No Nation for Independent Candidates: Since 1951, 48,103 People have run for the Lok Sabha, but only 234 of them have made it to the House

48,103 independent candidates ran in the 17 Lok Sabha elections that were conducted between 1951 and 2019; just 234 of them were able to reach the House, and at least 47,163 of them lost their deposits.

A candidate running for office without any affiliation with a political party or organization is known as an independent.

42 independent candidates were elected to the second Lok Sabha, which was elected in 1957. The first Lok Sabha, elected in 1951, had 37 independent candidates elected to the House. 1989 was the last year where there were ten or more elected independent candidates.

1991 had the fewest number of independent candidates elected to office—just one. According to statistics released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), independent candidates with single digit victories have been in power since the 1991 elections.

The data also reveals that national party candidates won over 60% of the seats in every Lok Sabha election, with some of their candidates almost reaching 90%.

With the first round of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha taking place on Friday, the nation is in a polling mode. This time, 1,458 independent candidates are vying for the position in the first two stages (889 in the first phase and 569 in the second phase), with elections scheduled for April 26.

Approximately 52% of the 2,823 candidates that are running in the first two stages are independents.

In India, anybody may run in the Lok Sabha elections. All they need to be is older than twenty-five and not have been found guilty. In India, a legitimate voter may run from any location within the nation, with the exception of the Assam, Lakshadweep, and Sikkim autonomous districts.

In order to contest on their own, a contender must submit at least ten nomination suggestions. Additionally, a candidate for the Lok Sabha may not run from more than two seats.

RESPONSIBLE ONLY TO NATIONAL PARTIES
A total of 23,739 national party candidates have run for office since 1951; 7,185 of them have been elected. There were 8,545 national party candidates who did not get their money back.

In every election held between 1951 and 1996, more than 400 candidates from national parties were elected to the House. In 1980, a record 485 national party candidates were elected to the House, giving national parties their greatest number of MPs.

The maximum number of national party MPs in the House, 397 in 2019, has not exceeded 400 since 1998.

In 1991, the total number of candidates filed by national parties was the greatest at 1,855, although in 1996, there were 10,636 independent candidates running in a single election.

There were the fewest independent candidates running in the second Lok Sabha elections, which simultaneously saw the greatest number of independent candidates elected to the House.

According to News18’s analysis, 91,159 candidates—both independent and from political parties—have run for office since 1951; of them, 71,264 have lost their deposits. Over 66% of this proportion is made up of independent candidates.

A candidate from the general category running for Lok Sabha must deposit Rs 25,000 with the ECI during the nomination process. The value is half for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.

If the candidate does not get at least one-sixth of the total legal votes cast, they forfeit the deposit; if they do, they may receive their money back.

Nearly half of all candidates that lose the deposit in practically every election are independents. A total of 6,923 candidates forfeited their deposits in 2019, with 3,449 of them coming from independent parties and 670 from national parties. Earlier that year, in 2014, 3,218 independent candidates and 807 members of national parties forfeited their deposits out of 7,000 total.

Out of the 6,829 independent candidates, a total of 3,806 forfeited their deposit in 2009. National party candidates accounted for 779 of the total.

June 1 marks the end of the 18th Lok Sabha elections, and June 4 is when the ballots are counted.