The formal process for constitution of the new Lok Sabha commenced on Sunday evening with the full Election Commission handing over the list of members of the 16th Lok Sabha to President Pranab Mukherjee. The President also dissolved the 15th Lok Sabha.
The full Commission comprising Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath and Election Commissioners H.S. Brahma and Nasim Zaidi approved the Section 73 notification under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, notifying the names of the members elected.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the “due constitution” list was handed over to President Pratibha Patil on May 18, two days after the counting of votes.
This election, which has given a clear majority to a single party for the first time in three decades, would go down as one of the most intensely fought in the electoral history of Independent India. In 1977 and 1989, it was a case of the Congress vs. the rest of the political opposition. This time it was Narendra Modi vs. the Congress and the rest of the divided opposition.
The long-drawn exercise began on March 5, the day the general election schedule was announced. It might have appeared to be the longest ever election but the fact is it was two days shorter than the last election.
