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Government of India
Election Commission
22-March-2014 15:32 IST
Only 120 Winners Secured 50% or More of Total Votes Polled in 2009 General Elections

GENERAL ELECTIONS 2014  

BACKGROUNDER-17

                           

                                                                                                 

                                                                                               

Elections to the Lok Sabha are carried out using the first-past-the-post electoral system. Under this system, the candidate securing the majority votes of the total votes polled is declared elected, irrespective of percentage of total votes polled or the total number of eligible voters.

In the General Elections 2009, out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, 120 seats were won by the candidates who secured 50% or more of the total votes polled in their respective constituencies. This meant that on remaining 423 seats (nearly 78 % of total 543 seats), the winning candidates could not secure 50% of total votes polled.  

Out of 42 Lok Sabha Seats in West Bengal, half of the seats were won by candidates securing 50% or more of the total votes polled, number-wise the highest among all states.   Rajasthan had 15 such winners out of 25 Lok Sabha seats, which meant every third out of five successful candidates from the state got 50% or more of the votes polled. Not far behind was the state of Maharashtra, where 10 successful contestants got 50% or more of total votes polled.

Uttar Pradesh though came fourth with nine such winners, percentage wise only one out of ten successful candidates got victory with this margin, given the total number of Lok Sabha seats in the state is 80. Following Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala both had 8 winners who got 50% or more of the total votes. Out of 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh, only one winner could get as many votes to win with such margin.

Amid states with ten or more Lok Sabha seats, Jharkhand was the only state where none of the winners could get 50% or more of total votes polled. Apart from Jharkhand, states/ UTs like Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Puducherry had no winners who could get as many votes. In Delhi, six out of seven MPs won with 50% or more votes.

Following table shows state wise number of winning candidates who secured 50 or more of the total votes polled in 2009 General Elections-

 

 

Sl No

State/ UT

Total Seats

Winners who got 50% or more of total votes polled

Percentage of such winners vis-à-vis Total Seats

1

Andhra Pradesh

42

1

2.38

2

Arunachal Pradesh

2

1

50

3

Assam

14

1

7.14

4

Bihar

40

4

10

5

Chhattisgarh

11

2

18.18

6

Goa

2

0

0

7

Gujarat

26

8

30.76

8

Haryana

10

1

10

9

Himachal Pradesh

4

2

50

10

Jammu and Kashmir

6

1

16.66

11

Jharkhand

14

0

0

12

Karnataka

28

5

17.85

13

Kerala

20

8

40

14

Madhya Pradesh

29

7

24.13

15

Maharashtra

48

10

20.83

16

Manipur

2

0

0

17

Meghalaya

2

0

0

18

Mizoram

1

1

100

19

Nagaland*

1

1

100

20

Odisha

21

5

23.80

21

Punjab

13

3

23.07

22

Rajasthan

25

15

60

23

Sikkim

1

1

100

24

Tamil Nadu

39

3

7.69

25

Tripura

2

2

100

26

Uttarakhand

5

0

0

27

Uttar Pradesh

80

9

11.25

28

West Bengal

42

21

50

29

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

1

0

0

30

Chandigarh

1

0

0

31

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

1

0

0

32

Delhi

7

6

85.71

33

Daman and Diu

1

1

100

34

Lakshadweep

1

1

100

35

Puducherry

1

0

0

Total

543

120

22.09

PIB General Election Team-  For more Backgrounders/Information Pl visit www. pib.nic.in