Lok Sabha elections began in Gujarat for 22 seats in 1962, raised to 24 seats in 1967 and to 26 in 1977

Gandhinagar: Ever since Gujarat was bifurcated from the bilingual state of Bombay in 1960, General Election to the Lok Sabha began in the state in 1962 for 22 seats, which was increased in 1967 to 24 and in 1977 to 26.

The elections to the 17thLok Sabha will now be held in Gujarat in single phase on April 23, 2019 at 51,709 booths.

As per the website of the Election Commission, the number of candidates (over the years in brackets) were 68 (1962), 80 (1967), 118 (1971), 112 (1977), 169 (1980), 229 (1984), 261 (1989), 420 (1991), 577 (1996), 139 (1998), 159 (1999), 162 (2004), 359 (2009) and 334 (2014).

In 1962, there were 95.34-lakh voters for 22 seats at 10,960 booths.

In 1967, as against 1.06-crore voters, 68.18-lakh or 63.77% exercised their voting right for 24 seats.

In 1996, there were maximum number of candidates in the fray (577), but as against 2.85-crore voters, only 1.02-crore exercised their voting right which was the lowest at 35.92%.

In 2014, as against 4.06-crore voters, 2.57-crore or 63.66% exercised their voting rights.

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