1971 Indian general election explained

Country:India
Type:parliamentary
Previous Election:1967 Indian general election
Previous Year:1967
Next Election:1977 Indian general election
Next Year:1977
Election Date:1–10 March 1971[1]
Seats For Election:518 of the 521 seats in the Lok Sabha
Majority Seats:260
Registered:274,189,132
Turnout:55.27% (5.77pp)
Leader1:Indira Gandhi
Party1:Indian National Congress (R)
Last Election1:40.78%, 283 seats
Seats1:352
Seat Change1: 69
Popular Vote1:64,033,274
Percentage1:43.68%
Swing1: 2.90pp
Leader2:Puchalapalli Sundarayya
Party2:Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Last Election2:4.28%, 12 seats
Seats2:25
Seat Change2: 6
Popular Vote2:7,510,089
Percentage2:5.12%
Swing2: 0.84pp
Leader4:Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Party4:Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Last Election4:9.31%, 35 seats
Seats4:22
Seat Change4: 13
Popular Vote4:10,777,119
Percentage4:7.35%
Swing4: 1.96 pp
Leader5:K. Kamaraj
Party5:Indian National Congress (Organisation)
Last Election5:
Seats5:16
Seat Change5:New
Popular Vote5:15,285,851
Percentage5:10.43%
Swing5:New
Prime Minister
Posttitle:Prime Minister after election
Before Election:Indira Gandhi
Before Party:Indian National Congress (R)
After Election:Indira Gandhi
After Party:Indian National Congress (R)
Outgoing Members:List of members of the 4th Lok Sabha
Elected Members:List of members of the 5th Lok Sabha

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]

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

See also: Grand Alliance (1971). 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.

Results by state

StateTotal
seats
Seats won
INC (R)CPMCPIDMKBJSINC (O)TPSSWASSPPSPBKDOthersInd.App.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands11
Andhra Pradesh412811101
Assam14131
Bihar5339523211
Chandigarh11
Dadra and Nagar Haveli11
Delhi77
Goa, Daman and Diu211
Gujarat2411112
Haryana9711
Himachal Pradesh44
Jammu and Kashmir651
Kerala1962371
Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands11
Madhya Pradesh37211114
Maharashtra454212
Manipur22
Mysore2727
Nagaland11
North-East Frontier Agency11
Orissa2015131
Punjab131021
Pondicherry11
Rajasthan2314432
Tamil Nadu399423111
Tripura22
Uttar Pradesh857344112
West Bengal4013203121
Anglo-Indians22
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 Samithi141014.33
Communist Party Of India1115.94
Communist Party of India (Marxist)512.82
Independent9318.21
Indian National Congress (Organisation)1205.55
Assam(14)Indian National Congress (R)131356.98
All Party Hill Leaders Conference113.0
Communist Party Of India505.65
Praja Socialist Party504.56
Independent31017.92
Bihar(53)Indian National Congress (R)473940.06
Communist Party of India1759.85
Indian National Congress (Organisation)24311.51
Bharatiya Jana Sangh28212.1
Samyukta Socialist Party2829.47
Independent18319.11
Gujarat(24)Indian National Congress (R)231144.85
Indian National Congress (Organisation)191139.70
Swatantra Party425.46
Haryana(9)Indian National Congress (R)9752.56
Bharatiya Jana Sangh3111.19
Vishal Haryana Party319.16
Indian National Congress (Organisation)4011.34
Jammu & Kashmir(6)Indian National Congress (R)6554.06
Independent20132.17
Bharatiya Jana Sangh3012.23
Kerala(19)Indian National Congress (R)7619.75
Communist Party of India339.09
Kerala Congress338.31
Communist Party of India (Marxist)11226.21
Revolutionary Socialist Party226.43
Muslim League225.62
Independent27117.97
Madhya Pradesh(37)Indian National Congress (R)362145.60
Bharatiya Jana Sangh281133.56
Independent73413.93
Samyukta Socialist Party511.57
Maharashtra(45)Indian National Congress (R)444263.18
All India Forward Bloc312.47
Praja Socialist Party811.68
Republican Party Of India111.11
Bharatiya Jana Sangh1305.23
Peasants And Workers Party Of India1205.33
Mysore(27)Indian National Congress (R)272770.87
Indian National Congress (Organisation)17016.36
Orissa(20)Indian National Congress (R)191538.46
Swatantra Party13315.91
Utkal Congress20123.6
Communist Party of India314.31
Punjab(13)Indian National Congress (R)111045.96
Communist Party of India226.22
Shiromani Akali Dal12130.85
Rajasthan(23)Indian National Congress (R)231450.35
Bharatiya Jana Sangh7412.38
Swatantra Party8314.64
Independent71212.34
Tamil Nadu(39)Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam242335.25
Indian National Congress (R)9912.51
445.43
Indian National Congress (Organisation)29130.43
Independent2713.24
All India Forward Bloc111.31
Uttar Pradesh(85)Indian National Congress (R)787348.54
Bharatiya Jana Sangh37412.23
Communist Party of India943.7
Independent23128.4
Bharatiya Kranti Dal67112.70
Indian National Congress (Organisation)4418.6
Samyukta Socialist Party2504.1
West Bengal(40)382034.29
Indian National Congress (R)311328.2
15310.54
Independent2815.79
Bangla Congress1413.97
Revolutionary Socialist Party512.04
Praja Socialist Party311.29
All India Forward Bloc1002.7
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's first electoral defeat.

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/INDIA_1971_E.PDF India
  2. Web site: General Election of India 1971, 5th Lok Sabha . Election Commission of India . 13 January 2010 . 6 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140718175452/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1971/Vol_I_LS71.pdf . 18 July 2014 . dmy-all .
  3. Web site: 2019-03-07. INKredible India: The story of 1971 Lok Sabha election - All you need to know. 2020-12-03. Zee News. en. 8 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201008232038/https://zeenews.india.com/lok-sabha-general-elections-2019/the-story-of-1971-lok-sabha-election-all-you-need-to-know-2185812.html. live.