FORTY YEARS AGO

MRS GANDHI LOSES

PRIME MINISTER INDIRA GANDHI was defeated by 55,000 votes in the Rae Bareily Lok Sabha constituency by Raj Narain of the Janata Party. The result was announced by the returning officer, Vinod Bhatia, who also rejected a plea by M.L. Fotedar, election agent of Mrs Gandhi, seeking a re-poll on several grounds, including alleged tampering of the official seal on the ballot papers. The Janata Party, almost sweeping the Congress off the political scene in the North, acquired a commanding position when it raced past the ruling party in New Delhi. The Janata Party won 102 seats against the Congress Party’s 76 from among the 205 results declared so far.

SIX MINISTERS OUT

FOUR SENIOR MINISTERS of the government were returned to the Lok Sabha, while six were defeated. External Affairs Minister Y.B. Chavan from Satara, Finance Minister C. Subramanlam from Palani in Tamil Nadu, Industry Minister T.A. Uduci in Karnataka, Communication Minister Shankar Dayal Sharma, Energy Minister K.C. Pant and Defence Minister Bansi Lal were among those defeated.

CONG WINS ANDHRA

THE CONGRESS SEEMS set to sweep Andhra Pradesh. The incumbent party had won all 13 seats for which results had been announced. Notable among those returned to the Lok Sabha are Union Home Minister K. Brahmananda Reddi and former CM P.V. Narasimha Rao.

SWEEP BY VAJPAYEE

THE OPPOSITION HAS swept the capital’s seven Lok Sabha seats, winning by astronomical margins in every constituency. The largest victory was predictably that of Sikander Bakht (Janata) in Chandni Chowk. He trounced Subhadra Joshi of the Congress by over 1,15,000 votes. Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Janata) also conclusively defeated Shashi Bhushan from the prestigious New Delhi constituency.