1980 Indian General Election
3 and 6 January 1980 · The Congress system tested · 529 seats, 265 for a majority
The Janata Party alliance came into power in the 1977 general elections amidst public anger with the Indian National Congress (R) and the Emergency. However, its position was weak; the loose coalition barely held on to a majority with only 295 seats in the Lok Sabha and never quite had a firm grip on power.
Prime Minister before
Charan Singh
JP(S)
Prime Minister after
Indira Gandhi
INC(I)
Largest force
Indian National Congress (Indira)
353 of 529 seats
Turnout
56.9%
The result
| Share of the Lok Sabha | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian National Congress (Indira) | INC (I)+ | Indira Gandhi | 353 | +199 | 8,44,55,313 | 42.7% | +8.2 | |
| Janata Party (Secular) | — | Charan Singh | 41 | — | 1,85,74,696 | 9.4% | — | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | LF | E. M. S. Namboodiripad | 37 | +15 | 1,23,52,331 | 6.2% | +1.9 | |
| Janata Party | JP+ | Jagjivan Ram | 31 | +264 | 3,75,30,228 | 19.0% | -22.4 | |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | — | — | 16 | +14 | 42,36,537 | 2.1% | — | |
| Indian National Congress (Urs) | — | A. K. Antony | 13 | — | 1,04,49,859 | 5.3% | — | |
| Communist Party of India | — | — | 10 | +3 | 49,27,342 | 2.5% | — | |
| Independents | — | — | 9 | 0 | 1,27,17,510 | 6.4% | — |
19 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.