General elections were held in India in 1984 soon after the assassination of previous Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, though the vote in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur t ...

and Punjab was delayed until 1985 due to ongoing fighting. The elections were a landslide victory for 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 ...

of Rajiv Gandhi (son of Indira Gandhi), which won 404 of the 514 seats elected in 1984 and a further 10 in the delayed elections. The Telugu Desam Party of

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

, a regional political party from the state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, was the second largest party, winning 30 seats, thus achieving the distinction of becoming the first regional party to become a national opposition party. Voting was held immediately after the

assassination of Indira Gandhi Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated at 9:30 a.m. on 31 October 1984 at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. She was killed by her bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, an ...

and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in November and most of India supported Congress. The 1984 elections were the last in which a single party won a majority of seats until 2014, and the only time to date in which a party won more than 400 seats.

Results

Delayed elections in Assam and Punjab

References

{{Indian elections General elections in India 1984 elections in India India India

Results

Delayed elections in Assam and Punjab

See also

References