of alternative documents that the
voters were required to produce at the time of voting. The voting percentage in the General Elections 2004 to Lok
Sabha was 57.82.
9
Polling Percentage during various General Elections to the Lok Sabha
Year
1952
1957
1962
1967
1971
1977
1980
1984
1989
1991
1996
1998
1999
2004
Men
—
—
113,944,234
129,568,604
143,474,831
167,019,151
185,210,315
196,730,499
262,045,142
261,832,499
309,815,776
316,692,628
323,813,667
349,494,136
Electors
Women
—
—
102,427,981
119,434,730
130,619,662
154,155,176
170,380,385
182,810,109
236,861,287
236,531,302
282,756,512
289,191,475
295,723,180
322,030,439
Total
173,213,635
193,652,069
216,372,215
249,003,334
274,094,493
321,174,327
355,590,700
379,540,608
498,906,429
498,363,801
592,572,288
605,884,103
619,559,944
671,524,575
Male
—
—
63.31
66.73
60.90
65.63
62.16
68.18
66.13
61.58
62.06
65.72
63.97
61.84
Polling %age
Female
—
—
46.63
55.48
49.11
54.91
51.22
58.60
57.32
51.35
53.41
57.88
55.64
53.47
Total
61.2
62.2
55.42
61.33
55.29
60.49
56.92
63.56
61.95
56.93
57.94
61.97
59.99
57.82
The Media
Electronic and print media plays a vital role in any democracy. The versatile Indian media played a critical role in
General Elections 2004. They debated on various issues of importance and watched the conduct of candidates,
political parties and electoral authorities. Many of them came forward to run the voter awareness campaigns. Intensive
coverage was given by the media to the past performance and background of candidates. Many conducted opinion
and exit polls, though most of them were proved wrong by the voters.
All national and state political parties were given opportunity to express their views through electronic media by
allotting them specific time slots on state-owned television network Doordarshan and All India Radio, which amounted
to indirect state funding.
The Results
There were more than 1200 counting centres spread over about 850 towns in the country. The counting of votes for
Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly was undertaken on 11 May and for Lok Sabha, other State Legislative
Assemblies and bye-elections on 13 May. The use of EVMs made the process of counting easier and faster. The results
were out earlier than expected. The Commission made elaborate arrangements to receive directly results from the
Returning Officers using GENESYS software. The Commission’s website http://www.eci.gov.in received more
than 10 million hits on the day of counting.
General Elections 2004 – Interesting Facts
Oldest Winner
94 years. Ramchandra Veerappa from Bidar, Karnataka
Youngest Winner
26 years. Sachin Pilot from Dausa, Rajasthan
Maximum Margin
Arambagh Parliamentary Constituency, West Bengal - 592502 Votes
Minimum Margin
Lakshadweep Parliamentary Constituency - 71 Votes
In 119-Santhemarahalli Karnataka Assembly Constituency, winning margin was ONLY ONE VOTE
10
Results of General Elections 2004 to
Lok Sabha at a glance
Party
INC
BJP
CPM
BSP
CPI
NCP
SP
RJD
DMK
SHS
BJD
JD(U)
SAD
PMK
TDP
JMM
MDMK
JD(S)
RLD
RSP
AIFB
AITC
AGP
JKN
MUL
JKPDP
NPF
KEC
MNF
SDF
TRS
LJNSP
NLP
SJP(R)
RPI(A)
BNP
AIMIM
IFDP
Independents
Total
Contestants
Won
417
364
69
435
34
32
237
41
16
56
12
73
10
6
33
9
4
43
33
17
10
145
138
43
19
10
9
36
24
16
12
11
8
8
6
5
5
4
3
3
3
3
33
12
6
10
3
3
1
1
1
22
40
18
10
7
4
2
1
2385
5435
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
5
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
5
543
Age Profile of the Winners
of 14th Lok Sabha
Results of General Elections 2004 to the State
Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Orissa and Sikkim at a glance
Party
Andhra Karnataka Orissa
Pradesh
Sikkim
Total
INC
185
65
38
1
289
BJP
2
79
32
0
113
CPI(M)
9
1
1
0
11
CPI
6
0
1
0
7
BSP
1
0
0
0
1
BJD
0
0
61
0
61
JD(S)
0
58
0
0
58
TDP
47
0
0
0
47
SDF
0
0
0
31
31
JD(U)
0
5
0
0
5
JMM
0
0
4
0
4
SP
1
0
0
0
1
26
0
0
0
26
AIMIM
4
0
0
0
4
JP
2
0
0
0
2
OGP
0
0
2
0
2
KCVP
0
1
0
0
1
KNDP
0
1
0
0
1
RPI
0
1
0
0
1
Ind.
11
13
8
0
32
Total
294
224
147
32
697
TRS
11
General Elections 2004 - Photo Gallery
Officials at a Distribution Centre
Officials checking EVMs and Polling Materials
Officials carrying EVMs and Polling Materials
A group of villagers with EPI Cards
Electors going to exercise their franchise
An elector familiarizing himself with the
functioning of EVM
An elder on way to cast her vote
Electors waiting in queue
Indelible ink being marked on elector’s finger
A physically-challenged casting her vote
Mr. T S Krishna Murthy, Chief Election
Commissioner of India, casting his vote
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, Hon’ble President
of India, after casting his vote
12
GENERAL ELECTIONS 2004
Votes Polled by Winners as
Percentage of Voters
Groups
No. of Winners
Below 20%
00
20% to 30%
16
31% to 40%
95
41% to 50%
214
51% to 60%
176
61% to 70%
36
Above 71%
06
Total
1.
Parliamentary Constituency with largest number
of electors - 3368399 (Outer Delhi)
2.
Parliamentary Constituency with lowest number
of electors - 39033 (Lakshadweep)
3.
Parliamentary Constituency with largest area Ladakh (J&K) - 173266.37 sq. km.
4.
Parliamentary Constituency with smallest area Chandni Chowk (Delhi) - 10.59 sq. km.
5.
Maximum contestants in a Parliamentary
Constituency - 35 (Madras south)
6.
Polling Station with least number of electors: Only
ONE voter in Polling station No. - 29
(Dharampur) in Miao Assembly segment of
Arunachal East Parliamentary Constituency
7.
Maximum women contestants in a state - 61 (UP)
8.
Minimum women contestants in a state -1 (Goa)
9.
Maximum women winners - 7 (UP)
543
Votes Polled by Winners as
Percentage of Electors
Groups
No. of Winners
Below 10%
02
11% to 20%
93
21% to 30%
220
10.
Out of 543, number of women MPs - 45
31% to 40%
186
11.
Maximum votes secured - Sajjan Kumar in Outer
Delhi - 855543
41% to 50%
36
51% to 60%
04
12.
Minimum votes secured - Ashok Kumar in
Chandni Chowk (Delhi) - 45
61% to 70%
02
13.
Above 71%
00
Minimum votes secured by a winner - Dr. P.
Pookunhikoya - 15597 votes (Lakshadweep)
14.
Average age of elected MPs - 52.6 years
Total
543