New Delhi : India’s electorate has witnessed a nearly five-fold increase since the first general elections. From a little over 173 million in the first general elections held in 1951, just four years after the country became independent from the British, it has reached a record 814 million in the 2014 general elections, making it by far the largest body of people to vote in a free election anywhere in the world.
Here is the electorate size for the Lok Sabha elections held so far:
1951 — 173,212,343
1957 — 193,652,179
1962 — 127,719,470
1967 — 248,904,300
1971 — 274,189,132
1977 — 321,174,327
1980 — 356,205,329
1984 —- 379,540,608
1989 — 498,906,129
1991 — 498,363,801
1996 — 592,572,288
1998 — 605,880,192
1999 — 619,536,847
2004 — 671,487,930
2009 —- 716,985,101
2014 —- 814,591,184