1971 Indian general election

General elections were held in India to constitute the 5th Lok Sabha on 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 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]

1971 Indian general election
1–10 March 1971[1]
All 518 seats in the Lok Sabha
260 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout55.27%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Indira Gandhi Puchalapalli Sundarayya Shripad Amrit Dange
Party INC (R) CPI (M) CPI
Alliance INC (R) LF LF
Leader's seat Rae Bareli "Did Not Contest" "Did Not Contest"
Seats won 352 25 23
Seat change 73 6
Percentage 43.68% 5.12% 4.78%
Swing 2.9% 0.84% 0.38%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee K. Kamaraj
Party BJS INC (O)
Alliance GA GA
Leader's seat Gwalior Nagercoil
Seats won 22 16
Seat change 13
Percentage 7.35% 10.43%
Swing 1.96%
The 5th Lok Sabha
Prime Minister before election

Indira Gandhi
INC

 Subsequent Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi
INC (R)

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 INC(R) 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 (Organization) party.

Opposition alliance
Further information: Grand Alliance (1971)

INC(O) formed a pre-poll alliance with Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP), Praja Socialist Party (PSP), Swatantra Party and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) 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 Party
Lok Sabha elections 1971
Electoral participation: 55,27%		 % Won
(total 520)
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 (R) 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
Kerala Congress KC 0.37 3
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

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

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. 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. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
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