Indian Elections 2009 · Global Voices

It is election time in India. Painted walls tells stories of political loyalty. In the picture – Congress party
Background:
The world's largest democracy, India, goes to elections starting April 16, 2009. The month-long general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha will be held in five phases on April 16, April 22, April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, and the results will be announced on May 16.
This is an important election for India, in the context of a series of terrorist attacks last year and a worldwide financial crisis that threatens to derail its strong economic growth.
However, even as analysts debate the big issues that will shape the upcoming elections, they are aware that India's 714 million voters elect their 543 representatives based mainly on smaller local and regional issues, rather than big national ones.
In this special coverage on the 2009 Indian elections, the Global Voices team will capture the Indian blogosphere's reactions to the campaigns and the controversies, and also highlight interesting digital initiatives to build a vibrant networked public sphere in India, get out the vote and build transparency into the election process.
Global Voices latest posts on Indian Elections 2009
May 20 – India: Election Analysis
May 20 – India: Picking The Right Cabinet
May 18 – India: Five Truths About The Election
May 17 – Indian Elections 2009: The Final Results
May 16 – India Votes for No Change: Indian Bloggers & Twitter Users React to #IndiaVotes09 Results
May 16 – India Elections 2009: Tapping Into The Twitter
May 16 – India: A Surprise Result
May 16 – India Elections 09: India votes decisively, decides to strengthen the hand of stability
May 16 – Indian Elections 2009: Post Poll Scenarios
May 15 – India: Perils Of An Unstable Government
May 14 – India: What The Election Symbols Mean
May 14 – India: Exit Poll Figures
May 13 – India: Live Results of Indian Elections Via Crowd Sourcing
May 12 – Predictions and Opinion Polls for the Indian Elections 2009 – Update
May 11 – India: Decision Time Approaches
May 8 – India: Analysis of Elections – Phase 3 & Phase 4
May 6 – India: Why we should vote for independent candidates
May 3 – Indian Elections 2009: Lower Voter Turnouts And Questions Regarding Campaigns
May 1 – India: Blog Of The Congress Party, At last
Apr 30 – India: Not On The Voter List
Apr 30 – India: The Maoists-Naxalites And The Threat To Democracy
Apr 29 – The Conflict In Sri Lanka And The Indian Elections
Apr 28 – Indian Elections 2009: God and Country
Apr 28 – India: A Peek Into The Young Voters
Apr 28 – India: Analysis Of Elections 2009 – Phase 2
Apr 27 – Indian Elections ‘09: On the Black Money trail
Apr 27 – India: Why Vote For Congress?
Apr 25 – India: Saying No To Parachute Journalism
Apr 24 – Indian Elections 2009: Reading The Digital Tea Leaves on ‘Who Will Win?’
Apr 24 – India elections'09: Does it really matter whom we vote for?
Apr 23 – Indian Elections ‘09: Where The Shoe Pinches
Apr 22 – India: Election Cartoons
Apr 21 – India: Candidates Debate
Apr 20 – Indian Elections 2009: Villains And Votes
Apr 20 – India: Shoddy Election Reporting
Apr 17 – India: Sights of Indian Elections
Apr 17 – India's First Digital Elections Evoke Strong Reactions Online
Apr 16 – India Elections ‘09: Netizens react to Political Campaigns – II
Apr 16 – India: Why I voted 49-0
Apr 15 – Some Interesting Factoids and Trivia About the Indian General Elections 2009
Apr 15 – India: Voting Rights For Indians Living Abroad
Apr 15 – The Role of Mobile Technology in the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha Elections
Apr 14 – Celebrity Power in Indian Elections
Apr 14 – Geographical Mashup on Election
Apr 13 – Indian Elections 2009: Allegations and Concerns of The Common People
Apr 13 – The Best Online Sources for News and Analysis on the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha Elections
Apr 12 – Predictions and Polls for the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections in India
Apr 10 – India: The Election Extravaganza
Apr 9 – India: The 49 – 0 Vote
Apr 9 – India Elections ‘09: Bloggers on the Varun Gandhi controversy
Apr 8 – India: The Advent of Citizen-Driven Election Monitoring
Apr 8 – India: BJP's IT Vision And Poverty
Apr 7 – India: Whose Opinions In Opinion Polls?
Apr 7 – Elections in India and Women
Apr 6 – India: Comparison Of Manifestos
Apr 2 – Indian General Elections and Nepal
Mar 31 – Indian Elections 2009: The Impact of Socially Conscious Corporate Campaigns
Mar 29 – India: Arguments Against The Third Front
Mar 28 – Digital Civil Society Campaigns in the 2009 Indian General Elections
Mar 27 – India Elections ‘09: Netizens react to Political Campaigns
Mar 26 – India: The Characteristics Of The Next PM
Mar 25 – India: Analyzing Past Elections
Mar 22 – India's First Digital Elections
Mar 21 – India: On Electoral Process
Mar 12 – India: The Third Front
Mar 09 – “Middle India” Can Make a Difference
Useful online resources:
Al Jazeera Coverage on Indian Elections:
Al Jazeera Election console
Al Jazeera Election Console in partnership with Global Voices Online.
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Videos
All India People's Manifesto are encouraging Indians to upload YouTube videos with demands for a new government. The campaign is coordinated by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, a large campaign for government accountability spanning 27 states of India.