1967 Indian general election

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1967 Indian general election

← 1962 17–21 February 1967 1971 →

520 of the 523 seats in the Lok Sabha
261 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Indira Gandhi 1967.jpg Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari.jpg File:Pt Deendayal Upadhyay.jpg
Leader Indira Gandhi C. Rajagopalachari Deendayal Upadhyaya
Party INC Swatantra Party Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Leader's seat Rae Bareli Did not contest Did not contest
Seats won 283 44 35
Seat change Decrease78 Increase26 Increase21
Popular vote 59,490,701 12,646,847 13,580,935
Percentage 40.78% 8.67% 9.31%
Swing Decrease3.94pp Increase0.78pp Increase2.87pp

Wahlergebnisse in Indien 1967.svg

Prime Minister before election

Indira Gandhi
INC

Prime Minister after election

Indira Gandhi
INC

General elections were held in India between 17 and 21 February 1967 to elect 520 of the 523 members of the 4th Lok Sabha, an increase of 15 from the previous session of Lok Sabha.[1] Elections to State Assemblies were also held simultaneously, the last general election to do so.

The incumbent Indian National Congress government retained power, albeit with a significantly reduced majority. Indira Gandhi was resworn in as the Prime Minister on 4 March.

Background[edit]

By 1967, economic growth in India had slowed – the 1961–1966 Five-Year Plan gave a target of 5.6% annual growth, but the actual growth rate was 2.4%. Under Lal Bahadur Shastri, the government's popularity was boosted after India prevailed in the 1965 War with Pakistan, but the war, along with the previous 1962 War with China, put a strain on the economy. Internal divisions were emerging in the Indian National Congress while its two popular leaders Nehru and Shastri had both died. Indira Gandhi had succeeded Shastri as leader, but a rift had emerged between her and Deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who had been her rival in the 1966 party leadership contest.[2]

Results[edit]

The INC suffered setbacks in seven states, which included Gujarat, where INC won 11 out of 24 seats while Swatantra Party won 12 seats; Madras, where INC won 3 out of 39 seats and DMK won 25 seats; Orissa, where they won 6 out of 20 seats and Swatantra Party won 8 seats. Rajasthan where they won 10 out of 20 seats Swatantra Party won 8 seats, West Bengal where they won 14 out of 40, Kerala where they won only 1 out of 19. Delhi where they won 1 out of 7 while remaining 6 were won by Bharatiya Jana Sangh.[1] The party was also ousted from power in nine states, while losing governance in Uttar Pradesh one month after the election.[3]

Lok Sabha Zusammensetzung 1967.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Indian National Congress59,490,70140.78283–78
Bharatiya Jana Sangh13,580,9359.3135+21
Swatantra Party12,646,8478.6744+26
Communist Party of India7,458,3965.1123–6
Samyukta Socialist Party7,171,6274.9223New
Communist Party of India (Marxist)6,246,5224.2819New
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam5,529,4053.7925+18
Praja Socialist Party4,456,4873.0613+1
Republican Party of India3,607,7112.471–2
Bangla Congress1,204,3560.835New
Peasants and Workers Party of India1,028,7550.712+2
Akali Dal – Sant Fateh Singh968,7120.663New
All India Forward Bloc627,9100.4320
Indian Union Muslim League413,8680.2820
Kerala Congress321,2190.220New
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference210,0200.141New
Akali Dal – Tara Singh189,2900.130New
Jana Kranti Dal183,2110.131New
Jana Congress136,6310.090New
All Party Hill Leaders Conference112,4920.0810
United Goans – Seqveria Group100,1370.071New
Peoples Front42,7250.030New
Democratic National Conference30,7880.020New
United Goans – Furtadd Group1,7140.000New
Nagaland Nationalist Organisation00.001New
Independents20,106,05113.7835+15
Appointed members[lower-alpha 1]3–11
Total145,866,510100.00523+15
Valid votes145,866,51095.51
Invalid/blank votes6,858,1014.49
Total votes152,724,611100.00
Registered voters/turnout250,207,40161.04
Source: ECI
  1. Two representing Anglo-Indians and one representing the North-East Frontier Agency.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "General Election of India 1967, 4th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  2. "politics since independence". The Age. 2 June 1970. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  3. Ananth, V. Krishna (22 February 2017). "Why 1967 general election was a watershed in Indian politics and the lessons it left behind". DNA India. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
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