1971 Indian General Election
Garibi Hatao1–10 March 1971 · The Congress system tested · 518 seats, 260 for a majority
General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the fifth Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections since independence in 1947.
Held in wartime. This election took place while the country was engaged in Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 (1971). Conflicts →
Prime Minister before
Indira Gandhi
INC(R)
Prime Minister (continued)
Indira Gandhi
INC(R)
Largest force
Indian National Congress (R)
352 of 518 seats
Turnout
55.3%
The result
| Share of the Lok Sabha | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian National Congress (R) | — | Indira Gandhi | 352 | +69 | 6,40,33,274 | 43.7% | +2.9 | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | — | Puchalapalli Sundarayya | 25 | +6 | 75,10,089 | 5.1% | +0.8 | |
| Communist Party of India | — | — | 23 | 0 | 69,33,627 | 4.7% | — | |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | — | — | 23 | +2 | 56,22,758 | 3.8% | — | |
| Bharatiya Jana Sangh | — | — | 22 | +13 | 1,07,77,119 | 7.3% | — | |
| ABJS | Grand Alliance | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 22 | -13 | 1,07,77,119 | 7.3% | -2.0 | |
| Indian National Congress (Organisation) | Grand Alliance | K. Kamaraj | 16 | — | 1,52,85,851 | 10.4% | — | |
| Independents | — | — | 14 | +21 | 1,22,79,629 | 8.4% | — | |
| Telangana Praja Samithi | — | — | 10 | — | 18,73,589 | 1.3% | — |
11 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.