kdsingh80 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 http://eci.gov.in/eci_main/SR_KeyHighLights/LS_1985/Vol_I_LS_85.pdf I was reading report on 1985 lok sabha elections and what surprised me that Congress was able to win 6 out of 13 seats in Punjab Despite committing worse massacre of sikhs in Amritsar and in Delhi in 1984.The congress candidates even won elections in Gurdaspur,Ferozepur and Amritsar.The voting turnout was 67.36 which is very good so how congress was able to win such large number of seats in Punjab? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatanga1 Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 The congress candidates even won elections in Gurdaspur,Ferozepur and Amritsar. congress has allways fared well in gurdaspur and amritsar, as there is a high % of hindus there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdsingh80 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 congress has allways fared well in gurdaspur and amritsar, as there is a high % of hindus there. O.K there is high proportion of Hindu's there,but still With the support of only one community one cannot win elections as there is no way one can say that 100% Hindu's voted for congress.I am sure there were sikhs who voted for congress in 1985 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatanga1 Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 I am sure there were sikhs who voted for congress in 1985 obviously, as you will see that the people who killed the most sikhs in the years after these elections were Sikhs themselves. I dont know by what margins the candidates won by in the 1985 elections, maybe that would give you more of a accurate picture. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyhp32 Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 The 1985 elections can't be compared to a normal election as a lot of Sikhs boycotted the elections due to the stance of Baba Joginder Singh, the father of Sant Bhindranwale. I think he set up the United Akali Dal which was joined by Tohra and Badal. The SAD after Longowal's killing was led by Barnala. Rajiv Gandhi was criticised that the Congress had not fought hard enough to win the elections as they wanted to have the Akalis in power to deal with the militants. The Hindus voted en mass for the Congress and the Sikhs who did vote, voted for the SAD. There was no choice for the militants as the United Akali Dal boycotted the elections. Baba Joginder Singh later admitted that the boycott was a mistake as it allowed the moderate Akalis a free run. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdsingh80 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 (edited) The 1985 elections can't be compared to a normal election as a lot of Sikhs boycotted the elections due to the stance of Baba Joginder Singh, the father of Sant Bhindranwale. I think he set up the United Akali Dal which was joined by Tohra and Badal. The SAD after Longowal's killing was led by Barnala. Rajiv Gandhi was criticised that the Congress had not fought hard enough to win the elections as they wanted to have the Akalis in power to deal with the militants. The Hindus voted en mass for the Congress and the Sikhs who did vote, voted for the SAD. There was no choice for the militants as the United Akali Dal boycotted the elections. Baba Joginder Singh later admitted that the boycott was a mistake as it allowed the moderate Akalis a free run. Tony ji Thanks for information. Voting turnout in 1985 was close to 68% which is very good in India even in best circumstances one cannot get over 80% turnout.Out of all the votes polled congress got 43% while SAD got 37.7% votes so it looks like That large numbers of sikhs actually came out to vote Also SAD won 2 out of 3 Sc seats so lower caste voted for SAD.BJP and communist got 10% of votes .Now What surprise me the most is that in any Indian state where muslims are 25% or above BJP hardly gets a chance to win or even getting an ally On the other hand After committing worse massacre of Sikhs in 1984 in Delhi and Punjab congress was able to secure 6 out of 13 parliament seats. Edited February 6, 2011 by kdsingh80 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.