THREAD of MAPS on LS elections :

A thread of my hand-annotated maps based on the last 3 Lok Sabha elections (2009, 2014, 2019). Do take a look! :)

There are a total of 543 constituencies across 28 states and 9 union territories. /1

Map of 2009 LS elections.

INC finished as the single largest party, leading to the UPA-2 government.

(Some colours have been reused for different parties due to lack of available colours. For example, light green is used for DMK in Tamil Nadu, and BJD in Odisha) /2

Map of 2014 LS elections.

BJP captured most of the northern and western states. BJD and TMC swept Odisha and West Bengal respectively. /3

Map of 2019 LS elections.

BJP held onto most of its seats and made further inroads into the eastern and southern states. /4

Interestingly, 157 seats (~30% of all seats) have been held by the same party since 2009. The super-strongholds.

BJP has 95(!) super-strongholds, way ahead of INC which is 2nd highest with 17 super-strongholds. /5

Half of BJP's super-strongholds are in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. INC's are scattered across many states, with a significant number in Kerala.

TMC has 15 super-strongholds in West Bengal and BJD has 10 in Odisha. Remaining 20 seats are scattered across 11 parties. /6

Some are located in unexpected places -
BJP - Darjeeling (WB)
INC - Nalgonda (TS)

Others are a reflection of demographic realities -
AIMIM - Hyderabad (TS)
AIUDF - Dhubri (AS)

IUML
Malappuram (KL)
Ponnani (KL)

INC
Kishanganj (BH)
Maldaha Dakshin (WB)
Baharampur (WB) /7

Map of 2014 LS elections showing held seats, swing seats and alliance transfers compared to 2009.

This election saw major anti-incumbency, and a stunning 319 seats (~60%) swung in it. One seat (Kollam, KL) was transferred by INC to RSP (a UPA alliance partner). /8

Map of 2019 LS elections showing held seats, swing seats and alliance transfers compared to 2014.

This election saw a pro-incumbency wave, so only 173 seats (~32%) swung.

There were 12 alliance transfers, all within NDA. 7 seats in BH, 2 in UP, 1 each in JH, MH and RJ. /9

Map of the 358 held seats in 2019 LS elections.

BJP held a whopping 248 seats, with INC (19) actually holding less seats than TMC (20). /10

Map of the 185 swing seats (including alliance transfers) in the 2019 LS elections.

Among the regional parties, DMK, JDU, YSRCP and BSP made major gains. /11

Map of the 185 swing seats (including alliance transfers) in the 2019 LS elections, in terms of the losing parties.

'Losing party' is defined as the party which won the seat in 2014 and didn't win it in 2019.

ADMK, TMC and TDP suffered major losses. /12

LAST MAP : Seats won by a party in 2019 which were not won by it in the last 2 elections. The voters gave mandate to this party for the first time ever, or after 15 years at least.

BJP won 48 such seats, mostly in West Bengal, Odisha and NE states. /END

Thanks for reading! :)