The 3rd Lok Sabha elections were held in 1962. 6 national parties and 21 state parties along with independents fought for 494 constituencies. For the first time, there were only one-seat, constituencies and 91 two-seat constituency were abolished.
Nehru led Congress to a resounding victory (361 seats). CPI was the 2nd largest party (29 seats), followed by the debutant Swatantra Party (18 seats).
C. Rajagopalachari (the last Governor General of India) resigned from Congress and formed Swatantra party. The party opposed the Nehruvian socialist outlook of Congress by advocating free enterprise / trade, and opposing the licence-permit Raj.
Congress swept UP and Bihar with 101 seats (out of 139 seats), Maharashtra (41 out of 44) and Andhra Pradesh (34 out of 43). CPI’s best performance was in Andhra (7 seats), Swatantra’s best performance was in Bihar (7 seats) and BJS’s best performance in UP (7 seats).
| Name of Party | Seats Won | Change | Votes % |
| INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS(INC) | 361 | (10) | 45% |
| COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (CPI) | 29 | 2 | 10% |
| PRAJA SOCIALIST PARTY (PSP) | 12 | (7) | 7% |
| BHARTIYA JAN SANGH(BJS) | 14 | 10 | 6% |
| SOCIALIST (SOC) | 6 | 6 | 3% |
| SWATANTRA (SWA) | 18 | 18 | 8% |
| OTHER STATE PARTIES | 28 | (3) | 9% |
| REGISTERED UNRECOGNISED PARTIES | 6 | 6 | 1% |
| INDEPENDENT(IND) | 20 | (22) | 11% |
| Total | 494 | 100% |
Source: Statistical Report, Election Commission of India, 1962
Some Interesting Facts
- Voting population was 12.8 crores (2009 elections 71.4 crores)
- Voting % was 51.48% (2009 elections 59.7%)
- 1,985 candidates participated, 4.01 per constituency (2009 average 14.86)
- 43.1% candidates lost their deposits (2009 elections 84.6%)
- Women MPs were 6.2% (2009 it increased to 11%)
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