1957 Indian General Election

24 February – 14 March 1957 · The Nehru era · 494 seats, 248 for a majority

Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress easily won a second term in power, taking 371 of the 494 seats. They gained an extra seven seats (the size of the Lok Sabha had been increased by five) and their vote share increased from 45% to 48%.

Prime Minister before

Jawaharlal Nehru

INC

Prime Minister (continued)

Jawaharlal Nehru

INC

Largest force

Indian National Congress

371 of 494 seats

Turnout

45.4%

The result

Sort by

Indian National Congress

Jawaharlal Nehru · 47.8% of votes · +7 seats

371

seats

Independents

19.3% of votes · +5 seats

seats

Communist Party of India

Ajoy Ghosh · 8.9% of votes · +11 seats

seats

Praja Socialist Party

Jayaprakash Narayan · 10.4% of votes · +2 seats

seats

All India Ganatantra Parishad

1.1% of votes · +1 seats

seats

Scheduled Castes Federation

1.7% of votes · +4 seats

seats

Jharkhand Party

0.6% of votes · +3 seats

seats

Bharatiya Jana Sangh

6.0% of votes · +1 seats

seats

ABJS

Debaprasad Ghosh · 6.0% of votes · +1 seats

seats


Indian National Congress	Jawaharlal Nehru	371	+7	5,75,79,589	47.8%	+2.8
Independents	—	42	+5	2,32,84,249	19.3%	—
Communist Party of India	Ajoy Ghosh	27	+11	1,07,54,075	8.9%	+5.6
Praja Socialist Party	Jayaprakash Narayan	19	+2	1,25,42,666	10.4%	—
All India Ganatantra Parishad	—	7	+1	12,91,141	1.1%	—
Scheduled Castes Federation	—	6	+4	20,38,890	1.7%	—
Jharkhand Party	—	6	+3	7,51,830	0.6%	—
Bharatiya Jana Sangh	—	4	+1	71,93,267	6.0%	—
ABJS	Debaprasad Ghosh	4	+1	71,93,267	6.0%	+2.9

8 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.