1989 Indian General Election
End of single-party rule22 and 26 November 1989 · Mandal, Mandir and the coalition era · 529 seats, 265 for a majority
General elections were held in India on 22 and 26 November 1989 to elect the members of the ninth Lok Sabha. The incumbent Indian National Congress (Indira) government under the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi lost its mandate, even though it was still the largest single party in the Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister before
Rajiv Gandhi
INC(I)
Prime Minister after
V. P. Singh
JD
Largest force
Indian National Congress (Indira)
197 of 529 seats
Turnout
62.0%
The result
| Share of the Lok Sabha | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian National Congress (Indira) | Rajiv Gandhi | 197 | — | 11,88,94,702 | 39.5% | -7.3 | |
| Janata Dal | V. P. Singh | 143 | — | 5,35,18,521 | 17.8% | +4.3 | |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | Lal Krishna Advani | 85 | — | 3,41,71,477 | 11.4% | +3.6 | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | E. M. S. Namboodiripad | 33 | — | 1,96,91,309 | 6.5% | +0.7 | |
| Independents | — | 12 | — | 1,57,93,781 | 5.3% | — | |
| Communist Party of India | — | 12 | — | 77,34,697 | 2.6% | — | |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | — | 11 | — | 45,18,649 | 1.5% | — | |
| Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann) | — | 6 | — | 23,18,872 | 0.8% | — |
30 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.