2009 General Elections

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  How Manmohan Singh Became "Accidental PM" After Shock UPA Victory In 2004

  Clad in his signature white kurta-pyjama and blue turban, Dr Manmohan Singh, then 71, took the oath of office as India's 14th Prime Minister on May 22, 2004.

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  As BJP's Rajnath Singh Files Poll Papers In Lucknow, No Rival Yet

  Home Minister Rajnath Singh filed his nomination papers in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow today for the Lok Sabha polls, but he doesn't have a rival in sight.

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  Shouldn't Have Snapped Ties with UPA over Nuclear Deal: Sitaram Yechury

  The Left parties should not have withdrawn support to UPA-I government on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal, says CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on the steep decline of the communists eversince.

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  Benjamin Netanyahu Denies Reneging on Palestinian State Speech

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies reneging on a 2009 speech in which he acknowledged the need for the creation of a Palestinian state, a spokesman said today.

• Nearly 64% Polling in Phase 8 of Elections, 7% Better Than 2009: 10 Point Cheat-Sheet

  Almost 64% of the electorate exercised their franchise in 64 constituencies spread across seven states today, the penultimate round of voting in the Lok Sabha elections. It marks a jump of some 7 % over the 2009 figures. At the end of the day, voting in 92% of the total 543 constituencies had been completed. The 502 constituencies for which votin...

• 53 per cent voter turnout in Mumbai, 12 per cent higher than 2009

  Mumbai finally got out and voted. The city registered a turnout of 53 per cent, that is 12 per cent higher than 2009. Till 3 in the afternoon, less than 35 per cent voters in Maximum City had reached polling booths to vote in the general election. But the polling percentage improved towards the evening.

• 56 crorepatis, 23 facing criminal charges to contest elections in Punjab

  Punjab will see as many as 23 candidates who are facing serious criminal charges contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. An increase from 18 such candidates who had contested the 2009 general elections.

• 16 women candidates in fray in Assam Lok Sabha polls

  The highest number of women candidates, since the first general elections, are contesting the three phased 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Assam with 16 candidates in the fray, five more than the 2009 Parliamentary elections.

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  Low voter turnout shames India's IT city Bangalore

  Prominent citizens of Bangalore are sorely disappointed at what they call the low voter turnout in the city in the general elections held on Thursday. The three seats in Bangalore city recorded a 54 per cent voter turnout. In 2009, the turnout was 58.81 per cent.

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  High voter turnout in phase 3 of Lok Sabha elections

  National capital Delhi today recorded 64 per cent voter turnout in the third phase of the general elections 2014, up by 12 per cent from the 2009 polls. The Election Commission announced this evening that this figure is likely to go up.

• DMK's Dayanidhi Maran files nomination, declares Rs 10.94 cr assets

  DMK leader and former Union Minister for Communications Dayanidhi Maran today filed his nomination for Lok Sabha polls and declared assets worth Rs 10.94 crore which is two times more than the Rs 3.66 crore that he declared in the 2009 general elections.

• Rajnath Singh's assets have almost doubled since 2009

  The assets of BJP national president Rajnath Singh, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow seat, have almost doubled since 2009 to over Rs 2.5 crore.

• Foreign media frenzy over Battle 2014

  In 2009, The Wall Street Journal carried a total of only 10 to 20 stories on general election in India. This time around, it blog India Real Time is covering the electoral battle in great detail, publishing profiles of main contenders and state-wise break up of candidates and seats. It often carries articles on 'India's Big Three'.

• Sushma Swaraj: BJP's most powerful woman leader

  After Sushma Swaraj replaced LK Advani as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in 2009, there were many who thought that being decreed as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general election would be the next logical step.

• Who is Vijayakanth or Captain?

  The national election marks a political coming of age for Vijayakanth, 62. The former actor, with roles in nearly 150 films, set up his DMDK party in 2005. In the last general election in 2009, his party did not win a single seat in Tamil Nadu. But in recent weeks, the Congress and the BJP both wooed him with the latter finally winning his partners...