Indian general election, 1980
Encyclopedia
India held general elections to the 7th
Lok Sabha
. The Janata Party
came into power riding the public anger against the Congress
and the Emergency but its position was weak. The party held 270 seats in the Lok Sabha and it never quite had a firm grip on power.
Bharatiya Lok Dal
leader Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram, who had quit the Congress, were members of the Janata alliance but they were at loggerheads with Prime Minister Morarji Desai
.
The tribunals the government had set up to investigate human rights abuses during the Emergency appeared vindictive and a witch-hunt against Congress leader Indira Gandhi, who lost no opportunity of portraying herself as a harassed woman.
The Janata Party, an amalgam of socialists and Hindu nationalists, split in 1979 when Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) leaders A B Vajpayee and L K Advani quit and the BJS withdrew support to the government.
Desai lost a trust vote in Parliament and resigned. Charan Singh, who had retained some partners of the Janata alliance, was sworn in as Prime Minister in June 1979.
Congress promised to support Singh in Parliament but later backed out. He called for elections in January 1980 and is the only Prime Minister not to have faced Parliament. The fight between Janata Party leaders and the political instability in the country worked in favour of the Congress (I), which reminded voters of the strong government of Indira Gandhi.
The Congress won 374 Lok Sabha seats and the Janata Party, or what remained of the alliance, won 34 seats.
The Janata split and split over the years but it had recorded an important landmark in the country political history: it was a coalition and proved that the Congress could be defeated.
7th Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 7th Lok Sabha, elected December 1979-January 1980. The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India.- Important members :* Speaker:...
Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
. The Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
came into power riding the public anger against the Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
and the Emergency but its position was weak. The party held 270 seats in the Lok Sabha and it never quite had a firm grip on power.
Bharatiya Lok Dal
Bharatiya Lok Dal
Bharatiya Lok Dal was a political party in India. The BLD was formed at the end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to the autocratic rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra Party, the Utkal Congress, the Bharatiya Kranti Dal, and the Socialist Party...
leader Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram, who had quit the Congress, were members of the Janata alliance but they were at loggerheads with Prime Minister Morarji Desai
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977–79. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National Congress...
.
The tribunals the government had set up to investigate human rights abuses during the Emergency appeared vindictive and a witch-hunt against Congress leader Indira Gandhi, who lost no opportunity of portraying herself as a harassed woman.
The Janata Party, an amalgam of socialists and Hindu nationalists, split in 1979 when Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) leaders A B Vajpayee and L K Advani quit and the BJS withdrew support to the government.
Desai lost a trust vote in Parliament and resigned. Charan Singh, who had retained some partners of the Janata alliance, was sworn in as Prime Minister in June 1979.
Congress promised to support Singh in Parliament but later backed out. He called for elections in January 1980 and is the only Prime Minister not to have faced Parliament. The fight between Janata Party leaders and the political instability in the country worked in favour of the Congress (I), which reminded voters of the strong government of Indira Gandhi.
The Congress won 374 Lok Sabha seats and the Janata Party, or what remained of the alliance, won 34 seats.
The Janata split and split over the years but it had recorded an important landmark in the country political history: it was a coalition and proved that the Congress could be defeated.
Results by alliance
Source: Election of IndiaResults by Party
Lok Sabha Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India... elections 1980. Electoral participation: 59,62% | % | 545 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communist Party of India Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925... | CPI | 2,49 | 10 |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of... | CPI(M) | 6,24 | 37 |
| Indian National Congress (Indira) Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian... | INC | 42,69 | 353 |
| Indian National Congress (Urs) Indian National Congress (Urs) The Indian National Congress was a breakaway faction of the Congress led by D. Devraj Urs. It broke away from the parent party in 1978 following Indira Gandhi's drubbing in the 1977 General Elections. Urs took with him many legislators from Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Goa including future... | INC(U) | 5,28 | 13 |
| Janata Party Janata Party The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress... | JP | 18,97 | 31 |
| Janata Party (Secular) | JP(S) | 9,39 | 41 |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its... | AIADMK | 2,36 | 2 |
| All India Forward Bloc All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc is a leftwing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party after the independence of India... | AIFB | 0,51 | 3 |
| All India Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League is a state political party in the state of Kerala, India. The chief support base of the party falls inside northern and central Kerala... | AIML | 0,1 | 0 |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar... | DMK | 2,14 | 16 |
| Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League is a state political party in the state of Kerala, India. The chief support base of the party falls inside northern and central Kerala... | IUML | 0,24 | 2 |
| Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Jammu & Kashmir National Conference The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference is a State political party in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Led at the time of Indian Independence in 1947 by Sheikh Abdullah, it dominated electoral politics in the state for many decades... | NC | 0,25 | 3 |
| Kerala Congress Kerala Congress The Kerala Congress is a recognized State political party in Kerala, India. The party was founded by K. M. George in October 1964 after a group of legislators decided to break from the Indian National Congress... | KC | 0,18 | 1 |
| Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party was Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1961. In the first elections held after India took over the former Portuguese colony, it ascended to power in December 1963 and stayed on, till being ousted from power by defections in early... | MGP | 0,06 | 1 |
| Manipur Peoples Party Manipur Peoples Party The Manipur Peoples Party is a political party in the Indian state of Manipur. MPP was founded on December 26, 1968 by a group of dissidents from the Indian National Congress. At the February 2007 Manipur state elections, the party received 5 of the 60 seats.... | MPP | 0,02 | 0 |
| Peoples Party of Arunachal Peoples Party of Arunachal Peoples Party of Arunachal, a political party in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh 1977-1989. PPA president was Tomo Riba.State Assembly elections results:1978: 21 candidates, 8 elected1980: 28 candidates, 13 elected1984: 13 candidates, 4 elected... | PPA | 0,04 | 0 |
| Peoples Conference | PC | 0,03 | 0 |
| Peasants and Workers Party of India Peasants and Workers Party of India Peasants and Workers Party of India , is a marxist political party in Maharashtra, India. The party was founded in 1949, having its roots from the pre-Independence period and has around 10,000 members. The influence of the party is largely limited to three districts.Member of legislative council of... | PWPI | 0,24 | 0 |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party Revolutionary Socialist Party (India) Revolutionary Socialist Party is a Marxist-Leninist political party in India. The party was founded on March 19, 1940 and has its roots in the Bengali liberation movement Anushilan Samiti and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. The party got around 0,4% of the votes and three seats in the Lok... | RSP | 0,65 | 4 |
| Shiromani Akali Dal Shiromani Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal , translation: Supreme Akali Party) is a Sikh nationalist political parties based in Punjab. The current party to be recognized by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Parkash Singh Badal... | SAD | 0,71 | 1 |
| Sikkim Congress (Revolutionary) Sikkim Congress (Revolutionary) Sikkim Congress , political party in the Indian state of Sikkim. SC existed around 1979-1980. In the state assembly elections 1979 SCR won eleven seats and became the largest fraction in the assembly. In total the party received 14 889 votes... | SC(R) | 0,01 | 0 |
| Sikkim Janata Parishad Sikkim Janata Parishad Sikkim Janata Parishad or SJP is a political party in the Indian state of Sikkim led by N.B. Bhandari.SJP won the state assembly elections 1979, when it got 22,776 votes and won 17 seats . Bhandari became the Chief Minister.In 1981 SJP merged with Indian National Congress... | SJP | 0,02 | 1 |
| Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti | TUJS | 0,06 | 0 |
| United Democratic Front United Democratic Front (India) United Democratic Front is an alliance of political parties of Kerala state in India. This alliance is led by the Indian National Congress.... | UDF | 0,07 | 0 |
| Jharkhand Party Jharkhand Party Jharkhand Party, a political party in India. The party was founded on March 5, 1949 at a large conference in Ranchi. Jaipal Singh was elected president and Idsen Deba general secretary. JKP grew out of the demand for a separate Jharkhand state.... | JKP | 0,13 | 1 |
| Independents | - | 6,43 | 9 |
| Nominated Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent... s | - | - | 2 |
See also
- State Assembly elections in India, 1980
- Election Commission of IndiaElection Commission of IndiaThe Election Commission of India is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body of India. Its mission is to conduct free and fair elections in India...
- Indian presidential election, 1977Indian presidential election, 1977The Election Commission of India held indirect 7th presidential elections of India on August 6, 1982. Even though 37 candidates filed their nominations, 36 of them were rejected, leading to Neelam Sanjiva Reddy being the only President of India winning unopposed....