India’s general elections, 1951–2024

Voting runs from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952. Congress wins 364 of 489 seats and Jawaharlal Nehru remains Prime Minister.

Congress wins 371 of 494 seats.

Congress wins 361 seats. Nehru dies in office in May 1964.

Under Indira Gandhi, Congress wins 283 of 520 seats — still a majority — but loses power in several states.

In an election called a year early, Indira Gandhi’s Congress wins 352 of 518 seats.

After the Emergency, the Janata Party wins 295 seats and Morarji Desai becomes Prime Minister.

Congress (I) wins 353 seats.

Weeks after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, Congress under Rajiv Gandhi wins more than 400 seats, the biggest majority in any Lok Sabha election.

Congress is the largest party with 197 seats, but V. P. Singh’s National Front forms the government with outside support from the BJP and the Left.

Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated during the campaign, on 21 May. Congress wins 232 seats and P. V. Narasimha Rao forms a minority government.

The BJP becomes the largest party with 161 seats. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government resigns after 13 days, and the United Front governs until 1998.

The BJP wins 182 seats and Vajpayee forms a coalition. It loses a confidence vote by a single vote in April 1999.

The BJP again wins 182 seats, and the National Democratic Alliance governs for a full term under Vajpayee.

Congress wins 145 seats to the BJP’s 138. The United Progressive Alliance forms the government with Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. It is the first general election held entirely on electronic voting machines.

Congress rises to 206 seats.

The BJP wins 282 seats — the first single-party majority since 1984 — and Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister.

The BJP wins 303 seats and the NDA 353. VVPAT paper trails are used in every constituency for the first time.

Polling takes place in seven phases from 19 April to 1 June. The BJP wins 240 seats, short of a majority on its own; with its allies, the NDA has 293 and Modi begins a third term. Congress wins 99.