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Indian general election, 1971

Indian general election, 1971
India
1967 ←
1–10 March 1971 → 1977

All 518 seats in the Lok Sabha
260 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
  Indira Gandhi 1977.jpg Morarji Desai portrait.jpg
Leader Indira Gandhi Morarji Desai
Party INC (R) NCO
Alliance INC (R) NDF
Leader's seat Rae Bareli Surat
Seats won 352 51
Seat change Increase73 Decrease65
Percentage 43.68% 24.34%
Swing Increase2.9% New

Prime Minister before election

Indira Gandhi
INC

Subsequent Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi
INC (R)


Indira Gandhi
INC

Indira Gandhi
INC (R)

India held general elections to the 5th Lok Sabha in 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. Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian National Congress (R) led a campaign which focussed 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.

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 (R) faction, which was recognised by the Election Commission as being the successor to the previous party. 31 MPs who opposed Gandhi became the Indian National Congress (Organization) party. Despite the split, the Ruling faction gained votes and seats to win a strong majority, whereas the Organization faction lost half of their seats.

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.


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