New Delhi: Elections to the Lok Sabha are carried out using the first-past-the-post electoral system. Under this system, the candidate securing the majority votes of the total votes polled is declared elected, irrespective of percentage of total votes polled or the total number of eligible voters.
In the General Elections 2009, out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, 120 seats were won by the candidates who secured 50 per cent or more of the total votes polled in their respective constituencies. This meant that on remaining 423 seats (nearly 78 per cent of total 543 seats), the winning candidates could not secure 50 per cent of total votes polled.
Out of 42 Lok Sabha Seats in West Bengal, half of the seats were won by candidates securing 50 per cent or more of the total votes polled, number-wise the highest among all states.
Rajasthan had 15 such winners out of 25 Lok Sabha seats, which meant every third out of five successful candidates from the state got 50 per cent or more of the votes polled. Not far behind was the state of Maharashtra, where 10 successful contestants got 50 per cent or more of total votes polled.
Uttar Pradesh though came fourth with nine such winners, percentage-wise only one out of ten successful candidates got victory with this margin, given the total number of Lok Sabha seats in the state is 80. Following Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala both had 8 winners who got 50 per cent or more of the total votes. Out of 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh, only one winner could get as many votes to win with such margin.
Amid states with ten or more Lok Sabha seats, Jharkhand was the only state where none of the winners could get 50 per cent or more of total votes polled. Apart from Jharkhand, states/UTs like Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Puducherry had no winners who could get as many votes. In Delhi, six out of seven MPs won with 50 per cent or more votes.
Following table shows state wise number of winning candidates who secured 50 or more of the total votes polled in 2009 General Elections (In order of State/UT, Total Seats, Winners who got 50 pc or more of total votes polled and Percentage of such winners vis-a-vis Total Seats)
Andhra Pradesh: 42 1 2.38
Arunachal Pradesh 2 1 50
Assam 14 1 7.14
Bihar 40 4 10
Chhattisgarh 11 2 18.18
Goa 2 0 0
Gujarat 26 8 30.76
Haryana 10 1 10
Himachal Pradesh 4 2 50
Jammu and Kashmir 6 1 16.66
Jharkhand 14 0 0
Karnataka 28 5 17.85
Kerala 20 8 40
Madhya Pradesh 29 7 24.13
Maharashtra 48 10 20.83
Manipur 2 0 0
Meghalaya 2 0 0
Mizoram 1 1 100
Nagaland 1 1 100
Odisha 21 5 23.80
Punjab 13 3 23.07
Rajasthan 25 15 60
Sikkim 1 1 100
Tamil Nadu 39 3 7.69
Tripura 2 2 100
Uttarakhand 5 0 0
Uttar Pradesh 80 9 11.25
West Bengal 42 21 50
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1 0 0
Chandigarh 1 0 0
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 1 0 0
Delhi 7 6 85.71
Daman and Diu 1 1 100
Lakshadweep 1 1 100
Puducherry 1 0 0
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