In elections held in 1999 after Vajpayee govt. lost a trust vote by 1 vote, BJP emerged as the largest party. Amazingly it ended up with the same no. of seats (182) as it did in 1998. Vajpayee formed a grand pre-poll alliance of 17 parties called National Democratic Alliance and formed a govt. with support of Lok Shakti, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal United, Shiv Sena, Biju Janata Dal, National Conference, Trinamool Congress, DMK etc.
Congress won 114 seats lowest in their history. BJP benefited from sympathy as his previous govt lasted only 13 days. His charismatic leadership was able to take all parties together and he ran the alliance well. He is claimed by many as to be the best Prime Minister of India.
7 national parties and 162 state parties fought for 543 seats. Best performance of Congress was in UP with 10 seats. BJP lost 28 seats in Uttar Pradesh after break up of alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party. This was made up in Maharashtra and Rajasthan. TDP swept Andhra. BJP along with JDU swept Bihar and Jharkhand.
| Parties | Seats Won | Change | Votes% |
| BHARATIYA JANTA PARTY(BJP) | 182 | 0 | 24% |
| INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC) | 114 | (27) | 28% |
| COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)( CPM) | 33 | 1 | 5% |
| TELUGU DESAM PARTY(TDP) | 29 | 17 | 4% |
| SAMAJWADI PARTY(SP) | 26 | 6 | 4% |
| JANTA DAL(UNITED) JD(U)** | 21 | 9 | 3% |
| SHIVSENA(SHS) | 15 | 9 | 2% |
| BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY( BSP) | 14 | 9 | 4% |
| DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM(DMK) | 12 | 6 | 2% |
| ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM(ADMK) | 10 | (8) | 2% |
| BIJU JANTA DAL(BJD) | 10 | 1 | 1% |
| AKALI DAL | 10 | 2 | 2% |
| ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS (TMC) | 8 | 1 | 3% |
| RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL | 7 | (10) | 2% |
| NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY (NCP) | 8 | 8 | 2% |
| INDEPENDENT(IND) | 6 | 0 | 3% |
| INDIAN NATIONAL LOK DAL (INLD)* | 5 | 5 | 1% |
| PATTALI MAKKAL KATCHI (PMK) | 5 | 5 | 1% |
| OTHER STATE / UNRECOGNISED PARTIES | 28 | (34) | 8% |
| TOTAL | 543 | 100% |
*Formed as an offshoot of Janata Dal by Om Prakash Chautala.
**Formed through merger of Samata Party and Sharad Yadav led faction of Janata Dal.
Source: Statistical Report, Election Commission, 1999 & Wikipedia
Some Interesting Facts
- Voting population was 61.95 crores (2009 elections 71.4 crores)
- Voting % was 58.08% (2009 elections 59.7%)
- 4,648 candidates participated, 8.56 per constituency (2009 average 14.86)
- 73.1% candidates lost their deposits (2009 elections 84.6%)
Politicalbaaba 
Thank You for the insights…..Wonderful Read
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