Lok Sabha elections 2019: A return to the lure of coalition politics?

While BJP chief Amit Shah has come to appreciate the importance of alliances, the experience of the 1999 and 2004 polls throws lessons for the Congress as well

On May 13, 2004, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance suffered what most then considered a shock defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 138 seats to the Congress party’s 145, failing to emerge as the single largest party – a feat it had accomplished in 1996 (161-seats), 1998 (182-seats) and 1999 (182 seats).

The BJP’s poor performance was primarily the result of its tally having nosedived in two states and a quasi-state – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi.

The Congress became the single largest party largely due to its sweep in the undivided