1998 Indian General Election
16, 22 and 28 February 1998 · Mandal, Mandir and the coalition era · 543 seats, 272 for a majority
General elections were held in India on 16, 22 and 28 February 1998 to elect the members of the twelfth Lok Sabha. The elections were held three years ahead of schedule after the government led by Inder Kumar Gujral collapsed when the Indian National Congress (INC) withdrew its support in November 1997.
Prime Minister before
Inder Kumar Gujral
JD
Prime Minister after
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
BJP
Largest force
Bharatiya Janata Party
182 of 543 seats
Turnout
62.0%
The result
| Share of the Lok Sabha | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bharatiya Janata Party | NDA | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 182 | — | 9,42,66,188 | 25.6% | +5.3 | |
| Indian National Congress | INC+ | Sonia Gandhi | 141 | — | 9,51,11,131 | 25.8% | -3.0 | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | LF | Harkishan Singh Surjeet | 32 | — | 1,89,91,867 | 5.2% | -1.0 | |
| Samajwadi Party | — | — | 20 | — | 1,81,67,640 | 4.9% | — | |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | — | — | 18 | — | 67,31,550 | 1.8% | — | |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal | — | — | 17 | — | 1,02,29,971 | 2.8% | — | |
| Telugu Desam Party | — | — | 12 | — | 1,01,99,463 | 2.8% | — | |
| Samata Party | — | — | 12 | — | 64,91,639 | 1.8% | — |
109 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.