While analysts predict a tough fight between the BJP & the Congress, the BJP president has maintained that winning more than 150 seats in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections is their target. Winning more than 150 seats may be possible only when the vote share of BJP crosses 50%. How many times in the past has a party polled more than 50% of the vote?

When the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured 54.3% of the total vote in the Delhi Assembly election of 2015, it was the first time in 25 years that a party polled more than 50% of the vote in a state barring the North-Eastern states. But how many times has it happened since 1950 that a party secured more than 50% of the polled vote in a Assembly or Parliament elections?

Note:The analysis does not consider coalitions winning more than 50% vote, but only an individual political party securing more than 50% vote.

It has happened on 41 occasions in the past

No individual party has ever secured more than 50% vote in a Parliamentary Election, but in assembly elections, an individual party secured more than 50% of the vote on 41 occasions (including Delhi 2015). Below is the complete list.

S No Year Election Winning Party % votes for the winning party 1 1951 Sourashtra** Congress 63.79 2 1951 Coorg** Congress 55.54 3 1951 Delhi Congress 52.09 4 1951 Bhopal** Congress 52.01 5 1957 Assam Congress 52.35 6 1957 Karnataka Congress 52.08 7 1962 Jammu & Kashmir National Conference 66.96 8 1962 Maharashtra Congress 51.22 9 1962 Gujarat Congress 50.84 10 1962 Karnataka Congress 50.22 11 1964 Pondicherry Congress 52.07 12 1967 Tripura Congress 57.95 13 1967 Jammu & Kashmir Congress 53.02 14 1972 Maharashtra Congress 56.36 15 1972 Jammu & Kashmir Congress 55.44 16 1972 Himachal Pradesh Congress 53.24 17 1972 Assam Congress 53.2 18 1972 Andhra Pradesh Congress 52.29 19 1972 Karnataka Congress 52.17 20 1972 Rajasthan Congress 51.13 21 1972 Gujarat Congress 50.93 22 1977 Rajasthan Janata Party 50.39 23 1980 Gujarat Congress 51.04 24 1983 Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party 54.03 25 1983 Assam Congress 52.53 26 1985 Sikkim Sikkim Sangram Parishad 62.2 27 1985 Gujarat Congress 55.55 28 1985 Himachal Pradesh Congress 55.46 29 1985 Odisha Congress 51.08 30 1989 Sikkim Sikkim Sangram Parishad 70.41 31 1989 Nagaland Congress 51.45 32 1990 Odisha Janata Dal 53.69 33 1995 Arunachal Pradesh Congress 50.5 34 1998 Nagaland Congress 50.73 35 1999 Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front 52.32 36 1999 Arunachal Pradesh Congress 51.78 37 2004 Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front 71.09 38 2009 Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front 65.91 39 2009 Arunachal Pradesh Congress 50.38 40 2014 Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front 55 41 2015 Delhi Aam Aadmi Party 54.3

** These states do not exist anymore.

Where did this happen most?

A quick look at the states reveals that it happened in almost all regions of the country (North, East,West & South). It happened 6 times in Sikkim, 4 times in Gujarat, 3 times each in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka.

State No of Times Sikkim 6 Gujarat 4 Arunachal Pradesh 3 Assam 3 Jammu & Kashmir 3 Karnataka 3 Andhra Pradesh 2 Delhi 2 Himachal Pradesh 2 Maharashtra 2 Nagaland 2 Odisha 2 Rajasthan 2 Pondicherry 1 Tripura 1 Bhopal** 1 Coorg** 1 Sourashtra** 1

** These states do not exist anymore.

Which party did this most times?

No prizes for guessing here. Congress party achieved this most number of times (30) followed by the two Sikkim based state parties. The AAP, Janata Dal, Janata Party, National Conference & Telugu Desam Party achieved this once each. The Congress achieved this feat when it was essentially a two party election and also most times before 1980.

When did this happen most times?

As one looks at the period when this feat was achieved most times, it was done quite a few times in every decade up to 1990. Since then, the number of times where a party polled more than 50% of the total vote has been continuously declining. After 1990, it happened only on 9 occasions. Of these 9 occasions, the North-Eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland & Sikkim accounted for eight (8). So in the last 27 years, Delhi assembly elections of 2015 was the only occasion when a party polled more than 50% votes barring the North-Eastern states. There could be multiple reasons like the emergence of strong regional parties in the last three decades,multiple parties in the fray, alliances etc. for this fall in the last three decades. Elections are no more a two party affair.



Which party won the highest ever vote in history?

The highest ever vote share recorded in the history is 71.09% by the Sikkim Democratic Front in 2004. The Sikkim based parties feature thrice in the top 5. The National Conference won almost 67% of the vote in 1962 in Jammu & Kashmir. AAP’s 54.3% in Delhi 2015 assembly elections is 14th in the list.

S No Year Election Winning Party Percentage of votes for the winning party 1 2004 Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front 71.09 2 1989 Sikkim Sikkim Sangram Parishad 70.41 3 1962 Jammu & Kashmir National Conference 66.96 4 2009 Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front 65.91 5 1951 Sourashtra* Congress 63.79

Did any party win a greater percentage of seats than AAP did in Delhi 2015?

The AAP secured 54.3% of the total vote in 2015, but won 67 out of the 70 seats which is a whopping 95.7% of the total seats. While this is on the higher side, it is not the highest. In Sikkim, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) & the Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) made a clean sweep, winning all the 32 seats on offer. The SSP did this in 1989 and the SDF in 2009. In terms of the percentage of seats won (of those parties that won more than 50% vote share), AAP stands 4th and all the other positions in the top 5 occupied by the Sikkim parties.