Looking back at past general elections: 1952-2004
The Congress had won 364 out of 489 Lok Sabha seats in the first-ever general election held in India. Its vote share was 45 per cent. The CPI was the second party with just 16 seats. Jawaharlal Nehru became the prime minister, the first of independent India. Total electors in this election was 23,70,41,443 while total number of votes polled was 16,02,75,056. The voters' turnout was 67.6 per cent. Nehru himself won from Phulpur constituency. Fifty-four parties had contested in this election.
Fact: Noted leader B R Ambedkar was defeated from Bombay constituency in this election.
1957
elections
The
Congress
had
won
371
out
of
494
seats
in
this
election.
Its
vote-share
rose
to
47.8
per
cent.
The
CPI
was
the
second
party
with
27
seats.
Nehru
returned
to
power
for
the
second
successive
term.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
26,52,41,358
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
18,20,75,041.
The
voters'
turnout
was
68.6
per
cent.
Sixteen
parties
had
contested
in
this
election.
Fact: This election saw the rise of Feroz Gandhi, the husband of Indira Gandhi, who won with a comfortable margin from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.
1962
elections
The
Congress
made
a
hat-trick
by
winning
361
out
of
494
seats.
The
party's
vote-share
was
44.7
per
cent.
The
CPI's
tally
touched
29
this
time.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
21,63,61,569
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
11,98,96,443.
The
voters'
turnout
was
55.4
per
cent,
a
fall
of
around
13.1
per
cent.
Twenty-eight
parties
had
contested
in
this
election.
Fact: India lost two prime ministers in quick succession during this time. While Nehru passed away in May 1964, his successor Lal Bahadur Shastri died in January 1966.
1967
elections
The
Congress
continued
with
its
dominance
in
the
elections,
although
reduced,
and
returned
to
power
for
the
fourth
successive
term.
The
party
won
283
out
of
520
seats
(less
by
83
seats
compared
to
1962).
Its
vote-share
was
40.8
per
cent.
Indira
Gandhi
became
the
prime
minister
after
this
election.
The
Swatantra
Party
was
the
second
party
with
44
seats.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
25,02,07,401
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
15,26,97,161.
The
voters'
turnout
was
61
per
cent,
a
decent
rise
from
that
of
1962.
Twenty-six
parties
had
contested
in
this
election.
Fact:
The
Congress
party
saw
a
fragmentation
between
Congress
(O)
and
Congress
(I)
during
this
term.
1971
elections
This
was
the
first
mid-term
election
in
the
history
of
independent
India.
The
Congress
won
352
out
of
518
seats
and
formed
its
fifth
successive
government
at
the
Centre.
The
party's
vote
share
was
43.7
per
cent.
The
CPI(M)
was
the
second
party
with
29
seats.
The
Congress(O)
won
16
seats.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
27,41,89,132
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
15,15,36,802.
The
voters'
turnout
was
55.3
per
cent.
Indira
Gandhi
won
her
second
election
and
became
the
prime
minister
for
the
third
term.
Fifty-four
parties
had
contested
in
this
election.
Fact: The Congress won 352 seats, an increase by over 70 seats, riding on Indira Gandhi's Garibi Hatao campaign.
1977
elections
A
historic
election
which
saw
the
dethroning
of
the
Congress
after
a
long
rule
of
30
years.
The
preceding
Emergency
had
played
a
major
role
in
the
defeat
of
Indira
Gandhi.
Both
she
and
her
son
Sanjay
Gandhi
also
lost
from
their
seats.
The
Janata
Alliance,
which
was
a
coalition
of
various
anti-Congress(I)
factions,
formed
the
government
after
winning
345
out
of
542
seats.
The
Bharatiya
Lok
Dal
had
won
295
seats
while
the
Congress
won
a
paltry
154
seats,
198
less
than
what
it
had
won
in
1971.
The
Congress's
vote-share
was
reduced
to
below
35
per
cent.
Morarji
Desai
became
the
first
non-Congress
prime
minister.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
32,11,74,327
while
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
19,42,63,915.
The
voters'
turnout
was
60.5
per
cent.
Fifty-four
parties
had
contested
in
this
election.
Fact: The Janata government was soon hit by internal rift and could not complete its full term, leading to another election within three years.
1980
elections
Indira
Gandhi
returned
as
the
prime
minister
for
the
fourth
time
after
yet
another
mid-term
election.
The
Congress
won
353
out
of
542
seats
while
the
Janata
Party
(Secular)
was
the
second
party
with
41
seats.
The
Congress's
vote-share
was
nearly
43
per
cent.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
35,62,05,329
while
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
20,27,52,893.
The
voters'
turnout
was
56.9
per
cent.
Thirty-eight
parties
had
contested
in
this
election.
Fact:
Charan
Singh,
who
was
sworn
in
as
the
prime
minister
in
June
1979,
called
the
election
in
January
1980
after
the
Congress
refused
to
keep
its
promise
of
backing
him.
Singh
remains
the
only
PM
who
never
faced
the
parliament.
1984
elections
They
were
called
after
the
then
prime
minister,
Indira
Gandhi,
was
assassinated
on
October
31,
1984.
The
Congress
rode
a
massive
sympathy
vote
to
finish
with
415
seats,
the
highest
ever
since
independence,
and
Rajiv
Gandhi,
the
son
of
Indira
Gandhi,
became
the
prime
minister.
The
Congress's
vote-share
was
48.1
per
cent.
The
Telugu
Desam
Party
finished
a
distant
second
with
30
seats.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
40,03,75,333
while
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
25,62,94,963.
The
voters'
turnout
was
64
per
cent.
A
total
of
37
parties
had
contested
the
polls.
Fact: TDP became the first regional party to become a national opposition party.
1989
elections
The
second
non-Congress
government
gad
come
to
power
after
the
1989
elections.
Rajiv
Gandhi's
Congress
suffered
serious
adverses
in
this
election,
thanks
to
the
Bofors
scam,
and
the
party's
tally
went
down
to
197.
Vishwanath
Pratap
Singh
became
the
prime
minister
of
the
National
Front
government
led
by
Janata
Dal
with
143
seats.
The
vote-share
of
the
Congress
and
Janata
Dal
were
39.5
and
17.8
per
cents,
respectively.
The
BJP
had
supported
the
VP
Singh
government
from
outside.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
49,89,06,129
while
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
30,90,50,495.
The
voters'
turnout
was
61.9
per
cent.
A
total
of
115
parties
had
contested
the
polls.
Fact: It was the only time that the BJP extended support to a third-front government.
1991
elections
The
Congress
returned
to
power
after
a
short
stint
of
Chandra
Sekhar
as
the
prime
minister,
but
far
away
from
its
dominance,
it
headed
a
minority
government
with
PV
Narasimha
Rao
as
its
prime
minister.
The
Congress
got
244
out
of
545
seats
and
gathered
36.4
per
cent
of
the
votes
polled.
The
BJP
finished
second
with
120
seats,
the
first
time
ever
that
it
had
crossed
the
three-figure
mark
while
its
vote-share
was
20
per
cent.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
51,15,33,598
while
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
28,58,56,465.
The
voters'
turnout
was
55.9
per
cent.
One-hundred
and
forty-seven
parties
had
contested
the
polls.
Fact: Narasimha Rao, the first-ever non-Gandhi prime minister, saw two important events happning during his stay in office. One was the liberalisation of the Indian economy and the other was the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992.
1996
elections
These
elections
saw
a
hung
parliament.
The
BJP,
led
by
Atal
Bihari
Vajpayee,
was
the
largest
party
with
161
seats
(vote
share
20.3
per
cent)
but
he
could
not
prove
majority
in
the
Lok
Sabha
and
resigned
after
serving
just
13
days
as
the
PM.
The
Congress
was
the
second
largest
party
with
a
paltry
140
seats
(vote-share
28.3
per
cent)
but
it
declined
to
form
a
government.
It
instead
chose
to
back
a
United
Front
government
of
the
Janata
Dal
and
other
parties
(192
seats
with
28.52
per
cent
vote-share)
and
H
D
Deve
Gowda
took
over
as
the
prime
minister.
The
Congress,
however,
withdrew
support
and
the
Deve
Gowda
government
collapsed
in
April
1997.
A compromise was made and IK Gujral was elected the new Janata Dal prime minister but his government did not last long much after leaders of the 13-party United Front coalition rejected the Congress' demand to oust the DMK, and its three representatives in Gujral's cabinet, after a report said that it had a good relation with a Sri Lankan guerrilla group suspected of killing Rajiv Gandhi. Total electors in this election was 59,25,72,288 while total number of votes polled was 34,33,08,090. The voters' turnout was 57.9 per cent. Two-hundred and eleven parties had contested the polls.
Fact: The years between 1996-98 were periods of uncertainty in Indian politics. After Narasimha Rao's tenure ended in 1996, the country had to wait for another three years to see the beginning of next regime that lasted its full term.
1998
elections
The
BJP
had
emerged
as
the
largest
party
in
these
elections
with
182
seats
(25.6
per
cent
vote-share)
while
the
Congress
had
managed
just
141
seats
(25.8
per
cent
vote-share).
The
BJP-led
alliance
called
the
National
Democratic
Alliance
with
256
seats
(out
of
545
seats)
and
37.5
per
cent
vote-share
formed
the
government
at
the
Centre
under
Atal
Bihari
Vajpayee.
The
Congress-led
UPA
got
164
seats
(30.8
per
cent
vote)
while
the
Third
Front
got
74
seats.
But
the
government
fell
short
by
a
single
ballot
in
the
confidence
vote
in
April
1999
after
one
of
the
NDA
allies,
AIADMK
pulled
out.
Total
electors
in
this
election
was
60,58,80,192
while
total
number
of
votes
polled
was
37,54,41,739.
The
voters'
turnout
was
62
per
cent.
One-hundred
and
seventy-eight
parties
had
contested
the
polls.
Fact:
After
serving
for
13
days,
Vajpayee's
second
stint
as
the
PM
lasted
for
13
months.
1999
elections
The
BJP
had
emerged
as
the
largest
party
again
with
182
seats
while
the
Congress's
tally
got
reduced
to
114.
The
BJP's
vote-share
this
time
was
23.8
per
cent
while
that
of
the
Congress
was
28.3
per
cent.
Out
of
543
seats,
the
NDA
got
299
(41.1
per
cent)
while
the
UPA
got
139
seats
(35
per
cent).
The
Third
Front
accumulated
just
41
seats.
Vajpayee
returned
as
the
PM
for
the
third
term
and
completed
his
term.
Total electors in this election was 61,95,36,847 while total number of votes polled was 37,16,69,104. The voters' turnout was 60 per cent. One-hundred and seventy-eight parties had contested the polls. One-hundred and seventy-one parties had contested the polls.
Fact: The BJP-led caretaker government gained from the Kargil War against Pakistan that year to come back to power.
2004
elections
The
Congress-led
UPA
came
to
power
after
these
elections
and
Manmohan
Singh
took
over
as
the
second
non-Gandhi
prime
minister.
The
Congress
won
145
seats
(26.5
per
cent)
in
this
election
while
the
UPA
won
225
seats
(vote-share
36.8
per
cent)
while
the
BJP
won
138
seats
(22.2
per
cent
vote-share)
while
the
NDA
won
189
seats
(35.9
per
cent).
The Third Front won 55 seats. Total electors in this election was 67,14,87,930 while total number of votes polled was 38,93,42,364. The voters' turnout was 58 per cent. One-hundred and seventy-eight parties had contested the polls. Two-hundred and seventeen parties had contested the polls.
Fact: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi refused to become the PM in 2004, saying it was a response to her inner call.