HVK Archives: For the BJP , lower vote share translated into more seats
For the BJP , lower vote share translated into more seats - Asian Age
Aisha Khan
()
March 5, 1998
Title: For the BJP , lower vote share translated into more seats
Author: Aisha Khan
Publication: Asian Age
Date: March 5, 1998
The Congress' total vote share in the 12th Lok Sabha elections
was 0.41 per cent more than that of the Bharatiya Janata Party,
but its success rate was only 29.75 per cent compared to the
BJP's huge 46.61 per cent. The only other party with such an
impressive winning ratio was the CPI(M) which registered a 45.07
win percentage.
Of the major parties, the Janata Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party
had the lowest success rates, with the Dal winning only six out
of the 190 seats it contested (3.16 per cent) and the BSP winning
five out of 249 (2.01 per cent)
The Congress' larger vote share of 25.88 per cent came from the
higher number of constituencies it contested (474), while the BJP
notched up 25.47 per cent from only 384 constituencies. The
CPI(M) contested only 71 constituencies and got a vote share of
5.18 per cent.
These and other data are available in a statistical report to be
released by the Election Commission on Monday, giving the final
details on the performance of the major recognised and registered
parties which contested the 1998 elections. The data was compiled
>from the 539 constituencies which completed polling by March 8.
Janata Dal candidates forfeited deposits in as many as 155
constituencies (81.58 per cent of the seats it contested) while
the BJP registered the lowest of 12.58 per cent - losing deposits
in only 56 seats. The CPI(M) was marginally worse, forfeiting
deposits in 20 of the 71 constituencies it contested (28.17 per
cent) while Congress candidates lost deposits in 152
constituencies, a percentage of 32.07. in all, 4708 candidates
contested elections for the 539 seats, 1483 from national parties
and a staggering 1,900 Independents apart from state and
registered parties. Of the 1,900 Independents, all but 17 lost
their deposits, while 603 national party contestants forfeited
deposits. A total of 3,452 candidates lost their deposits.
On the whole national parties garnered 67.98 of the total votes
polled, the state parties 18.81 per cent, the registered par-ties
got 10.83 and the Independents secured about 2.37 per cent of the
vote share.
A total of 43 women were elected to the 12th Lok Sabha, against
the 271 who contested, 182 of whom forfeited their deposits.
Uttar Pradesh returned the maximum of nine women out of the 85
seats in the state, followed by West Bengal where five women were
elected out of the 42 seats. Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat,
which returned 4 women MPs each. Of the smaller states and Union
territories women won in only Assam (1), Manipur (1) and Delhi
(2).
Partywise, the BJP led with 16 women MPs, followed by the
Congress which has 10 women MPs. the CPI(M) with three, and the
CPI, the RJD, Samajwadi Party and the Trinamul Congress with two
women legislators each. The Haryana Lok Dal, the Telugu Desam,
AIADMK, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Akali Dal all have one each.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which is a registered party, got 26.29
per cent of the votes polled in Bihar, and its candidates lost
deposits in only two of the 37 seats it contested in the state.
The party, however, lost deposits in all the other constituencies
it contested in states as diverse as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Rajasthan and Tripura.
According to constituency-wise data. Delhi had the highest
average of contestants per constituency - 19, followed by Haryana
and Jammu and Kashmir, 14, and Uttar Pradesh which had an average
of 13.
The highest number of candidates in one constituency - 34 - was
achieved by Andhra Pradesh, with Jammu and Kashmir close second
with 29 and Uttar Pradesh with 24.
The 109-page handbook, containing a myriad of election-related
data, was prepared within a one month of completing the elections
of the first set of 539 parliamentary constituencies.
The fact that most data had already been fed into the Commission
computer network and Internet site, helped, peed up the analysis
and compilation of the statistics, said deputy election
commissioner Subas Pani.
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