The seats from which Prime Ministers and Prime Ministerial candidates have contested have attracted significant attention. The margin of their victories has been a topic of debate. Given the sharp rise in the number of voters per constituency over the last seven decades, it may be useful to look at the percentage of votes that Prime Ministerial candidates secured in the seats they contested.

A review from 1952 to 2024 reveals there are 21 relevant contests. These include elections where sitting Prime Ministers contested or individuals became Prime Ministers soon after the elections. There are 15 instances of sitting Prime Ministers contesting elections: they won on 14 occasions and only one sitting Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, lost her seat, Raebareli, in 1977. In six other instances, we examine the Lok Sabha seat won by a candidate who went on to become the Prime Minister immediately after the elections.

Two caveats are necessary.

There are 15 instances of sitting Prime Ministers contesting Lok Sabha elections. In 11 cases, sitting Prime Ministers returned to the position after the election. In six cases, sitting Prime Ministers left office as their party/alliance was unable to secure a majority. Notably, in three of the 21 examples where the candidates secured less than 50% of the votes, they were sitting Prime Ministers. One returned to power, while two had to relinquish office as their party/alliance lost a........

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