Since 1951, India has elected 4,843 MPs to Lok Sabha and 2,840 of these never entered Parliament as Lok Sabha MPs after their first term ended. (Photo: Getty Images)

Atal Bihari Vajpayee did it 10 times, Communist stalwart Indrajit Gupta 11 times, Sonia Gandhi four times and come May 23, Narendra Modi would hope to do it for the second time when results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are declared.

In the past 68 years, India has voted in 16 Lok Sabha elections and elected 4,843 leaders to Parliament as their MPs.

But how have these thousands of MPs performed thereafter? What have been their political journeys? How many of them were able to cash in on to the national stage and rise in the corridors of power? How many were re-elected and how many never entered Parliament as Lok Sabha MPs after their first innings?

As the 2019 election season reaches its climax with voting completed in over 420 seats, IndiaToday.in brings you an analysis of the electoral performance of all leaders who were elected to the Lok Sabha in the past 68 years.

For this, IndiaToday.in analysed Lok Sabha records of all 4,843 leaders who have served as MPs in the Lower House of Parliament. Between 1951 and 2019, a total of 4,865 leaders have served as Lok Sabha MPs, of which 22 were nominated. For this analysis we have excluded the nominated members for the simple reason that they don't contest elections. Thus, the number of MPs elected to the Lok Sabha is 4,843.

IndiaToday.in's analysis shows that three out of every five leaders who were elected to the Lok Sabha since 1951 were never re-elected to the Lower House of Parliament. In other words, of the 4,843 elected MPs, 2,840 (58.64 per cent) never entered Parliament as Lok Sabha MPs after their first term ended.

Among the 2,003 leaders who were re-elected to the Lok Sabha in these 68 years, every second leader (50 per cent) was never elected for the third time i.e. they remained two-time MPs.

The number of leaders who were re-elected decreases as we increase the number of terms. The graph below shows the relation between number of terms served and how many MPs served those terms.

While these numbers may paint a gloomy picture of our elected representatives (as 60 per cent of them were never re-elected and 50 per cent of those who were re-elected never saw a third term), there are also examples that give a completely contrasting picture.

We are talking of stalwarts like Indrajit Gupta, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Somnath Chatterjee, among others.

Since 1951, Indrajit Gupta has been the only person in India who was elected 11 times to the Lok Sabha. In the success ladder of re-election, Gupta is followed by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Congress's PM Sayeed, who were all elected 10 times each

Leaders like Indrajit Gupta, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Somnath Chatterjee and PM Sayeed are exceptions in Indian political history because of the number of years they served as Lok Sabha MPs. (Infographic: IndiaToday.in)

(Click photo for a zoomed version.)

Besides these, nine leaders have served as nine Lok Sabha terms; 18 leaders have served eight terms as Lok Sabha MPs; 34 leaders have served seven terms; 54 leaders have served six terms; and there are 134 leaders who were elected to the Lok Sabha five times.

WHAT ABOUT NOMINATED MEMBERS?

The Constitution of India under Article 331 allows the President to appoint two members of the Anglo-Indian community as nominated members to the Lok Sabha. This is to ensure that the community gets representation in the House.

Lok Sabha data show that since 1951, 22 people have served as nominated MPs in the Lok Sabha. While most of them enjoyed only a single term, here too there were two notable exceptions.

(Swipe left to right)

There were two Anglo-Indians who were re-nominated at least seven times by different governments. With eight Lok Sabha terms to his credit, Frank Anthony was the most re-nominated MP in India.

Barring the sixth and ninth Lok Sabhas, he was part of all Lok Sabhas from the first till the 10th. Frank Anthony is closely followed by AET Barrow who served seven terms as a nominated Lok Sabha MP representing the Anglo-Indian community.

WHY 2014 LOK SABHA ELECTION WAS DIFFERENT

Besides registering a historic voter turnout of 66.40 per cent, the 2014 Lok Sabha election was unique because it sent the maximum number of first-time MPs. Of the 543 MPs who were elected, 311 (more than 50 per cent) were elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time. Most of these first-time MPs were from the Bharatiya Janata Party (160), followed by AIADMK (33) and Trinamool Congress (21).

With all eyes set on May 23 when results for the 2019 Lok Sabha election will be announced, it remains to be seen how many among the present MPs are able to retain their seats in the Lok Sabha. Like in the past, will the voters in 2019 continue with the trend of rejecting three out of five sitting MPs or have the sitting MPs been able to convince people that they have performed well?

For the answer wait till May 23.

The author tweets at @mukeshrawat705 and can also be reached out at Facebook.

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