India conducted a high-stakes general election in seven phases between April and June. Now, all eyes are on the results of the Lok Sabha elections as the counting of votes takes place on Tuesday (4 June).
While the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set a lofty aim of “400 paar” (winning 400 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats) this time, the Opposition INDIA bloc made efforts to halt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coronation for a third time.
If three exit polls are to be believed, the BJP could very well meet its target of ‘ab ki baar 400 paar’. Although the Opposition has vehemently rejected the figures, India’s history shows it is possible to win over 400 parliamentary seats.
And one party has done it before — the Congress.
But how? Let’s understand.
1984 Lok Sabha elections
On 31 October 1984, PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh security guards reportedly to avenge the desecration of the Golden Temple during Operation Blue Star in June of that year.
The incident triggered a horrific communal violence that resulted in the killing of 3,350 Sikhs across the country, including 2,800 in Delhi itself, as per Indian Express.
Her assassination evoked a nationwide wave of sympathy that benefitted Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress, which won 414 out of the 541 Lok Sabha seats.
At 48.12 per cent, the Congress became the only party to log the highest-ever vote share on its own. With this, the Grand Old Party beat its record of 47.78 per cent of votes gained in 1957 during the second Lok Sabha elections after Independence, reported Indian Express.
Since 1984, no party has gone beyond the 40 per cent mark. The BJP led by PM Modi came close to it in 2019 when it clinched a 37.7 per cent vote share. In the 2014 polls, the saffron party, which unseated the Congress to come to power, had secured only 31 per cent of the total valid votes polled.
How Congress pulled off ‘400 paar’
After Indira Gandhi’s death, the 1984 general elections were held in two parts. While most parts of the country voted in December of that year, militancy-hit Punjab and Assam went to polling in September and December 1985 respectively, as per an Indian Express report.
The general elections were due to be held in January 1985. However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) was forced to hold the polls a few weeks earlier following the assassination.
Polling took place in 17 states and all nine Union Territories (UTs) on the same day.
A total of 23 states and UTs had more than one Lok Sabha constituency at the time. The Congress won all seats in nine states and UTs, including 40 in Madhya Pradesh, 25 in
Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana, seven in Delhi and four in Himachal Pradesh, the newspaper noted.
The voter turnout was 63.6 per cent and paper ballots were used to cast votes.
In Uttar Pradesh (which included Uttarakhand at the time), the Grand Old Party bagged 83 of the 85 Lok Sabha seats. Rajiv Gandhi won 83.67 per cent of the votes from his Amethi constituency – the highest margin for the Congress, defeating his sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi.
As per Indian Express, the Congress was victorious in 48 of 54 seats in Bihar (that comprised of Jharkhand), 43 of 48 seats in Maharashtra, 24 of 26 seats in Gujarat, 24 of 28 seats in Karnataka, 20 of 21 seats in Odisha, 25 of 39 in Tamil Nadu and 13 of 20 seats in Kerala.
The Grand Old Party’s candidates won three of the six parliamentary seats in Jammu and Kashmir (including Ladakh).
Despite the sympathy wave, the Congress got just six of 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh and 16 of 42 seats in West Bengal. It won six of 13 constituencies in Punjab and four of 14 seats in Assam.
The party drew a blank in Sikkim, Tripura and Dadra & Nagar Haveli in the 1984 polls.
Notably, the Congress was favoured by over 50 per cent of the voters in 293 of the 414 seats it won. Its vote share ranged between 40-50 per cent in 101 seats and 20-40 per cent in another 20 seats, reported Indian Express.
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How other parties fared
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) emerged as the second-largest party in the 1984 elections, with 30 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 22 seats, followed by the Janata Party’s 10 seats, the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) six, and Charan Singh’s Lok Dal’s three.
The BJP managed to secure only two seats.
2024 Lok Sabha polls
India voted in multiple phases to elect the 18th Lok Sabha in the world’s largest democratic exercise.
In just a day, we will know whether the BJP fulfilled its goal of ‘400 paar’, which the party’s leaders have touted, or if the Opposition was successful in upstaging the saffron party.
No matter the results, 4 June will be a decisive day for the country.
With inputs from agencies
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