Modi’s Ambitious “400 Paar” Happened Only Once In History, Know When

Prime Minister Modi’s campaign slogan, “Abki baar 400 paar,” signaled an ambitious target for the upcoming election. However, early poll results suggest that the BJP may not reach the 350-seat mark, far short of the 400-seat goal.

In March, BJP’s Uttar Kannada MP Anantkumar Hegde stated that achieving over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections would facilitate the integration of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with India and the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code nationwide. He emphasized that this majority would also help the BJP gain a similar hold in the Rajya Sabha and control two-thirds of the states.

400 Paar In History

Historically, surpassing 400 seats in the Lok Sabha has been a rare feat. The only instance was in 1984 when the Congress, led by Rajiv Gandhi, won 404 seats following Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Even during the Congress’s dominance post-Independence, their highest tally was 371 seats in 1957, with more than 300 seats secured in 1951-52, 1957, 1962, and 1971. However, the party saw a significant drop to 154 seats in the post-Emergency election of 1977, before rebounding to 353 seats in 1980.

The 1984 elections also saw the Congress achieve the highest vote share for a single party at 48.12%. The closest prior result was in 1957 with 47.78% of the vote. Since 1984, no party has surpassed the 40% vote share mark, with the Congress coming closest in 1989 at 39.53%, followed by the BJP under Narendra Modi in 2019 with 37.7%.