Elections in the Republic of India in 2018 included by-elections to the Lok Sabha, elections to the Rajya Sabha, elections to of eight states and numerous other by-elections to state legislative assemblies, councils and local bodies.
The elections were widely considered crucial to the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the opposition United Progressive Alliance for the upcoming general elections in 2019. In seven of the eight states that went to polls this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party was in direct contest with the Indian National Congress. Further, the election results in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan are considered a barometer of the pulse of the public before the general elections. Elections to the upper house where the ruling National Democratic Alliance does not command a majority are expected to strengthen its position.
Background
Political system According to the Constitution of India, elections should take place to the parliament and state legislative assemblies every five years, unless an emergency is under operation. Further, any vacancy caused by death or resignation must be filled through an election within six months of occurrence of such vacancy. The elections to the lower houses (in Parliament and in the states) use first past the post system - the candidate with a plurality of the votes wins the election.
Elections to one-third of the seats of the upper house of the Parliament - the Rajya Sabha are conducted every two years. The members of the upper house are elected indirectly by the state legislative assemblies on the basis of proportional representation. Members to the state legislative councils (in states which have an upper house) are elected indirectly through local bodies.
All the elections at the central and state level are conducted by the Election Commission of India while local body elections are conducted by state election commissions.
Parliamentary by-election S.noDateConstituencyState/UTMP before electionParty before electionElected MPParty after election1 29 January 2018AlwarRajasthanMahant ChandnathBharatiya Janata Party Karan Singh YadavIndian National Congress2AjmerSanwar Lal JatBharatiya Janata PartyRaghu SharmaIndian National Congress3UluberiaWest BengalSultan AhmedAll India Trinamool CongressSajda AhmedAll India Trinamool Congress4 11 March 2018GorakhpurUttar PradeshYogi AdityanathBharatiya Janata Party Praveen Kumar NishadSamajwadi Party5PhulpurKeshav Prasad MauryaBharatiya Janata PartyNagendra Singh PatelSamajwadi Party 6ArariaBihar Mohammed TaslimuddinRashtriya Janata Dal Sarfaraz AlamRashtriya Janata Dal728 May 2018Bhandara–Gondiya MaharashtraNana PatoleBharatiya Janata PartyMadhukar KukdeNationalist Congress Party8Palghar Chintaman VanagaBharatiya Janata PartyRajendra GavitBharatiya Janata Party9Nagaland NagalandNeiphiu RioNaga People's FrontTokheho YepthomiNationalist Democratic Progressive Party10Kairana Uttar PradeshHukum SinghBharatiya Janata PartyBegum Tabassum HasanRashtriya Lok Dal113 November 2018Bellary KarnatakaB. SriramuluBharatiya Janata PartyV. S. UgrappaIndian National Congress12Shimoga B. S. YediyurappaBharatiya Janata PartyB. Y. RaghavendraBharatiya Janata Party13MandyaC. S. PuttarajuJanata Dal (Secular)L. R. Shivarame GowdaJanata Dal (Secular)
Alwar (Lok Sabha constituency): Elections were held on 29 January to elect a new member of parliament after the death of the incumbent Mahant Chandnath of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian National Congress fielded candidates from the yadav community. 61.77% of the total 18,27,936 voters participated in the election. For the first time in the country, the election commission placed candidates' photos next to their name to help voters identify the candidates. In what was seen as a body blow to the state government, the INC wrested control of the seat from the BJP, with its candidate Karan Singh Yadav winning the seat by a margin of 1,96,496 votes. Ajmer (Lok Sabha constituency): Elections were held on 29 January to elect a new member of parliament after the death of the incumbent Sanwar Lal Jat of the Bharatiya Janata Party. 65% of the total 18.43 lakh voters participated in the election. For the first time in the country, the election commission placed candidates' photos next to their name to help voters identify the candidates. In what was seen as a body blow to the state government, the INC wrested control of the seat from the BJP, its candidate Raghu Sharma won by a margin of 84,238 votes. Uluberia (Lok Sabha constituency): Elections were held on 29 January to elect a new member of parliament after the death of Mohammedan Sporting Club's president and All India Trinamool Congress M.P Sultan Ahmed. Trinamool Congress candidate Sajda Ahmed won Uluberia Lok Sabha seat by defeating BJP candidate Anupam Mallick by 4,74,023 votes.
March
+2018 winner2014 winnerStateConstituencyNoteSPBJPUttar PradeshGorakhpurElections were held on March 11 to elect a new member of Parliament after the incumbent member Yogi Adityanath resigned from the post after he was appointed the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.SPBJPUttar PradeshPhulpurElections were held on March 14 to elect a new member of Parliament after the incumbent member Keshav Prasad Maurya resigned from the post after he was appointed the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.RJDRJDBiharArariaThe constituency fell vacant after the death of RJD MP Mohammed Taslimuddin.
May
4 parliamentary seats were contested on 28 May 2018. The counting of votes took place on May 31. This election saw the ruling BJP party lose their majority in the lower house of the Indian Parliament.
+2018 winner2014 winnerStateConstituencyNoteRLDBJPUttar PradeshKairanaThe constituency fell vacant after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh.NCPBJPMaharashtraBhandara-GondiyaNana Patole quit as the BJP MP and resigned from the ruling party to return to the Congress earlier this year, necessitating the by-election.BJPBJPMaharashtraPalgharPalghar seat in north Konkan fell vacant after sitting BJP MP Chintaman Vanga died on 30 January following a heart attack.NDPPNPFNagaland Nagaland The by-election was necessitated after NDPP's Neiphiu Rio resigned to take on the role of Nagaland chief minister. November
Three parliamentary seats had been contested on 3 November 2018 in Karnataka. Results were declared on 6 November 2018. 2018 winner2014 winnerStateConstituencyNoteINCBJPKarnatakaBellaryBellary Lok Sabha constituency was vacated due to Sriramulu being elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in May 2018.JDSJDSKarnatakaMandyaThis seat was vacated after sitting MP had joined Karnataka Government as Minister for minor irrigation.BJPBJPKarnatakaShivamoggaShivamogga constituency was vacated; B. S. Yeddyurappa quit after being elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in May 2018.
Legislative assembly elections
Date(s) StateGovernment before Chief Minister beforeGovernment after Elected Chief Minister 18 February 2018 TripuraCommunist Party of India (Marxist) Manik Sarkar Bharatiya Janata Party Biplab Kumar Deb 27 February 2018 MeghalayaIndian National Congress Mukul SangmaNational People's Party Conrad Sangma United Democratic PartyPeople's Democratic Front Bharatiya Janata Party 27 February 2018 Nagaland Naga People's Front T. R. ZeliangNationalist Democratic Progressive Party Neiphiu Rio Bharatiya Janata Party 12 May 2018 Karnataka Indian National Congress Siddaramaiah Indian National Congress H. D. Kumaraswamy Janata Dal (Secular) 12 & 20 November 2018 Chhattisgarh Bharatiya Janata Party Raman SinghIndian National Congress Bhupesh Baghel 28 November 2018 Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party Shivraj Singh Chouhan Indian National Congress Kamal Nath 28 November 2018 Mizoram Indian National Congress Lal Thanhawla Mizo National Front Zoramthanga 7 December 2018 Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party Vasundhra Raje Indian National Congress Ashok Gehlot 7 December 2018 Telangana Telangana Rashtra Samithi K. Chandrasekhar Rao Telangana Rashtra Samithi K. Chandrashekar Rao
Tripura
Elections were held in Tripura on 18 February 2018 in 59 out of 60 constituencies of the Legislative Assembly. The Left Front led by Manik Sarkar sought re-election, having governed Tripura since the 1998 election. The region in general had been under the political control of the Communist Party for 25 years prior to the election, leading to the region being dubbed a "red holdout". The incumbent Left Front government was defeated after 25 years of office, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura winning a large majority of seats. The Indian National Congress, which was the second largest party in the 2013 election, lost all its seats and most of its vote share. Parties and coalitionsPopular voteSeatsVotes%±ppWon+/−Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)999,09343.036 36 Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) 992,57542.716 33Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT)173,6037.58 8Indian National Congress (INC)41,3251.80 10 Communist Party of India (CPI) 19,3520.80 1 Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) 17,5680.80Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT)16,2550.70All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) 13,1150.60All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)6,9890.30Independents (IND)0Other parties and coalitions0None of the Above (NOTA)Vacant seat11 Total 100.00 60 ±0
Meghalaya
Elections were held in Meghalaya on 27 February 2018 to elect 59 of 60 members to the Legislative Assembly. The incumbent Indian National Congress government controlled the state in a coalition with smaller parties prior to the election, and sought to retain office. The elections resulted in a hung assembly with no single party or alliance getting the requisite majority of 31 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. Conrad Sangma, leader of the National People's Party, announced that he would form a government with the support of the United Democratic Party and other regional parties. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister, along with eleven other ministers.
PartyPopular voteSeatsVotes%±ppContestedWon+/−Indian National Congress (INC)447,47228.559 218National People's Party (NPP)323,50020.652 1917United Democratic Party (UDP)182,49111.627 62Independents (IND)170,24910.8310Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)151,2179.64722People's Democratic Front (PDF)128,4138.2844Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP)84,0115.315 21Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)25,2471.66 11Garo National Council (GNC)21,6791.4701Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM)14,1640.96 11All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)5,5440.40None of the Above (NOTA)14,6310.9Vacant seat11 Total 100.00 297 60 ±0
Nagaland
Elections were held in Nagaland on 27 February 2018 in 59 out of 60 constituencies of the Legislative Assembly. The scheduled election in Northern Angami II constituency did not take place as only incumbent MLA Neiphiu Rio was nominated and was therefore declared elected unopposed. The ruling Naga People's Front was challenged by the newly established Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The NDPP and its allies won a majority, with former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio returning to government.
Parties and coalitionsPopular voteSeatsVotes%±ppCandidates Won +/− Nagaland People's Front (NPF)389,91238.8582612Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)253,09025.2401818Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)153,86415.3201211National People's Party (NPP)69,5066.92522Janata Dal (United) (JD(U))45,0894.5131Independents (IND)43,0084.31117Indian National Congress (INC)20,7522.11808Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)10,6931.1604Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)7,4910.730Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)2,7650.320None of the Above (NOTA)Total100.0019660±0
Karnataka