India shining to INDIA shines: Why people are remembering BJP's 2004 slogan

Netizens are talking about 'INDIA shining', signalling the better-than-expected performance of the opposition's INDIA bloc

Lok Sabha election results 2024: As counting of the general elections is underway, netizens have taken to social media to remember the 2004 "India Shining" campaign of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

However, this time, there is a difference. This year, they are talking about "INDIA shining", signalling the better-than-expected performance of the opposition's INDIA bloc.

What was BJP's India Shining campaign?

In 2004, the BJP leadership decided to postpone the general elections by eight months and announced the slogan of "India Shining".

This was primarily due to the strong performance of the Indian economy. Reaping the benefits of the 1991 reforms, India was clocking a 7 per cent growth rate.

Moreover, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's popularity and decision to hold talks with Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf led to a further surge in the party's confidence.

Recently, it won assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

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The election results, however, surprised everyone. The Indian National Congress won 145 seats, leaving behind the BJP, which won 138 seats. Along with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and some other parties, the Congress party formed the government under the name United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by Manmohan Singh.  

INDIA's performance beating exit polls

On Tuesday, the EC's data showed that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or INDIA bloc was performing better than the exit polls had predicted.

As of 12:30 pm, the INDIA bloc was leading on 228 seats behind NDA's 296 seats. Most exit polls had predicted that the alliance would win around 150 seats.

What is the INDIA bloc?

The INDIA bloc is a multi-party alliance led by India's largest opposition party, Congress. It was formed on July 18, 2023, to pose a united front against the BJP.

Results lead to bloodbath in share markets

After the results for 2004 Lok Sabha elections were announced, on May 17, 2004, BSE Sensex fell as much as 15.52 per cent, the largest fall in the history till then.

On Tuesday too, the markets were witnessing a major selloff. As of 12:30 pm, Sensex was down nearly 7.5 per cent. Nifty50 was down over 7.3 per cent.

This is the worst fall in the Indian market since March 23, 2020, when Sensex fell 13.15 per cent and Nifty plunged 12.98 per cent after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown.

Best performance of Congress since 2014 on cards

According to the website of the Election Commission, Congress was leading on 96 seats as of 12:30 pm. If this holds, it would be the best performance of the Grand Old Party since 2014.

In 2014, Congress had won 44 seats. In 2019, it won 52 seats.