Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh

Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee

Home Minister
P. Chidambaram

Defence Minister
A. K. Antony

External Affairs Minister
S. M. Krishna

Speaker
Meira Kumar

A decisive mandate

DEMOCRACY wins once again in resolute India. Over 414 million voters gave decisive mandate for a secular and stable government led by the Congress to govern world's largest democracy for next five years (2009-14). “The people of India have spoken, and spoken with great clarity,” remarked Dr Manmohan Singh immediately after the poll results were out. The 15th Lok Sabha (Lower House) of Indian Parliament is formed under the Prime Ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Congress party has bagged 206 of total 543 Parliamenatry seats. The emergence of  the Congress ally Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Bannerjee as the second single largest party in the alliance capturing 19 of 42 Parliamentary seats in West Bengal has added greater stability of the Manmohan Singh government that had to depend largely on the left support in the last term. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance has bagged 262 seats. Besides TMC, other parties in the alliance include NCP; DMK; National Conference; JMM; Muslim League Keral State Committee; AIMIM; BPF and Keral Congress.

Woman Speaker

 
Indian parliament has made a history today by unanimously electing country’s first women Speaker. Sixty-four-year-old Meira Kumar became the first woman to occupy one of the high Constitutional posts. Kumar, a distinguished diplomat, was also a Union minister and served Indian Parliament as peoples’ representative for long 25 years.

The second single largest winner in the poll Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) capturing 116 seats has once again emerged as the leading opposition party in Parliament. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had six other parties, namely, JD (U); Shiv Sena; Akali Dal; Asom Gana Parishad, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Telengana Rashtra Samity. Admitting that "the best mandate to rule is in favour of UPA"  BJP said: "India needs political stability.  It needs to put the National Economy on track.  It needs to strengthen National Security.  For these challenges people have given a mandate to the UPA leadership to govern.The BJP and its allies while acting as a constructive opposition will fully co-operate with the government in strengthening India."

  LOK SABHA 2009 (Party position)
 TOTAL SEATS:       543
ANNOUNCED:        543

UPA 262
Congress 206
    Trinamool Congress 19
NCP 9
DMK 18 
National Conference 3
JMM 2
Muslim League Kera State
AIMEEM 1
Boroland Peoples Front 1
Kerala Congress ( Mani) 1

NDA
BJP 116
Shiv Sena 11
Akali Dal 4
Asam G0n Parishad 1
Rashtriya Lok Dal 5
Telengana Rashtriya Samity 2

Third Front
 BSP 21
ADMK 0
Janta Dal (Secular) 3
CPI(M) 16
CPI (4) 
   AIFB 2
RSP 2
Telegu Desam 6
Hariyana Janahit Congress 1
Jharkhand Bikash Morcha 1

Forth Front
Samajbdi Party 23
RJD 4

Others
Asom UDF 1
Bahujan Bikash Agadi 1
Swabhimani 1
Nagaland Peoples Front 1

The collapse of the Left in general, the widening chinks in the armour of West Bengal, popularly known India's left bastion was equally politically significant development that the country witnessed as a post-poll effect. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) that led the left bloc in Parliament and withdrew its support to the Congress government on the issue of Nuclear Deal with the US had received severe jolt in the 2009 poll losing as much as 25 seating seats. It's pre-poll initiative to build up a third front as alternative to the Congress and BJP did not carry well with the people of the country."

The collapse of the Left in general, the widening chinks in the armour of West Bengal, popularly known India's left bastion was equally politically significant development that the country witnessed as a post-poll effect. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) that led the left bloc in Parliament and withdrew its support to the Congress government on the issue of Nuclear Deal with the US had received severe jolt in the 2009 poll losing as much as 25 seating seats. It's pre-poll initiative to build up a third front as alternative to the Congress and BJP did not carry well with the people of the country.

"The Left parties had allied with certain non-Congress, non-BJP parties in various states. This was required so that a secular electoral alternative emerged. However, these alliances forged in some states on the eve of the elections were not seen by the people as a credible and viable alternative at the national level", admits the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M).

India Inc. is visibly happy with the peoples mandate for a stable government. It gives Dr. Singh enough elbow room to take economic reforms forward and at a faster pace. The foreign investors who have been looking to a more open market economy and opening up financial market with more liberal FDI policy will now be watching the steps that the Manmohan Singh government takes in coming months. But immediate task for the new government appears to be to form a national rural policy that would take care of the interests of the majority of Indian population that resides in villages and is largely dependent on agriculture and cottage industry. Rural employment generation will take the centre stage of the new government's economic agenda.

The new Council of Ministers headed by Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister could be described as "a mixture of experience and energy". Host of new young faces are there in the new Ministry. The Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said : "We do want the economy to regain momentum and at the same time fiscal prudence will be kept mind."