1971 Indian general election

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1971 Indian general election
Flag of India.svg
  1967 1–10 March 1971 [1] 1977  

518 of the 521 seats in the Lok Sabha
260 seats needed for a majority
Registered274,189,132
Turnout55.27% (Decrease2.svg 5.77pp)
 First partySecond party
 
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the US enhanced.jpg
Sundaraiah-Puchalapalli.jpg
Leader Indira Gandhi Puchalapalli Sundarayya
Party INC(R) CPI(M)
Last election40.78%, 283 seats4.28%, 12 seats
Seats won35225
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 69Increase2.svg 6
Popular vote64,033,2747,510,089
Percentage43.68%5.12%
SwingIncrease2.svg 2.90pp Increase2.svg 0.84pp

 Third partyFourth party
 
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (crop 2).jpg
K Kamaraj 1976 stamp of India (cropped).jpg
Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee K. Kamaraj
Party ABJS INC(O)
Last election9.31%, 35 seats
Seats won2216
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 13New
Popular vote10,777,11915,285,851
Percentage7.35%10.43%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.96 pp New

Wahlergebnisse in Indien 1971.svg
Results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Indira Gandhi
INC(R)

Prime Minister after election

Indira Gandhi
INC(R)

General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the fifth Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections 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 Indian National Congress (R) led a campaign which focused 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. [3]

Contents

Background

Congress party split

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 (Requisitionists) faction, which was recognised by the Election Commission as being the successor to the previous party. 31 MPs who opposed Gandhi formed Indian National Congress (Organisation) party.

Minority government

The Second Indira Gandhi government, formed in November 1969 and dissolved in March 1971, was the first minority government in independent India. After the split, the INC(R) held 221 seats in the 523-seat parliament, 41 seats short of a majority. However, Gandhi and her cabinet remained in power by relying on outside support from left-wing parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (26 seats), the Communist Party of India and it's recently formed breakaway faction, the CPI(Marxist) (who together had 42 seats), giving the government a total of 289 seats, a comfortable majority and far more than the minimum of 262 seats required for a majority. Knowing that her minority government would eventually fall, on 27 December 1970, President V.V. Giri dissolved the Lok Sabha at the recommendation of Gandhi.

Opposition alliance

INC(O) formed a pre-poll alliance with Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP), Praja Socialist Party (PSP), the Swatantra Party and Bharatiya Jana Sangh BJS and several other regional parties opposed to the INC(R). They agreed to field one candidate against the INC(R) candidate in every constituency in order to defeat Gandhi's party.

Results

Despite the split, the ruling faction gained votes and seats to win a strong majority, while the Grand Alliance was badly trounced and lost more than half of their seats.

Lok Sabha Zusammensetzung 1971.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Indian National Congress (R) 64,033,27443.68352+69
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 15,285,85110.4316New
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 10,777,1197.3522–13
Communist Party of India (Marxist) 7,510,0895.1225+6
Communist Party of India 6,933,6274.73230
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 5,622,7583.8423–2
Swatantra Party 4,497,9883.078–36
Samyukta Socialist Party 3,555,6392.433–20
Bharatiya Kranti Dal 3,189,8212.181New
Telangana Praja Samithi 1,873,5891.2810New
Praja Socialist Party 1,526,0761.042–11
Shiromani Akali Dal 1,279,8730.871New
Utkal Congress 1,053,1760.721New
All India Forward Bloc 962,9710.6620
Peasants and Workers Party of India 741,5350.510–2
Revolutionary Socialist Party 724,0010.493New
Republican Party of India (Khobragade) 542,6620.370New
Kerala Congress 542,4310.373+3
Bangla Congress 518,7810.351–4
Indian Union Muslim League 416,5450.2820
Vishal Haryana Party 352,5140.241New
All India Jharkhand Party 272,5630.191New
Shiv Sena 227,4680.160New
Shoshit Dal Bihar193,3890.130New
Socialist Unity Centre of India 157,7030.110New
Republican Party of India 153,7940.1010
Janta Party139,0910.090New
All Party Hill Leaders Conference 90,7720.0610
United Front of Nagaland 89,5140.061New
Hindu Mahasabha 73,1910.050New
Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League 72,1310.050New
Bihar Prant Hul Jharkhand 66,6690.050New
Hindustani Shoshit Dal65,9250.040New
Revolutionary Communist Party of India 65,6220.040New
Lok Sewak Sangh 62,5270.040New
Jana Congress 60,1030.0400
Nagaland Nationalist Organisation 58,5110.040–1
United Goans – Seqveria Group 58,4010.0410
Socialist Party 55,0640.040New
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party 54,5970.040New
Proutist Bloc of India43,8490.030New
Telangana Congress 43,5480.030New
Minorities Labour Party41,1980.030New
Indian Socialist Party 38,7130.030New
Muslim Majlis Uttar Pradesh 36,5260.020New
Lok Raj Party Himachal Pradesh 34,0700.020New
Uttar Pradesh Kisan Mazdoor Party31,7290.020New
Manipur Peoples Party 31,0290.020New
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad 24,0930.020New
Republican Party of India (Ambedkarite)22,4280.020New
Backward Classes Mahasabha6,9290.000New
Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)6,1980.000New
Chota Nagpur Bhumi Rakshak Party4,9820.000New
Independents12,279,6298.3814–21
Appointed members [lower-alpha 1] 30
Total146,602,276100.00521–2
Valid votes146,602,27696.74
Invalid/blank votes4,934,5263.26
Total votes151,536,802100.00
Registered voters/turnout274,189,13255.27
Source: ECI
  1. Two representing Anglo-Indians and one representing the North-East Frontier Agency.

Results by state

StateTotal
seats
Seats won
INC (R) CPM CPI DMK BJS INC (O) TPS SWA SSP PSP BKD OthersInd.App.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 11
Andhra Pradesh 412811101
Assam 14131
Bihar 5339523211
Chandigarh 11
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 11
Delhi 77
Goa, Daman and Diu 211
Gujarat 2411112
Haryana 9711
Himachal Pradesh 44
Jammu and Kashmir 651
Kerala 1962371
Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands 11
Madhya Pradesh 37211114
Maharashtra 454212
Manipur 22
Mysore 2727
Nagaland 11
North-East Frontier Agency 11
Orissa 2015131
Punjab 131021
Pondicherry 11
Rajasthan 2314432
Tamil Nadu 399423111
Tripura 22
Uttar Pradesh 857344112
West Bengal 4013203121
Anglo-Indians 22
Total521352252323221610832119143
Source: ECI

State wise Detailed

State
(# of seats)
PartySeats ContestedSeats won% of votes
Andhra Pradesh (41) Indian National Congress (R) 372855.73
Telangana Praja Samithi 141014.33
Communist Party Of India 1115.94
Communist Party of India (Marxist) 512.82
Independent 9318.21
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 1205.55
Assam (14) Indian National Congress (R) 131356.98
All Party Hill Leaders Conference 113.0
Communist Party Of India 505.65
Praja Socialist Party 504.56
Independent 31017.92
Bihar (53) Indian National Congress (R) 473940.06
Communist Party of India 1759.85
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 24311.51
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 28212.1
Samyukta Socialist Party 2829.47
Independent 18319.11
Gujarat (24) Indian National Congress (R) 231144.85
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 191139.70
Swatantra Party 425.46
Haryana (9) Indian National Congress (R) 9752.56
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 3111.19
Vishal Haryana Party 319.16
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 4011.34
Jammu & Kashmir (6) Indian National Congress (R) 6554.06
Independent 20132.17
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 3012.23
Kerala (19) Indian National Congress (R) 7619.75
Communist Party of India 339.09
Kerala Congress 338.31
Communist Party of India (Marxist) 11226.21
Revolutionary Socialist Party 226.43
Muslim League 225.62
Independent 27117.97
Madhya Pradesh (37) Indian National Congress (R) 362145.60
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 281133.56
Independent 73413.93
Samyukta Socialist Party 511.57
Maharashtra (45) Indian National Congress (R) 444263.18
All India Forward Bloc 312.47
Praja Socialist Party 811.68
Republican Party Of India 111.11
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 1305.23
Peasants And Workers Party Of India 1205.33
Mysore (27) Indian National Congress (R) 272770.87
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 17016.36
Orissa (20) Indian National Congress (R) 191538.46
Swatantra Party 13315.91
Utkal Congress 20123.6
Communist Party of India 314.31
Punjab (13) Indian National Congress (R) 111045.96
Communist Party of India 226.22
Shiromani Akali Dal 12130.85
Rajasthan (23) Indian National Congress (R) 231450.35
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 7412.38
Swatantra Party 8314.64
Independent 71212.34
Tamil Nadu (39) Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 242335.25
Indian National Congress (R) 9912.51
Communist Party of India 445.43
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 29130.43
Independent 2713.24
All India Forward Bloc 111.31
Uttar Pradesh (85) Indian National Congress (R) 787348.54
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 37412.23
Communist Party of India 943.7
Independent 23128.4
Bharatiya Kranti Dal 67112.70
Indian National Congress (Organisation) 4418.6
Samyukta Socialist Party 2504.1
West Bengal (40) Communist Party of India (Marxist) 382034.29
Indian National Congress (R) 311328.2
Communist Party Of India 15310.54
Independent 2815.79
Bangla Congress 1413.97
Revolutionary Socialist Party 512.04
Praja Socialist Party 311.29
All India Forward Bloc 1002.7
Source:ECI

Aftermath

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 democracy and outlawed political opposition. After democracy was restored in 1977, the opposition Congress faction formed a coalition of parties called the Janata Party, which inflicted the Congress' first electoral defeat.

See also

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References

  1. India Archived 21 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine Inter-Parliamentary Union
  2. "General Election of India 1971, 5th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  3. "INKredible India: The story of 1971 Lok Sabha election - All you need to know". Zee News. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.