Indian Parliamentary Election History - 1967 Lok Sabha Election Feb 17 - 21,1967

The 4th Lok Sabha election of 1967 was to take place after India had had four Prime Ministers. There were 520 single-member constituencies – up by 26 from the election five years back. Of these, 77 were SC constituencies while another 37 were reserved as ST constituencies.

The Lok Sabha election in 1967 was held between February 17 and February 21.

The election was meant to be a litmus test for Indira Gandhi. And she is believed to have taken it up as a challenge to show she was always meant to be at the helm of Indian politics. Already the PM after the death of Shastri, Indira’s critics – both within the INC and outside – felt she was not suited to the sweat and toil of Indian politics. Yet, it was Indira remained stoic in her resolve to show that this is where she belongs.

In the end, the voters showed that while the Indian National Congress was still some distance away from being completely sidelined, Indira did enjoy most of the confidence that Nehru had before her.

Congress Party won less than 300 seats for the first time and got 283 – a fall by 78 from the election five years ago. The vote share went down to a little over 40%. Significantly, the Indian National Congress suffered grievous wounds with seven members of the Indira cabinet suffering losses. Moreover, only about half of all the states at the time voted Congress to absolute majorities in the state legislatures

In Congress’ comparative setback were gains for rival parties. The most prominent gains were for Swatantra Party which claimed the second spot with 44 seats. It was the single-largest party in the opposition. Five other parties won seats in double digits – a first in Indian elections at the time.