Sonia Gandhi’s Congress Party defeated the Vajpayee-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-dominated National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The results announced on 13 May have been said to be one of the biggest upsets in Indian politics since independence.The Congress won 145 seats to become the largest single party for the first time in almost a decade, followed closely by the BJP, which won 138 seats. The Congress-led alliance secured 216 seats. So severe was the BJP’s …
