1952 elections-

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.

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