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1971 Indian general election

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Indian general election, 1971

← 1967 March 1–10, 1971[1] 1977 →

All 518 seats in the Lok Sabha
260 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Indira Gandhi Morarji Desai
Party INC INC(O)
Alliance Congress alliance National Democratic Front (Alliance)
Leader's seat Rae Bareli Surat
Seats won 352 51
Seat change +73 -65
Percentage 43.68 24.34

Prime Minister before election

Indira Gandhi
INC

Elected Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi
INC(R)

India held general elections to the 5th Lok Sabha in March 1971. This was the fifth election since independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518 constituencies, each with a single seat.[2] Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Congress led a campaign which focussed on reducing poverty and won a landslide victory, overcoming a split in the party and regaining many of the seats lost in the previous election.

During her previous term, there had been internal divisions in the Indian National Congress between Indira Gandhi and the party establishment, especially Morarji Desai. In 1969, she was expelled from the party, causing a split. Most of the Congress MPs and grassroots support joined Gandhi's Indian National Congress (Ruling) faction, which was recognized by the Electoral Commission as being the successor to the previous party. 31 MPs who opposed Gandhi became the Indian National Congress (Organization) party. Despite the split, the Ruling faction gained votes and seats to win a strong majority, whereas the Organization faction lost half of their seats.

On 12 June 1975, the Allahabad High Court invalidated the result in Gandhi's constituency on the grounds of electoral malpractices. Instead of resigning, Indira Gandhi called a state of emergency, suspending dmeocracy and outlawed political opposition. After democracy was restored in 1977, the opposition Congress faction formed a coalition of parties called the Janata Party, which would go on to inflict the Congress' first electoral defeat.

Results

Results by alliance

Template:Indian general elections results by alliance 1971

Results by Party

Lok Sabha elections 1971
Electoral participation: 55,27%
% Won
(total 545)
Bharatiya Jana Sangh BJS 7.35 22
Communist Party of India CPI 4.37 23
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) 5.12 25
Indian National Congress (Ruling) INC(R) 43.68 352
Indian National Congress (Organization) INC(O) 10.43 16
Praja Socialist Party PSP 1.04 2
Samyukta Socialist Party SSP 2.43 3
Swatantra Party SP 3.07 8
All Party Hill Leaders Conference APHLC 0.06 1
All India Forward Bloc AIFB 0.66 2
Bangla Congress BC 0.35 1
Bharatiya Kranti Dal BKD 2.18 1
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK 3.84 23
Indian Union Muslim League IUML 0.28 2
Jana Congress JC 0.04 0
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party JP 0.09 0
Kerala Congress KC 0.37 3
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MGP 0.04 0
Naga Nationalist Organisation NNO 0.04 0
Peasants and Workers Party of India PWPI 0.51 0
Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP 0.49 3
Shiromani Akali Dal SAD 0.87 1
United Front of Nagaland UFN 0.06 1
United Goans (Sequiera Group) UG(S) 0.04 1
Vishal Haryana VH 0.24 1
Jharkhand Party JP 0.19 1
Republican Party of India RPI 0.1 1
Telangana Praja Samithi TPS 1.28 10
Utkal Congress UC 0.72 1
Independents - 8.38 14
Nominated Anglo-Indians - - 2

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/INDIA_1971_E.PDF
  2. ^ "General Election of India 1971, 5th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 6. Retrieved 2010-01-13.