Which Party should form the Government

India will hold general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha by May 2009.

Elections in India for the Lok Sabha (the national parliament) must be held at least every five years under normal circumstances; with the last elections held in 2004 elections will take place by May 2009. India's Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami, stated on December 28th, 2008, that he expects elections to be held between April and May of 2009. He attributed this schedule to the examination period from February to March, making polling places unavailable. ^[1] On January 28th, 2009, Election Commissioner Dr. S.Y. Quraishi announced that the elections would be held between April 8th, 2009 and May 15th, 2009, though the exact polling dates would only be announced in due course.^[2]

During the budget presented in February 2009, Rupees 1,120 Crores (Approx. EUR 180 M) was budgeted for election expenses.^[3]

[edit] Prime Ministerial Candidates

United Progressive Alliance Following the August 2008 confidence vote victory for the current government, a statement by Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi has caused speculation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the next elections.^[4] Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar has indicated that he is also a possible Prime Ministerial candidate post elections.^[5] On January 24th, 2009, Manmohan Singh underwent cardiac bypass surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.^[6] Following the surgery, speculation of alternate PM candidates arose both within the Congress and amongst coalition partners. In an attempt to quell such speculations, Sonia Gandhi on February 6th, 2009, wrote in the Congress party magazine Sandesh that Manmohan Singh is the UPA coalition's Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2009 elections.^[7]

National Democratic Alliance The main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its coalition partners in the National Democratic Alliance, announced on December 11, 2007 that their candidate for prime minister would be BJP party leader Lal Krishna Advani,^[8] the Leader of the Opposition. On January 23, 2008, leaders from BJP and other NDA parties convened to officially elect him their candidate^[9]. No other party or alliance has announced a prime ministerial candidate.

United National Progressive Alliance A motley group of regional parties, as well as the Communist parties, have been striving to form a third front to counter the BJP-led and Congress-led alliances. Among the possible members are the United National Progressive Alliance, India's Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Once again, the media has speculated that Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, could potentially be projected as the front's Prime Ministerial candidate, but no official move has taken place yet. If Mayawati's party can win enough seats, she has openly stated that she would be willing to take the support of the national parties to become Prime Minister. ^[10] No other candidate has publicly expressed interest in becoming Prime Minister thus far.

[edit] Coalition Members

United Progressive Alliance
Indian National Congress Rashtriya Janata Dal Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Nationalist Congress Party Pattali Makkal Katchi Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Lok Janshakti Party Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (rebel faction) All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen People's Democratic Party Republican Party of India (Athvale)
• Sikkim Democratic Front
• Indian Union Muslim League

National Democratic Alliance
Bhartiya Janata Party Shiv Sena Biju Janata Dal Janata Dal (United) Shiromani Akali Dal faction led by Parkash Singh Badal
• Indian National Lok Dal
• Asom Gana Parishad

United National Progressive Alliance
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Communist Party of India Telugu Desam Party Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam All India Forward Bloc Janata Dal (Secular) Revolutionary Socialist Party
• Telangana Rashtra Samithi
• Kerala Congress (Joseph)