Whenever voters hand a party or an alliance a big mandate, they also have very high expectations from the government. India’s electoral history shows that many parties or alliances have struggled to live up to that responsibility for long. Let us look at some of the examples where voters have given a party or an alliance a big mandate and what has followed.
In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, held after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, Rajiv Gandhi led the Congress to one of the biggest victories in Indian electoral history, crossing 400 seats in the 541-member House. This result reflected a mix of sympathy, hope around a young new leader, and a desire for stability (Table 1). Yet, the mandate faded quickly. Within five years, in the 1989 general election, the Congress suffered a significant dent in its seat tally. It has never again reached an outright majority like it did in 1984.
After the Emergency and the JP movement, voters placed faith in a new alternative, in the Janata Party in 1977. In north India, and particularly in Uttar Pradesh, the Janata alliance swept all the Lok Sabha seats, virtually wiping out the Congress in the State and signalling a huge shift in public mood.
But sharp internal conflicts and unstable governance meant that the experiment did not last. By 1980, the Janata government had collapsed and voters brought the Congress back (Table 2).
In Assam, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a party which emerged from the Assam Movement, captured power in the 1985 Assembly elections by winning 65 out of 126 seats. This was an extraordinary achievement for a new regional party led mainly by young student leaders of the movement (Table 3). Over the decades, however, organisational weakness, splits, and competition steadily reduced its footprint. Today, the AGP survives largely as a junior ally in State politics.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 63 out of 70 Assembly seats in Delhi in 2020. The mandate, built on an anti-corruption plank and promises of better schools, health care, and basic services, was one of the most decisive ones in any State in recent years.
However, in the 2025 Assembly polls, the AAP failed to retain its earlier dominance. Several senior leaders lost their seats. The result showed that even parties built just around politics of welfare and development can be punished when alternative narratives gain ground.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front governed West Bengal continuously for more than three decades and the CPI(M) still won 176 of 294 seats in the 2006 Assembly elections (Table 4). This period gave the Left deep organisational roots and a reputation for stability and a socialist model of governance. However, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress swept to power in 2011, cutting the Left down to around 40 seats. Similarly, in Tripura, the once-dominant front has not recovered since (Table 5).
The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF)’s electoral journey tells a similar tale (Table 6). After consistently polling above 50% votes and sweeping successive Assembly elections from 1999 to 2009, the party’s 22-seat victory in 2014 with around 55% vote share marked its last comfortable mandate. The emergence of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) as a credible challenger, along with growing anti-incumbency, eroded this hegemony.
In 2019, the SDF’s vote share remained competitive but the party got just 15 seats. The SKM crossed the majority mark, ending the SDF’s uninterrupted 25-year stint in power. The subsequent defection of 10 SDF MLAs to the BJP and two to the SKM further weakened the organisation. By the 2024 Assembly elections, the SKM had captured 31 of 32 seats with over 58% of the vote, while the SDF was reduced to a single seat, its worst performance since 1999.
The BJP in Gujarat has not only retained its vote bank but has also expanded it in the last few elections, especially after 2014 (Table 7). This can partly be attributed to the support the State party unit receives from the Central government and Central government institutions, but it is clear that the BJP has successfully deployed cultural nationalism, welfare, and popular politics to its advantage. Furthermore, its ability to gauge the popular sentiment of the majority and respond accordingly has played a crucial role in sustaining such a large voter base.
In Bihar, the Janata Dal (United) recorded one of its best performances in the 2010 Assembly elections. It had strong backing for its governance and development narrative and its leader, Nitish Kumar, enjoyed support.
However, in the 2015 Assembly elections, its individual tally fell significantly even though the new Mahagathbandhan as a whole defeated the BJP. The 2025 Assembly elections gave a big mandate to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar (Table 8). This was in contrast to the 2020 Assembly elections when the NDA won the election with a very small majority.
The Trinamool Congress has been in power in West Bengal for the last 15 years with its vote share touching about 49% (Table 9). It will be interesting to watch how it performs in the 2026 Assembly elections. Will it be able to keep the momentum going?
Sanjay Kumar is a Professor and political analyst. Arindam Kabir is a Researcher with Lokniti-CSDS. Views are personal and do not reflect the views of the organisation
Published – January 20, 2026 07:00 am IST