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541 of the 543 seats in theLok Sabha 271 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 400,375,333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 64.01% ( 7.09pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held inIndia on 24, 27 and 28 December 1984 soon after theassassination of previousprime minister,Indira Gandhi, though the vote inAssam andPunjab was delayed until 1985 due to ongoing insurgency.
The elections were alandslide victory for theIndian National Congress (Indira) ofRajiv Gandhi (son of Indira Gandhi),[1] which won 404 of the 514 seats elected in 1984 and a further 10 in the delayed elections. TheTelugu Desam Party ofN. T. Rama Rao, a regional political party from the state ofAndhra Pradesh, was the second largest party, winning 30 seats, thus achieving the distinction of becoming the first regional party to become a national opposition party.AIADMK ofTamil Nadu contested the election in alliance with the INC (I), and won 12 seats.[2]
Voting was held immediately after theassassination of Indira Gandhi and the1984 anti-Sikh riots in November. Congress (Indira) received significant support due to an outpouring ofpublic grief at Gandhi's death. Voting was delayed in the Sikh-majority state ofPunjab, while theAssam movement and sporadic violence inMizoram by theMizo National Front as a part of itsuprising against the government saw voting being delayed in these states.
The 1984 elections were the last in which a single party won a majority of seats until2014, and the only time to date in which a party won more than 400 seats.
 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
| Indian National Congress (Indira) | 115,478,267 | 49.10 | 404 | |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 18,202,853 | 7.74 | 2 | |
| Janata Party | 16,210,514 | 6.89 | 10 | |
| Lokdal | 14,040,064 | 5.97 | 3 | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 13,809,950 | 5.87 | 22 | |
| Telugu Desam Party | 10,132,859 | 4.31 | 30 | |
| Communist Party of India | 6,363,430 | 2.71 | 6 | |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 5,695,179 | 2.42 | 2 | |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 3,968,967 | 1.69 | 12 | |
| Indian Congress (Socialist) | 3,577,377 | 1.52 | 4 | |
| Indian National Congress (Jagjivan) | 1,511,515 | 0.64 | 1 | |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party | 1,173,869 | 0.50 | 3 | |
| All India Forward Bloc | 1,055,556 | 0.45 | 2 | |
| Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | 1,010,243 | 0.43 | 3 | |
| Indian Union Muslim League | 658,821 | 0.28 | 2 | |
| Kerala Congress (Joseph) | 598,113 | 0.25 | 2 | |
| Doordarshi Party | 508,426 | 0.22 | 0 | |
| Peasants and Workers Party of India | 463,963 | 0.20 | 1 | |
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 332,403 | 0.14 | 0 | |
| Kerala Congress | 258,591 | 0.11 | 0 | |
| All India Muslim League | 224,155 | 0.10 | 0 | |
| Gandhi Kamraj National Congress | 217,104 | 0.09 | 0 | |
| Socialist Unity Centre of India | 196,767 | 0.08 | 0 | |
| Republican Party of India (Khobragade) | 165,320 | 0.07 | 0 | |
| Manipur Peoples Party | 149,019 | 0.06 | 0 | |
| Tamil Nadu Congress (K) | 144,076 | 0.06 | 0 | |
| Naga National Democratic Party | 113,919 | 0.05 | 0 | |
| Jammu & Kashmir Panthers Party | 95,149 | 0.04 | 0 | |
| Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party | 83,122 | 0.04 | 0 | |
| People's Party of Arunachal | 78,455 | 0.03 | 0 | |
| Republican Party of India | 22,877 | 0.01 | 0 | |
| Jharkhand Party | 18,837 | 0.01 | 0 | |
| Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Conference | 646 | 0.00 | 0 | |
| Independents | 18,623,803 | 7.92 | 5 | |
| AppointedAnglo-Indians | 2 | |||
| Total | 235,184,209 | 100.00 | 516 | |
| Valid votes | 235,184,209 | 97.49 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 6,062,678 | 2.51 | ||
| Total votes | 241,246,887 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 379,540,608 | 63.56 | ||
| Source:ECI | ||||
The elections inPunjab were held in September 1985 after the signing of theRajiv–Longowal Accord between Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi and Akali leaderHarchand Singh Longowal on 24 July 1985. The elections were held alongside elections to thePunjab Legislative Assembly.[3] In Assam elections were held in December 1985 after the signing of theAssam Accord in August 1985.[3]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian National Congress (Indira) | 4,628,777 | 32.14 | 10 | |
| Shiromani Akali Dal | 2,577,279 | 17.90 | 7 | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 462,576 | 3.21 | 0 | |
| Indian Congress (Socialist) | 457,705 | 3.18 | 1 | |
| Communist Party of India | 369,687 | 2.57 | 0 | |
| Plain Tribals Council of Assam | 310,150 | 2.15 | 1 | |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 263,284 | 1.83 | 0 | |
| Janata Party | 420,082 | 2.92 | 0 | |
| Lokdal | 46,627 | 0.32 | 0 | |
| Independents | 4,864,958 | 33.78 | 8 | |
| Total | 14,401,125 | 100.00 | 27 | |
| Valid votes | 14,401,125 | 95.70 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 646,951 | 4.30 | ||
| Total votes | 15,048,076 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 20,834,725 | 72.23 | ||
| Source:ECI | ||||
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