1971 general election
The 5th Lok Sabha. Polled, counted 11 March 1971.
Seats declared
518
260 needed for a majority
Largest party
INC
352 seats · majority
Candidates
2,784
91 women, 27 elected
Turnout
53.47%
14.7 cr of 27.4 cr
The house
518 seats, each dot one constituency
- INC352
- CPM25
- CPI23
- DMK23
- BJS22
- NCO16
- IND14
- TPS10
- SWA8
- Others25
Biggest movements
Seat change against the previous general election
INC
+69
SWA
-36
IND
-21
SSP
-20
BJS
-13
PSP
-11
CPM
+6
Parties
Ordered by seats won
| Party | Won | +/− | Contested | Strike rate | Votes | Share | Share +/− | Deposits lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INCIndian National Congress | 352 | +69 | 441 | 53.1% | 6,40,33,274 | 43.68% | +2.89 | 4 |
| CPMCommunist Party of India (Marxist) | 25 | +6 | 85 | 27.2% | 75,10,089 | 5.12% | +0.84 | 31 |
| CPICommunist Party of India | 23 | 0 | 87 | 27.1% | 69,33,627 | 4.73% | -0.38 | 33 |
| DMKDravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 23 | -2 | 24 | 55.9% | 56,22,758 | 3.83% | +0.04 | 0 |
| BJSBharatiya Jana Sangh | 22 | -13 | 157 | 26.2% | 1,07,77,119 | 7.35% | -1.96 | 45 |
| NCOIndian National Congress (Organisation) | 16 | — | 238 | 22.1% | 1,52,85,851 | 10.43% | — | 114 |
| INDIndependent | 14 | -21 | 1134 | 3.9% | 1,22,79,629 | 8.38% | -5.41 | 1066 |
| TPSTPS | 10 | — | 14 | 47.5% | 18,73,589 | 1.28% | — | 0 |
| SWASwatantra Party | 8 | -36 | 59 | 27.2% | 44,97,988 | 3.07% | -5.60 | 18 |
| SSPSamyukta Socialist Party | 3 | -20 | 93 | 14.1% | 35,55,639 | 2.42% | -2.49 | 62 |
| RSPRevolutionary Socialist Party | 3 | — | 9 | 25.6% | 7,24,001 | 0.49% | — | 5 |
| KECKerala Congress | 3 | +3 | 3 | 55.6% | 5,42,431 | 0.37% | +0.15 | 0 |
| PSPPraja Socialist Party | 2 | -11 | 63 | 9.1% | 15,26,076 | 1.04% | -2.01 | 52 |
| FBLAll India Forward Bloc | 2 | 0 | 24 | 13.2% | 9,62,971 | 0.66% | +0.23 | 19 |
| MULIndian Union Muslim League | 2 | 0 | 7 | 18.9% | 4,16,545 | 0.28% | 0.00 | 5 |
| BKDBKD | 1 | — | 97 | 12.6% | 31,89,821 | 2.18% | — | 68 |
| SADShiromani Akali Dal | 1 | — | 15 | 28.1% | 12,79,873 | 0.87% | — | 3 |
| UTCUTC | 1 | — | 20 | 23.6% | 10,53,176 | 0.72% | — | 6 |
| BACBAC | 1 | -4 | 14 | 11.2% | 5,18,781 | 0.35% | -0.47 | 12 |
| VHPVHP | 1 | — | 8 | 17.6% | 3,52,514 | 0.24% | — | 5 |
| JKPJKP | 1 | — | 20 | 6.3% | 2,72,563 | 0.19% | — | 15 |
| RPGRPG | 1 | — | 1 | 69.4% | 1,53,794 | 0.10% | — | 0 |
| AHLAHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 51.2% | 90,772 | 0.06% | -0.02 | 0 |
| UFNUFN | 1 | — | 1 | 60.5% | 89,514 | 0.06% | — | 0 |
| UGSUGS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.1% | 58,401 | 0.04% | -0.03 | 0 |
| PWPPWP | 0 | -2 | 12 | 19.8% | 7,41,535 | 0.51% | -0.20 | 5 |
| RPKRPK | 0 | — | 36 | 4.8% | 5,42,662 | 0.37% | — | 32 |
| SHSShiv Sena | 0 | — | 5 | 14.3% | 2,27,468 | 0.15% | — | 3 |
| SHDSHD | 0 | — | 4 | 15.9% | 1,93,389 | 0.13% | — | 3 |
| SUCSUC | 0 | — | 10 | 5.6% | 1,57,703 | 0.11% | — | 9 |
| JAPJAP | 0 | — | 4 | 14.6% | 1,39,091 | 0.10% | — | 2 |
| HMSHMS | 0 | — | 11 | 2.4% | 73,191 | 0.05% | — | 11 |
| IGLIGL | 0 | — | 1 | 28.4% | 72,131 | 0.05% | — | 0 |
| PHJPHJ | 0 | — | 6 | 6.0% | 66,669 | 0.04% | — | 5 |
| HSDHSD | 0 | — | 9 | 2.6% | 65,925 | 0.04% | — | 9 |
| RCIRCI | 0 | — | 3 | 9.5% | 65,622 | 0.04% | — | 2 |
| LSSLSS | 0 | — | 2 | 12.6% | 62,527 | 0.04% | — | 1 |
| JACJAC | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15.1% | 60,103 | 0.04% | -0.05 | 2 |
| NNONNO | 0 | -1 | 1 | 39.5% | 58,511 | 0.04% | +0.04 | 0 |
| SOCSOC | 0 | — | 5 | 4.3% | 55,064 | 0.04% | — | 5 |
Showing the 40 largest parties. The full list is at /api/elections/lok-sabha-1971/parties?limit=500.
States & union territories
Seats and the parties that won them
| State / UT | Seats | Turnout | Won by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | 85 | 44.8% | INC73CPI4BJS4IND2 |
| Bihar | 53 | 48.0% | INC39CPI5NCO3SSP2 |
| Maharashtra | 45 | 58.0% | INC42PSP1FBL1RPG1 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 41 | 57.6% | INC28TPS10IND1CPI1 |
| West Bengal | 40 | 59.3% | CPM20INC13CPI3IND1 |
| Tamil Nadu | 39 | 69.2% | DMK23INC9CPI4IND1 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 37 | 45.1% | INC21BJS11IND4SSP1 |
| Mysore | 27 | 55.4% | INC27 |
| Gujarat | 24 | 53.1% | INC11NCO11SWA2 |
| Rajasthan | 23 | 52.3% | INC14BJS4SWA3IND2 |
| Odisha | 20 | 41.1% | INC15SWA3UTC1CPI1 |
| Kerala | 19 | 63.9% | INC6CPI3KEC3MUL2 |
| Assam | 14 | 48.3% | INC13AHL1 |
| Punjab | 13 | 58.7% | INC10CPI2SAD1 |
| Haryana | 9 | 62.8% | INC7BJS1VHP1 |
| Delhi | 7 | 64.4% | INC7 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 6 | 55.6% | INC5IND1 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 4 | 39.9% | INC4 |
| Goa, Daman and Diu | 2 | 54.2% | INC1UGS1 |
| Manipur | 2 | 47.8% | INC2 |
| Tripura | 2 | 58.6% | CPM2 |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 1 | 70.5% | INC1 |
| Chandigarh | 1 | 62.0% | INC1 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 1 | 65.6% | INC1 |
| Lakshadweep | 1 | 0.0% | INC1 |
| Nagaland | 1 | 53.7% | UFN1 |
| Puducherry | 1 | 68.9% | INC1 |
Largest victories of 1971
| Constituency | State | Winner | Runner-up | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KAKINADA | Andhra Pradesh | INCM. S. SANJEEVI RAO | BJSP. V. N. RAJU | 2,92,92681.84% |
| SIMLA | Himachal Pradesh | INCPARTAP SINGH | NCORUP SINGH PHUL | 1,27,55181.54% |
| KARAD | Maharashtra | INCDAJISAHEB RAMRAO CHAVAN | PWPVITHAL RAMCHANDRA BARAVADE | 2,43,46379.74% |
| KURNOOL | Andhra Pradesh | INCKODANDA RAMI REDDY | SWAY. GADIINGANA GOWDU | 2,41,35377.70% |
| KOLAR | Mysore | INCG. V. KRISHNAN | CPMG. NARAYANASWAMY | 1,94,51972.88% |
| MADHUGIRI | Mysore | INCK. MALLANNA | NCOB. N. RAMEGOWDA | 2,10,99371.43% |
| AMALAPURAM | Andhra Pradesh | INCB. S. MURTHY | NCOPENUMALA GOPALAKRISHNA | 2,57,55970.18% |
| BOBBILI | Andhra Pradesh | INCKARRI NARAYANA RAO | SWAROUTHU CHANDRASEKHARA RAO | 1,82,16969.03% |
| RAMTEK | Maharashtra | INCAMRUT GANPAT SONAR | FBLANANDRAO JAIRAM KALAMKAR | 2,31,74268.69% |
| SANGLI | Maharashtra | INCGANAPATI TUKARAM GOTKHINDE | PWPBHAGWANRAO DNYANDEO SURYAWANSHI | 2,18,25667.40% |
Closest results of 1971
| Constituency | State | Winner | Runner-up | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TIRUCHENDUR | Tamil Nadu | DMKM. S. SIVASAMY | SWAM. MATHIAS | 260.01% |
| SANGRUR | Punjab | CPITEJA SINGH | SADBALDEV SINGH | 2100.07% |
| JAMSHEDPUR | Bihar | INCSARDAR SWARAN SINGH | CPIKEDAR DAS | 2060.12% |
| KHAGARIA | Bihar | SSPSHIVSHANKAR PRASAD YADAV | INCSUMITRA DEVI | 5480.16% |
| GONDA | Uttar Pradesh | NCOANAND SINGH | INCDEVENDRA PRATAP SINGH | 6310.30% |
| MAHARAJGANJ | Bihar | SSPRAMDEO SINGH | CPIINDRA DEEP SINGH | 1,0080.35% |
| GHATAL | West Bengal | CPMJAGADISH BHATTACHARYYA | INCPARIHAL GHOSH | 1,3220.37% |
| MATHURAPUR | West Bengal | CPMMADHURJYA HALDAR | INCBIMALENDU SEKHAR NASKAR | 1,5850.38% |
| BANSWARA | Rajasthan | INCHIRALAL | SSPPRABHULAL | 1,1440.41% |
| MAHENDRAGARH | Haryana | VHPBIRENDER SINGH | INCNIHAL SINGH | 1,8990.56% |