Nehru’s last poll; country saw three PMs in five years!

Jaipur: Indian politics had started taking a new turn by the time elections for the third Lok Sabha took place in 1962 and when Indira Gandhi had formally entered politics. Indira was made the President of Congress in 1959. The Congress contested and won elections under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru but in this election itself, disillusionment with Nehruvian socialism began and its shine also diminished.

By making his daughter the Congress President, Nehru was also accused of dynasty politics. Like the first two general elections, this time also a strong Opposition could not emerge, yet the voting share and seats of the Congress decreased. Congress won 361 out of 494 parliamentary seats with a 44.72 per cent vote share and Pandit Nehru became the Prime Minister for the third time. This was Nehru’s last election. The third Lok Sabha was formed in June and just three months later in October 1962, the IndiaChina war broke out. It is said that Nehru suffered a severe blow from this war, from which he could not recover. Nehru died on 27 May 1964. Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Prime Minister of India after Nehrus’ demise. Shastri died in 1966 after a tenure of 19 months. Then Gulzari Lal Nanda was made the interim PM. In late 1966, Indira Gandhi became the country’s first woman Prime Minister. In this way, the country got three PMs during the tenure of the third Lok Sabha.

Similar to previous general elections, the 3rd LS poll was lengthy, spanning 110 days from Feb 16 to June 6. The abolition of two-member parliamentary constituencies in 1961 maintained 494 parliamentary seats. With 21.8 crore eligible voters, turnout reached 55.4%. Among 1,985 candidates, 856 forfeited their deposits. 66 women contested, with 31 securing a win.