1998 Indian general election
General elections were held in India in 1998, after the government elected in 1996 collapsed and the 12th Lok Sabha was convened. New elections were called when Indian National Congress left the United Front government led by I.K. Gujral, after they refused to drop the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi. The outcome of the new elections was also indecisive, with no party or alliance able to create a strong majority. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal Bihari Vajpayee regained his position of Prime Minister getting support from 286 members out of 545, the government collapsed on 17 April 1999 when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with its 18 seats, withdrew their support. This led to a vote-of-confidence motion in the parliament that the government lost 272-273, leading to a fresh general election in 1999. It also marked the first time since independence that India's long-time governing party, the INC, failed to win majority two consecutive elections.
Turnout was 61.97%.
Results
| Party | Acronym | Alliance | % of votes | Seats |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | BJP | NDA | 25.59% | 182 |
| Indian National Congress | INC | Congress | 25.82% | 141 |
| Communist Party of India | CPI | United Front | 5.4% | 32 |
| Samajwadi Party | SP | 4.93% | 20 | |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | AIADMK | NDA | 1.83% | 18 |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal | RJD | Jan Morcha | 2.78% | 17 |
| Telugu Desam Party | TDP | 2.77% | 12 | |
| Samata Party | SAP | NDA | 1.76% | 12 |
| Communist Party of India | CPI | United Front | 1.75% | 9 |
| Biju Janata Dal | BJD | NDA | 1% | 9 |
| Shiromani Akali Dal | SAD | NDA | 0.81% | 8 |
| West Bengal Trinamool Congress | WBTC | NDA | 2.42% | 7 |
| Janata Dal | JD | United Front | 3.24% | 6 |
| Independents | - | 2.37% | 6 | |
| Shiv Sena | SS | NDA | 1.77% | 6 |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | DMK | United Front | 1.44% | 6 |
| Bahujan Samaj Party | BSP | Jan Morcha | 4.67% | 5 |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party | RSP | United Front | 0.55% | 5 |
| Haryana Lok Dal | HLD | 0.53% | 4 | |
| Pattali Makkal Katchi | PMK | NDA | 0.42% | 4 |
| Republican Party of India | RPI | 0.37% | 4 | |
| Tamil Maanila Congress | TMC | United Front | 1.4% | 3 |
| Lok Shakti | LS | NDA | 0.69% | 3 |
| Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhhagam | MDMK | NDA | 0.44% | 3 |
| Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | NC | 0.21% | 3 | |
| All India Forward Bloc | AIFB | United Front | 0.33% | 2 |
| Indian Union Muslim League | IUML | Congress | 0.22% | 2 |
| Arunachal Congress | AC | 0.05% | 2 | |
| Nominated Anglo-Indians | - | -% | 2 | |
| All India Rashtriya Janata Party | AIRJP | Jan Morcha | 0.56% | 1 |
| Samajwadi Janata Party | SJP | Jan Morcha | 0.32% | 1 |
| Haryana Vikas Party | HVP | NDA | 0.24% | 1 |
| All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimen | AIMIM | 0.13% | 1 | |
| All India Indira Congress | AIIC | United Front | 0.12% | 1 |
| Janata Party | JP | NDA | 0.12% | 1 |
| Kerala Congress | KC | Congress | 0.1% | 1 |
| United Minorities Front, Assam | UMFA | 0.1% | 1 | |
| Peasants and Workers Party of India | PWPI | 0.07% | 1 | |
| Autonomous State Demand Committee | ASDC | 0.05% | 1 | |
| Manipur State Congress Party | MSCP | 0.05% | 1 | |
| Sikkim Democratic Front | SDF | 0.03% | 1 | |
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | JMM | Jan Morcha | 0.36% | 0 |
| Asom Gana Parishad | AGP | United Front | 0.29% | 0 |
| Hill Peoples' Democratic Party | HPDP | 0.2% | 0 | |
| NTR Telugu Desam Party | NTRTDP | NDA | 0.1% | 0 |
| Kerala Congress | KC | United Front | 0.09% | 0 |
| United Democratic Party | UDP | 0.06% | 0 | |
| United Goans Democratic Party | UGDP | 0.04% | 0 | |
| Manipur Peoples Party | MPP | 0.03% | 0 | |
| Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party | MGP | 0.02% | 0 | |
| Mizo National Front | MNF | NDA | 0.02% | 0 |
| Total | 100% | 545 |