1996 Indian General Election

The 13-day government

27 April, 2 May and 7 May 1996 · Mandal, Mandir and the coalition era · 543 seats, 272 for a majority

The elections resulted in a hung parliament with no single party having a majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which had won the most seats despite finishing second in the popular vote, formed a short-lived government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Prime Minister before

P. V. Narasimha Rao

INC

Prime Minister after

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

BJP

Largest force

Bharatiya Janata Party

161 of 543 seats

Turnout

57.9%

The result

Sort by

Bharatiya Janata Party

Atal Bihari Vajpayee · 20.3% of votes

161

seats

Indian National Congress

P. V. Narasimha Rao · 28.8% of votes

140

seats

Janata Dal

H. D. Deve Gowda · 8.1% of votes

seats

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Harkishan Singh Surjeet · 6.1% of votes

seats

Tamil Maanila Congress

2.2% of votes

seats

Samajwadi Party

3.3% of votes

seats

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

2.1% of votes

seats

Telugu Desam Party

3.0% of votes

seats


Bharatiya Janata Party	187	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	161	—	6,79,50,851	20.3%	+0.2
Indian National Congress	143	P. V. Narasimha Rao	140	—	9,64,55,493	28.8%	-7.5
Janata Dal	UF	H. D. Deve Gowda	46	—	2,70,70,340	8.1%	-3.8
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	UF	Harkishan Singh Surjeet	32	—	2,04,96,810	6.1%	-0.0
Tamil Maanila Congress	—	—	20	—	73,39,982	2.2%	—
Samajwadi Party	—	—	17	—	1,09,89,241	3.3%	—
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	—	—	17	—	71,51,381	2.1%	—
Telugu Desam Party	—	—	16	—	99,31,826	3.0%	—

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