Change and continuity in Indian politics and party system: revisiting the results of 2014 Indian general election

The 2014 Indian general election marked a single party – the Bharatiya Janata Party, winning a majority of seats in Lok Sabha, the first time since the 1984 election. The Congress, the other main national party, suffered its worst ever defeat. This election was termed by some as a 'critical election' signalling the advent of a new phase of a ‘BJP dominated’ party system in India. In this paper, I revisit the results of this election, and of the subsequent state assembly elections to analyse if these signal a substantial change in the political landscape and the party system in India. I argue that although Congress’ decline has continued, and the BJP has won many recent state assembly elections, it is premature to conclude that the Indian party system has shifted to a ‘BJP dominated’ one. Further, given India’s first-past-the-post electoral system, and a diffuse political environment where state and regional parties continue to be strong in many parts of the country, achieving a legislative majority remains a difficult proposition for a single party.