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✶ 1951–52 → 2024 · 18 Lok Sabhas

Seventy years
at the ballot box.

India has held a general election roughly every five years since 1951–52. Power has passed from one dominant party to coalitions and back to single-party majorities. The rules changed along the way: who could vote, how votes were cast, and who could switch sides.

Lok Sabha seats by party, every general election

Hover, tap or use the arrow keys on the chart to step through elections. The dashed line is a majority of that house.

1951 1957 1962 1967 1971 1977 1980 1984 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
  • INC
  • BJP
  • CPI(M)
  • JNP
  • JD
  • CPI
  • DMK
  • Others

Eras

Five chapters
of Indian politics.

  1. 1951–1967

    One-party dominance

    The Congress won every general election and almost every state. Lok Sabha and assembly elections were held together, so one campaign decided both.

  2. 1967–1977

    Congress challenged

    In 1967 the Congress lost power in eight states. The party split in 1969. Indira Gandhi called an early election in 1971, which separated national and state polls for good. The Emergency followed in 1975.

  3. 1977–1989

    The first alternations

    Voters removed the Congress in 1977, and the Janata Party formed the first non-Congress government. It broke apart within three years. The Congress returned in 1980 and won its largest majority in 1984, after Indira Gandhi's assassination.

  4. 1989–2014

    The coalition era

    For 25 years no party won a majority on its own. Regional and caste-based parties held the balance, and governments were built from multi-party fronts: the National Front, the United Front, the NDA and the UPA.

  5. 2014–now

    Single-party majorities return

    The BJP won 282 seats in 2014 and 303 in 2019, the first single-party majorities since 1984. In 2024 it won 240 and governs with its NDA allies.

Rules of the game

What changed,
and when.

  1. 1951

    Event

    First general election

    Polling ran from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952 under universal adult franchise from age 21, for 489 seats. About 17 crore people were eligible to vote, most of them voting for the first time.

    Source ↗
  2. 1971

    Practice

    National and state polls separate

    Indira Gandhi dissolved the Lok Sabha a year early and called a snap election. Since 1971, Lok Sabha and most assembly elections have been held on separate cycles.

    Source ↗
  3. 1975

    Amendment

    The Emergency, 1975–77

    An internal emergency was proclaimed under Article 352 on 25 June 1975. Civil liberties were suspended and the 42nd Amendment (1976) extended the Lok Sabha's term to six years. Elections were finally called for March 1977, and the Janata Party won. The 44th Amendment (1978) restored the five-year term and tightened emergency powers.

    Source ↗
  4. 1985

    Amendment

    Anti-defection law

    The 52nd Amendment added the Tenth Schedule. A legislator who leaves their party, or defies the party whip in a vote, can be disqualified by the Speaker or Chairman.

    Source ↗
  5. 1989

    Amendment

    Voting age lowered to 18

    The 61st Amendment (1988) lowered the voting age in Article 326 from 21 to 18. It came into force on 28 March 1989, and the general election that year was the first held under it.

    Source ↗
  6. 1992

    Amendment

    Panchayats and municipalities in the Constitution

    The 73rd and 74th Amendments, passed in December 1992, made elected rural and urban local bodies mandatory. They set five-year terms, reserved one-third of seats for women, and created State Election Commissions to run local polls.

    Source ↗
  7. 1998

    Law

    Electronic voting machines

    EVMs were first tried in 1982 in Paravur, Kerala. Section 61A of the Representation of the People Act (1989) later gave them a legal basis. In November 1998 they were used in 16 assembly constituencies.

    Source ↗
  8. 2003

    Amendment

    Splits no longer protected

    The 91st Amendment removed the Tenth Schedule's protection for a 'split' by one-third of a legislature party; only a merger backed by two-thirds is now exempt. It also capped the size of councils of ministers at 15% of the house.

    Source ↗
  9. 2004

    Practice

    EVMs everywhere

    For the first time, every one of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies voted on electronic machines.

    Source ↗
  10. 2008

    Law

    Delimitation

    The Delimitation Commission redrew constituency boundaries on 2001 census figures. Each state's number of seats stayed frozen on the 1971 census. The Lok Sabha now has 84 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and 47 for Scheduled Tribes. The new map was first used for the Lok Sabha in 2009.

    Source ↗
  11. 2013

    Court

    NOTA

    In PUCL v. Union of India (27 September 2013), the Supreme Court ordered a 'None of the Above' option on every ballot. NOTA votes are counted and published but cannot change who wins.

    Source ↗
  12. 2013

    Court

    First paper trail

    In Subramanian Swamy v. ECI (2013), the Supreme Court held that a paper trail is essential to free and fair elections. VVPAT printers were first used that year, in the Noksen by-election in Nagaland.

    Source ↗
  13. 2019

    Practice

    VVPAT at every booth

    Every polling station in the 2019 general election had a VVPAT printer. After a Supreme Court order in April 2019, slips from five randomly chosen machines in each assembly segment are counted by hand and matched against the EVM count.

    Source ↗
  14. 2020

    Amendment

    Nominated Anglo-Indian seats end

    The 104th Amendment (in force January 2020) ended the two Lok Sabha seats the President could fill with Anglo-Indian members. The Lok Sabha is now entirely elected, with 543 seats. The amendment also extended SC/ST reservation to 2030.

    Source ↗
  15. 2023

    Amendment

    One-third of seats for women

    The 106th Amendment reserves one-third of Lok Sabha and assembly seats for women. It takes effect only after the next census and a fresh delimitation.

    Source ↗
  16. 2024

    Court

    Electoral bonds struck down

    On 15 February 2024, in ADR v. Union of India, a five-judge bench unanimously struck down the anonymous electoral bond scheme and ordered full disclosure of bond purchases and redemptions.

    Source ↗

Prime Ministers

Fifteen people,
18 spells in office.

The Prime Minister is whoever can command a majority in the Lok Sabha. Most were chosen by a party that won an election; several came to power when a coalition broke apart mid-term.

  1. Jawaharlal Nehru INC 15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964
  2. Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) INC 27 May 1964 – 9 June 1964
  3. Lal Bahadur Shastri INC 9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966
  4. Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) INC 11 January 1966 – 24 January 1966
  5. Indira Gandhi INC 24 January 1966 – 24 March 1977
  6. Morarji Desai JNP 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979
  7. Charan Singh JNP(S) 28 July 1979 – 14 January 1980
  8. Indira Gandhi INC 14 January 1980 – 31 October 1984
  9. Rajiv Gandhi INC 31 October 1984 – 2 December 1989
  10. V. P. Singh JD 2 December 1989 – 10 November 1990
  11. Chandra Shekhar SJP 10 November 1990 – 21 June 1991
  12. P. V. Narasimha Rao INC 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996
  13. Atal Bihari Vajpayee BJP 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
  14. H. D. Deve Gowda JD 1 June 1996 – 21 April 1997
  15. I. K. Gujral JD 21 April 1997 – 19 March 1998
  16. Atal Bihari Vajpayee BJP 19 March 1998 – 22 May 2004
  17. Manmohan Singh INC 22 May 2004 – 26 May 2014
  18. Narendra Modi BJP 26 May 2014 – present