1952 to 2019: A look at India's general election results so far

The Election Commission of India will announce the results of the 18th Lok Sabha election on Tuesday (4 June). The seven-phase election was conducted across the country from 19 April to 1 June.

All major exit polls have projected a resounding victory for the NDA alliance, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expected to better its own 2019 tally of 303 seats. The opposition's INDIA bloc has however dismissed the exit polls, hoping to pull off an upset and halt the BJP's march, reports Indian Express.

Before the official poll results are out, take a look at the history of India's general elections and how the people have voted in previous years:

First General Election (1951-52)

India's first Lok Sabha election after independence was conducted over four months in 1951-52 for 489 Lok Sabha seats.

The Indian National Congress (INC) won 364 seats and formed the government under the prime ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru. The Communist Party of India (CPI) stood second in the tally with 16 seats.

Ballot papers of the size of a one rupee currency note were used.

Second General Election (1957)

In 1957, the country with 14 states and six Union Territories went to the polls for 494 Lok Sabha seats in 403 constituencies, including 91 with double members.

Prime Minister Nehru led Congress came back to power with a thumping majority by winning 371 seats. The party bettered its vote share to 47.78% from 44.99% in 1952.

CPI again became the runner-up with 27 seats.

Third General election (1962)

Congress under PM Nehru had won decisively in 1962 general election and came back to power with 361 out of 494 seats.

The next biggest party in the House was CPI with 29 seats.

A total 1,985 candidates contested the election, in which 55.43% of the 21.63 crore electors cast their votes.

Fourth General Election (1967)

Based on the census of 1961, the fourth Lok Sabha election was held for 520 seats.

Congress came back to power for the fourth time by winning 283 seats. However, the results came as a shock for the party as it was below 300-mark for the first time. After the deaths of PM Nehru in 1964 and the succeeding PM Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966, Indira Gandhi took to the prime minister's chair with this win.

C Rajagopalachari's Swatantra Party, with 44 seats, emerged as the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha.

Fifth General Election (1971)

Indira Gandhi came back to power again in the 1971 election. INC crossed the 350 mark and won 352 out of 518 Lok Sabha seats.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) with 25 seats was the next biggest party in the House.

Sixth General Election (1977)

Following a fresh delimitation of constituencies based on the Census of 1971, the Lok Sabha polls were held for 543 seats.

The Janata Party (officially Bharatiya Lok Dal) emerged as a single largest party with 298 seats. This was the first time Congress has lost the national election.

Morarji Desai took oath as the new Prime Minister on March 24, 1977.

Congress's seats in the opposition with 154 seats.

Seventh General Election (1980)

Indira Gandhi-led Congress came back to power winning  353 out of 529 seats.

The next biggest party in the House was Janata Party (Secular) with 41 seats.

This is the first time that elections were held in peak winter.

Eight General Election (1984)

Riding a nationwide tsunami of sympathy, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress won 404 of the 514 seats.

This is the first and only time when a political party got 400-plus seats in the Lok Sabha.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 30 seats is the second largest party.

Ninth General Election (1989)

Congress, led by Rajiv Gandhi, emerged as the largest party with 197 seats.

This was the first time that no party got a clear majority in general elections.

After Rajiv declined the invitation to form the government, a National Front coalition, led by the Janata Dal, took over. Janta Dal was the second largest party, with 143 seats, in the house.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister of the coalition government.

Tenth General Election (1991)

After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress party won 232 of the 521 seats for which elections were held.

PV Narshima Rao took oath as the Prime Minister of the coalition government.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 120 seats was the second largest party in the house.

Eleventh General Election (1996)

BJP, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, won 161 seats in the 11th general election to emerge as the largest party in the lower house.

The Congress was the second largest party with a tally of 140 seats which was its lowest since Independence.

BJP under Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed the government for 13 days as it did not have the numerical strength.

Twelfth General Election (1998)

Bharatiya Janata Party again emerged as the largest party in the house by winning 182 of the 543 seats.

Congress with 141 seats was the second largest party.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were used for the first time in 16 Lok Sabha seats.

Thirteenth General Election (1999)

Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP again won 182 seats and emerged as the largest party in the lower house.

Congress won 114 seats as the largest opposition party.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as the PM of NDA coalition government.

Fourteenth General Election (2004)

The Congress under Sonia Gandhi won 145 seats in the fourteenth Parliamentary elections and formed the government under UPA alliance.

Dr Manmohan Singh became the 13th Prime Minister of India.

BJP with 138 seats was the main opposition party in the house.

Fifteenth General Election (2009)

Congress again emerged as the largest party by winning 206 of the 543 seats.

BJP won 116 seats as the second largest party.

Sixteenth General Election (2014)

BJP under Narendra Modi has won 282 seats in the lower house of the Parliament. This was the first time after 1984 that a single party got the majority.

Congress was reduced to just 44 seats.

Seventeenth General Election (2019)

BJP under the  leadership of Narendra Modi once again swept the general elections winning 303 seats.

Congress with 52 seats was the second largest party.

The 17th election saw the largest voter turnout with 67%.