Elections

The first ever Lok Sabha Elections were held in 68 Phases between October 25, 1951 to February 21, 1952 after India became Independent. In the first elections, the INC won 364 seats of the 489 seats and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of India. In the Lok Sabha Elections 1951-52, the CPI won 16, SOC 12 and Others 97 out of 489 seats.

The Second Election to the Lok Sabha was held from February 24 to June 9. The INC easily won a second term in power under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, winning 371 of the 494 seats. The INC won nearly five times more votes than Communist Party, the second largest party that won 27 seats. In the Lok Sabha Elections 1957-58, the PSP won 19 and Others won 77 out of 494 seats.

The Lok Sabha Elections 1962-63 were held in the month of February. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru won a third term as Prime Minister as INC won 361 of the 494 seats. However, Nehru died two years later in 1964 and was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri, who also died while serving as the PM. In this 1962 to 1967 five-year term, India fought two wars with China and Pakistan.

The Fourth Lok Sabha Election was held in 1967. Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian National Congress won a fourth consecutive term by winning 283 of the 520 seats. However, the INC’s victory margin had gone lower than the results they had achieved in the previous three elections under Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership. In the Lok Sabha Elections 1967-68, the SWA won 44, BJS 35 and Others 158 out of 520 seats.

The fifth Lok Sabha Elections, for the first time, took place a year before the normal five-year term of the government. The INC again won the elections under Indira Gandhi’s leadership by winning 352 of the 518 seats. This Fifth Lok Sabha Elections became one in the history of general elections of India with events like the formation of Bangladesh and India-Pakistan war of 1971. In the Lok Sabha Elections 1971-72, CPM won 25, CPI 23 and Others 118 out of 518 seats.

In Lok Sabha elections 1977, for the first time, the Janta Alliance of Parties Opposed the Congress Party and won 298 of the 542 seats and Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi’s Congress faced a big defeat. The party lost around 200 seats. In the Lok Sabha Elections 1977-78, INC won 153, CPM 22 and Others 69 out of 542.

The seventh Lok Sabha Elections in 1980 witnessed the return of the Congress. The party defeated Janata Party and won 351 of the 542 seats to form the government with Indira Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister once again. The Janata Party faced massive defeat by winning 41 seats, CPM won 37 and Others won 100 out of 542 seats.

The Lok Sabha Elections 1984 were held soon after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Polling in Assam and Punjab was delayed until 1985 due to revolts. In the 1984 General Elections, the Congress attained a landslide victory. The party won 414 of the 541 seats. Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, became the Prime Minister of India. The TDP became the second largest party by winning 30 seats.

The Lok Sabha Elections 1989 were held in the month of November. These elections saw a government led by the National Front of regional parties with outside support from the BJP. VP Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister.

The Lok Sabha Elections 1991 were held in the months of May and June after the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The Congress emerged as the single largest party in this election, winning 256 seats out of 534 while the BJP won 121. The Congress formed the government with the help of allies and PV Narasimha Rao was sworn in as Prime Minister, giving a stable 5-year government.

The Lok Sabha Elections 1996 were held in April and May. While the BJP, that won 161 seats, formed the NDA government with allies and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister, he remained PM for just 13 days as he stepped down just before the floor test. This was followed by a non-Congress and non-BJP government, with outside support from the Congress. The country saw two more PMs - HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral within the next few months.

Lok Sabha Elections 1998 were held in the month of February. While the results of these polls threw a hung Parliament, the BJP, that won 182 seats, formed the NDA government with allies and Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as the Prime Minister.

Lok Sabha Elections 1999 were held in April after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government lost the vote of confidence in Parliament. The BJP won 182 seats in this election and went on to form the NDA government with allies. Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of India for the third time after this poll.

Lok Sabha Elections 2004 were held in four phases in the months of April and May. These polls saw the ouster of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of India as the Congress won 145 seats, emerging as the single largest party. The INC formed the UPA government with support from allies and Left and Dr Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister. The BJP won 138 seats in this election.

Lok Sabha Elections 2009 were held in five phases in the months of April and May. These elections saw a second continuous term for Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister as the Congress won 206 seats and formed the UPA government with the help of allies. The BJP won 116 seats in 2009.

Lok Sabha Elections 2014 were held in the months of March and April and voting took place in nine phases across the country. A voter turnout of 66.38 per cent was recorded in the 2014 polls. The BJP attained full majority in these polls, winning 282 seats while the Congress was brought down to just 44 seats. Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014 and took oath to lead the NDA government.