India election results 2024: Winners and losers of all past Lok Sabha votes

Posted by author June 3, 2024 World

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EXPLAINER

From 1951 to 2019, Congress and the BJP have seen highs and lows in India’s parliamentary elections.

On June 4, the Election Commission of India will count hundreds of millions of votes in a few hours, announcing the results of the country’s 18th Lok Sabha election, after six weeks and seven phases of what has been the world’s largest-ever democratic exercise.

The results will determine who will form India’s next government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be seeking a third straight term in office, while the Congress party-led opposition will be hoping to upstage them.

Here’s a look at how the country voted for its parliament in its previous 17 elections since gaining independence in 1947.

1951-52

Winner: The Congress party, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, won the first election, which was carried out between 1951 and 1952. Nehru became the first prime minister of the country
Seats won: The Congress won 364 out of 489 seats
Vote percentage of winner: About 45 percent of the vote
Second-largest party: The Communist Party of India (CPI) won the second-highest number of seats, gaining 16 in the first election
Third-largest party: The Socialist Party (SP) won 12 seats
Voter turnout: 44.9 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot was used in all constituencies

An election stand in Delhi for a candidate named Durga Das, whose electoral symbol was the bicycle, January 1952 [Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images]

1957

Winner: Congress, led by Nehru
Seats won: 371 out of 494
Vote percentage of winner: 47.8
Second-largest party: CPI with 27 seats
Third-largest party: Praja Socialist Party (PSP) with 19 seats
Voter turnout: 45.4 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

A street is filled with crowds of people for the Indian election, symbols of the Praja Socialist Party can be seen — A street is filled with crowds of people for the Indian 1957 election, with symbols of the Praja Socialist Party visible in the background [File: Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images]

1962

Winner: Congress, led by Nehru
Seats won: 361 of 494
Vote percentage of winner: 44.7
Second-largest party: CPI with 29 seats
Third-largest party: Swatantra Party with 18 seats
Voter turnout: 55.4 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

1967

Winner: Congress, led by Indira Gandhi
Seats won: 283 of 520
Vote percentage of winner: 40.8
Second-largest party: Swatantra Party with 44 seats
Third-largest party: Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) with 35 seats. The BJS was the precursor to the BJP.
Voter turnout: 61 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

People in Bombay voting in the national election, beside posters advertising the political visions of Indian statesmen Pandit Nehru and Krishna Menon — People in Mumbai voting on February 21, 1967 in the national election, beside posters advertising the political visions of Indian statesmen Jawaharlal Nehru and Krishna Menon [Keystone/Getty Images]

1971

Winner: Congress, led by Indira Gandhi
Seats won: 352 of 518
Vote percentage of winner: 43.7
Second-largest party: Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) with 25 seats. The CPM emerged after a fracture within the CPI, amid the broader split within the global communist movement at the time – between the Soviet Union and China.
Third-largest party: CPI with 23 seats
Voter turnout: 60.5 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

1977

Winner: Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD). This was the first time the Congress lost a national election.
Seats won: 295 of 542
Vote percentage of winner: 41.3
Second-largest party: The Congress party, with 154 seats and a vote percentage of 34.5. These elections were held after Indira Gandhi first imposed a state of national emergency in 1975, arresting thousands of critics and political activists. She then lifted it in 1977, following which the elections were held.
Third-largest party: CPM with 22 seats
Voter turnout: 60.5 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

1980

Winner: Congress, led by Indira Gandhi
Seats won: 353 of 529
Vote percentage of winner: 42.7
Second-largest party: Janata Party (Secular) with 41 seats
Third-largest party: CPM with 37 seats
Voter turnout: 56.9 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

Villagers cast their vote at a polling center in the middle of sugar cane fields in the rural Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on January 06, 1980. — Villagers cast their vote at a polling centre in the middle of sugar cane fields in the rural Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh, on January 6, 1980 [Sondeep Shankar/Getty Images]

1984

Winner: Congress, led by Rajiv Gandhi
Seats won: 404 of 514. This is the largest mandate any government has ever received in independent India, and came in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards, followed by horrific anti-Sikh riots in which the capital, New Delhi, burned for three days. Many Congress leaders were implicated in those riots.
Vote percentage of winner: 49.1
Second-largest party: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 30 seats
Third-largest party: CPM with 22 seats
Voter turnout: 63.6 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

An election campaign poster of Rajiv Gandhi serves as decoration in this makeshift Indian barbershop. — An election campaign poster of Rajiv Gandhi serves as decoration in this makeshift Indian barbershop [File: Alain Nogues/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images]

1989

Largest party: Congress, led by Rajiv Gandhi. It was the first time that no party got a clan majority in parliamentary elections. The opposition, led by the Janata Dal and the BJP cobbled together a coalition that assumed power.
Seats won: 197 of 529
Vote percentage of winner: 39.5
Second-largest party: Janata Dal (JD) with 143 seats
Third-largest party: BJP with 85 seats
Voter turnout: 61.9 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

Narendra Modi (Prime Miniser of India) Sankersinh Vaghela (Ex Chief Minister of Gujarat) and Anandiben Patel (Ex Chief Minister of Gujarat) on Lok Shakti rath in Ahmedabad Gujarat India on 6th December 1989. — Narendra Modi (prime minister) Sankersinh Vaghela (ex-chief minister of Gujarat) and Anandiben Patel (ex-chief minister of Gujarat) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on December 6, 1989 [Kalpit Bhachech/Dipam Bhachech/Getty Images]

1991

Largest party: Congress, led by PV Narasimha Rao
Seats won: 232 of 521
Vote percentage of winner: 36.3
Second-largest party: BJP with 120 seats
Third-largest party: JD with 59 seats
Voter turnout: 56.7 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

1996

Largest party: BJP, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Seats won: 161 of 543
Vote percentage of winner: 20.3
Second-largest party: Congress with 140 seats
Third-largest party: JD with 46 seats
Voter turnout: 57.9 percent
Voting process: Paper ballot for all constituencies

1998

Largest party: BJP, led by Vajpayee. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was formed in May 1998, three months after polling.
Seats won: 182 of 543
Vote percentage of winner: 25.6
Second-largest party: Congress with 141 seats
Third-largest party: CPM with 32 seats
Voter turnout: 62 percent
Voting process: Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) for 16 seats, paper ballots for the rest

1999

Largest party: BJP, led by Vajpayee
Seats won: 182 of 543
Vote percentage of winner: 23.8
Second-largest party: Congress with 114 seats
Third-largest party: CPM with 33 seats
Voter turnout: 60 percent
Voting process: EVM for 46 seats, paper ballots for the rest

2004

Largest party: The Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was formed after the election.
Seats won: 145 of 543
Vote percentage of winner: 26.5
Second-largest party: BJP with 138 seats
Third-largest party: CPM with 43 seats
Voter turnout: 58.1 percent
Voting process: EVM for all seats

2009

Largest party: Congress, led by Manmohan Singh
Seats won: 206 of 543
Vote percentage of winner: 28.6
Second-largest party: BJP with 116 seats
Third-largest party: Samajwadi Party with 23 seats
Voter turnout: 58.2 percent
Voting process: EVM for all seats

Supporters of BJP candidate from North Mumbai Mr. Ram Naik takes pictures of his Rath outside Bandra Collector's office where he filed his nomination form for Loksabha elections on Thursday. — Supporters of the BJP candidate from North Mumbai take pictures outside Bandra Collector’s office where he filed his nomination form for the 2009 Lok Sabha election [File: Vijayananda Gupta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images]

2014

Winner: BJP, led by Narendra Modi
Seats won: 282 of 543
Vote percentage of winner: 31.3
Second-largest party: Congress with 44 seats
Third-largest party: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with 37 seats
Voter turnout: 66.4 percent
Voting process: EVM for all seats