1984 Indian general election

General elections were held in India in 1984 soon after the assassination of previous Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, though the vote in Assam and Punjab was delayed until 1985 due to ongoing fighting.

1984 Indian general election

24, 27 and 28 December 1984
All 541 seats in the Lok Sabha 271 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	64.01% (7.09%)
First party Second party   Leader Rajiv Gandhi N.T. Rama Rao Party INC TDP Leader's seat Amethi None Seats won 414 30 Seat change 61 30 Percentage 48.12% 4.06% Swing 5.45% 4.06%
Prime Minister before election Rajiv Gandhi INC+ Elected Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi INC+

The election was a landslide victory for the Indian National Congress of Rajiv Gandhi (son of Indira Gandhi), which won 404 of the 514 seats elected in 1984 and a further 10 in the delayed elections. The Telugu Desam Party of N. T. Rama Rao, a regional political party from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, was the second largest party, winning 30 seats, thus achieving the distinction of becoming the first regional party to become a national opposition party. Voting was held immediately after the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in November and most of India supported Congress.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won its first two seats, in Hanamkonda and Mahesana.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Indian National Congress	115,478,267	49.10	404	+51
Bharatiya Janata Party	18,202,853	7.74	2	New
Janata Party	16,210,514	6.89	10	–21
Lok Dal	14,040,064	5.97	3	New
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	13,809,950	5.87	22	–15
Telugu Desam Party	10,132,859	4.31	30	New
Communist Party of India	6,363,430	2.71	6	–4
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	5,695,179	2.42	2	–14
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	3,968,967	1.69	12	+10
Indian Congress (Socialist)	3,577,377	1.52	4	New
Indian Congress (J)	1,511,515	0.64	1	New
Revolutionary Socialist Party	1,173,869	0.50	3	–1
All India Forward Bloc	1,055,556	0.45	2	–1
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference	1,010,243	0.43	3	0
Indian Union Muslim League	658,821	0.28	2	0
Kerala Congress (Joseph)	598,113	0.25	2	New
Doordashi Party	508,426	0.22	0	New
Peasants and Workers Party of India	463,963	0.20	1	+1
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	332,403	0.14	0	New
Kerala Congress	258,591	0.11	0	–1
All India Muslim League	224,155	0.10	0	0
Gandhi Kamraj National Congress	217,104	0.09	0	New
Socialist Unity Centre of India	196,767	0.08	0	0
Republican Party of India (Khobragade)	165,320	0.07	0	0
Manipur Peoples Party	149,019	0.06	0	0
Tamil Nadu Congress (K)	144,076	0.06	0	New
Naga National Democratic Party	113,919	0.05	0	New
Jammu & Kashmir Panthers Party	95,149	0.04	0	New
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party	83,122	0.04	0	–1
Peoples Party of Arunachal	78,455	0.03	0	0
Republican Party of India	22,877	0.01	0	0
Jharkhand Party	18,837	0.01	0	–1
Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Conference	646	0.00	0	New
Independents	18,623,803	7.92	5	–4
Invalid/blank votes	6,062,678	–	–	–
Total	241,246,887	100	514	–15
Registered voters/turnout	379,540,608	63.56	–	–
Source EIC

Delayed elections in Assam and Punjab

Results from 1985

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Indian National Congress	4,628,777	32.14	10
Shiromani Akali Dal	2,577,279	17.90	7
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	462,576	3.21	0
Indian Congress (Socialist)	457,705	3.18	1
Communist Party of India	369,687	2.57	0
Plain Tribals Council of Assam	310,150	2.15	1
Bharatiya Janata Party	263,284	1.83	0
Janata Party	420,082	2.92	0
Lok Dal	46,627	0.32	0
Independents	4,864,958	33.78	8
Invalid/blank votes	646,951	–	–
Total	15,048,076	100	27
Registered voters/turnout	20,834,725	72.23	–
Source: ECI

See also

• Election Commission of India
• 1982 Indian presidential election

References