 "StatsGuru-19-May-2014")
While the overall seat count in the general elections is generally known, it is also worth noting what has been the division of votes among various parties, both overall and in specific areas. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s majority of over 280 seats was won with a share, as Table 1 shows, of 31 per cent of all votes cast. The Congress polled about 19 per cent but only got 44 seats. Meanwhile the party that came third in terms of vote share, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), did not actually receive any seat. This is because, as Table 2 shows, the BSP's home base of Uttar Pradesh was dominated by a 42.3 per cent vote for the BJP. Even the Samajwadi Party beat the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, although nationally it received 0.7 percentage points fewer votes than the BSP. Vote shares for the BJP were similarly dominant in many other states it contested. In Delhi, for example, as shown in Table 3, it won 46 per cent of the vote, 14 percentage points ahead of the Aam Aadmi Party. In Maharashtra, as Table 4 shows, the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition polled 47 per cent of the vote, 13 percentage points ahead of the Congress and local ally NCP. Two other battleground states have a slightly different story. In Punjab, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal together managed to get only 35 per cent of the votes, as Table 5 shows; but did reasonably well in seats even so, thanks to a divide in votes between the AAP and the Congress. The Congress polled the most votes in Punjab but didn't do as well in terms of seats as it could have. In West Bengal, shows Table 6, the BJP polled a record number of votes but the Trinamool Congress' 40 per cent was enough to ensure it dominated the seats.
In the state election in Odisha, according to Table 7, the BJP did not make the inroads it would have expected. The Congress is still the party of opposition in the state, with the BJP's former ally, the BJD, sweeping seats with 43 per cent of the votes. The region of Telangana and Seemandhra, as shown in Table 8, are more divided, but the crucial thing is that the Congress has been pushed to fourth place in a region it once dominated.
In the state election in Odisha, according to Table 7, the BJP did not make the inroads it would have expected. The Congress is still the party of opposition in the state, with the BJP's former ally, the BJD, sweeping seats with 43 per cent of the votes. The region of Telangana and Seemandhra, as shown in Table 8, are more divided, but the crucial thing is that the Congress has been pushed to fourth place in a region it once dominated.