Electoral history of Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

This is a summary of the electoral history of Indira Gandhi , who served as the prime minister of India from January 1966 to March 1977, and again from January 1980 to October 1984.

Detailed results

General Election 1971

1971 Indian general election: Rae Bareli ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC(R)	Indira Gandhi	183,309	66.35%
	SSP	Raj Narain	71,499	25.88%
	Independent	Swami Adwaita Nand	16,627	6.02%
	Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)	Rameshwar Dutta Manav	4,839	1.75%
Majority			111,810	39.26%
Turnout			284,752	55.22%
Registered electors			515,711
	INC hold		Swing

• Gandhi's election was annulled by the Allahabad High Court in June 1975 on a technicality, but the Supreme Court of India overturned the decision following an amendment to the constitution.

General Election 1977

1977 Indian general election: Rae Bareli

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	JP	Raj Narain	177,719	53.51	New
	INC(R)	Indira Gandhi	122,517	36.89	29.46
	Independent	P. Nallathampy Terah	9,311	2.80
	Independent	Kamal Ahamad Khan	7,467	2.25
	Independent	Krishna Prasad	4,083	1.23
Majority			55,202	16.62
Turnout			332,122	52.48
	JP gain from INC		Swing

This time the incumbent Prime minister Indira Gandhi lost to her opponent, the only such instance to date.

1978 by-election

1980 Indian general election: Chikmagalur ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC(I)	Indira Gandhi	249,376
	JP	Veerendra Patil	172,043
Majority			77,333
Turnout
Registered electors
	INC hold		Swing

General Election 1980

1980 Indian general election: Medak

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC(I)	Indira Gandhi	301,577	67.93%
	JP	S. Jaipal Reddy	82,453	18.57%
	JP(S)	Kesava Rao Jadav	26,149	5.89%
Majority			219,124	49.36%
Turnout			443,934	63.21%
Registered electors			724,930
	INC hold		Swing

General Election 1980

1980 Indian general election: Rae Bareli

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC(I)	Indira Gandhi	223,903	58.27%
	JP	Vijayaraje Scindia	50,249	12.58%
	JP(S)	Mahipal Singh	48,353	13.08%
Majority			173,654	45.19%
Turnout			384,249	56.68%
Registered electors			699,064
	INC hold		Swing

References

1. "Statistical Report on General Elections, 1971 to the Fifth Lok Sabha". Election Commission of India . Retrieved 9 September 2021.
2. "November 9, 1978, Forty Years Ago". The Indian Express. November 9, 1978. Retrieved 11 February 2025.