Elections in India in 1977 included Legislative Assembly (
Vidhan Sabha
The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...
) elections in several
Indian states
India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.
History
Pre-indepen ...
, including
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
,
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
,
Jammu and Kashmir,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
, and
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
.
Legislative Assembly elections
Bihar
Goa, Daman and Diu
, - align=center
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" class="unsortable",
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=center, Political Party
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Seats contested
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Seats won
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Number of Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , % of Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , Seat change
, -
,
, align="left",
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, , 29, , 15, , 116,339, , 38.49%, , 3
, -
,
, align="left",
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
, , 27, , 10, , 87,461, , 28.94%, , 9
, -
,
, align="left",
Janata Party
The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
, , 30, , 3, , 69,823, , 23.10%, , 3
, -
,
, align="left",
Independents, , 57, , 2, , 28,022, , 9.27%, , 1
, -
,
, align="left", Total, , 145, , 30, , 302,237, , , ,
, -
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Source
Jammu and Kashmir
Elections for the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Jammu and Kashmir were held in June 1977, which are generally regarded as the first 'free and fair' elections in the state.
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in the Indian union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Founded as the ''All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference'' by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam A ...
, newly revived from the former
Plebiscite Front
The All Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front, or Plebiscite Front, was a political party in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir that called for a " popular plebiscite" to decide if the state should remain part of India, join Pakistan or become ...
, won an overwhelming majority and re-elected
Sheikh Abdullah
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later re ...
as the Chief Minister.
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Source:
Nagaland
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
The sixth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on June 10, 1977.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mi ...
(AIADMK) won the election defeating its rival
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...
(DMK).
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...
(M.G.R), the AIADMK founder and a leading
Tamil film
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...
actor, was sworn in as Chief Minister for the first time. The election was a four cornered contest between the AIADMK, DMK, the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
(INC) and the
Janata Party
The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
. Earlier on 17 October 1972, M.G.R had founded the AIADMK following his expulsion from the DMK after differences arose between him and DMK leader
M. Karunanidhi. On 31 January 1976, Karunanidhi's government was dismissed by the central government of Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi citing corruption charges against Karunanidhi and
President's rule was imposed on the state. Karunanidhi had been at odds with Indira Gandhi over his opposition to
Emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
and allied with
Janata Party
The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
founded by
Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...
. Meanwhile, M.G.R had developed a close relationship with
Indira Gandhi and supported the Emergency. M.G.R remained as Chief Minister until his death in 1987, winning the next two elections held in
1980 and
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
.
, -
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" , Alliance/Party
!style="width:4px" ,
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats won
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Change
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Popular Vote
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Vote %
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Adj. %
‡
, -
! style="background-color:#009900; color:white", AIADMK+ alliance
! style="background-color: " ,
, 144
, +142
, 5,734,692
, style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" colspan=2 , 33.5%
, -
,
AIADMK
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief m ...
! style="background-color: #008000" ,
, 130
, +130
, 5,194,876
, 30.4%
, 35.4%
, -
,
CPI(M)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...
! style="background-color: #000080" ,
, 12
, +12
, 477,835
, 2.8%
, 33.0%
, -
,
FBL
! style="background-color: #800000" ,
, 1
, –
, 35,361
, 0.2%
, 62.0%
, -
,
IND
! style="background-color: olive" ,
, 1
, –
, 26,620
, 0.2%
, 42.9%
, -
! style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white", DMK
! style="background-color: " ,
, 48
, -136
, 4,258,771
, style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" colspan=2 , 24.9%
, -
,
DMK
! style="background-color: #FF0000" ,
, 48
, -136
, 4,258,771
, 24.9%
, 25.3%
, -
! style="background-color:#00FFFF; color:black", Congress alliance
! style="background-color: #00FFFF" ,
, 32
, +24
, 3,491,490
, style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" colspan=2 , 20.4%
, -
,
INC
! style="background-color: #00FFFF" ,
, 27
, +27
, 2,994,535
, 17.5%
, 20.8%
, -
,
CPI
A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time.
Overview
A CPI is a statistic ...
! style="background-color: #0000FF" ,
, 5
, -3
, 496,955
, 2.9%
, 20.4%
, -
! style="background-color:yellow; color:black", Janata
! style="background-color:yellow" ,
, 10
, +10
, 2,851,884
, style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" colspan=2 , 16.7%
, -
,
JNP
! style="background-color: #FFFF00" ,
, 10
, +10
, 2,851,884
, 16.7%
, 16.8%
, -
! style="background-color:gray; color:white", Others
! style="background-color:gray" ,
, 1
, -7
, 751,712
, style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" colspan=2 , 4.4%
, -
,
IND
! style="background-color: #666666" ,
, 1
, -7
, 751,712
, 4.4%
, –
, -
, style="text-align:center;" , Total
! style="background-color: " ,
, 234
, –
, 17,108,146
, 100%
, style="text-align:center;" , –
, -
‡: Vote % reflects the percentage of votes the party received compared to the entire electorate that voted in this election. Adjusted (Adj.) Vote %, reflects the % of votes the party received per constituency that they contested.
Sources: Election Commission of India
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Legislative Assembly elections were held in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n state of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
on 14 June 1977.
The polls took place after the ousting of
Indira Gandhi's government at the Centre. The
Left Front won a landslide victory, much to the surprise of the left parties themselves. The 1977 election marked the beginning of the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal, with
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...
leader
Jyoti Basu leading the first Left Front cabinet.
References
Sources
*
External links
Election Commission of India
{{Legislatures of India
1977 elections in India
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
1977 in Indian politics
Elections in India by year