The country’s electoral history has seen over 41,000 Independents contesting the Lok Sabha polls till now but only 221 of them have won, the success rate being an abysmal 0.53 per cent.
Out of a total of 41,309 Independents who fought the electoral battle, a whopping 40,420 not only lost the polls but also got their deposits forfeited, according to official data.
On many occasions, Independents have acted as spoilers to the fortunes of major contestants, splitting their votes.
In the first Lok Sabha elections held in 1952, 533 out of 1,874 candidates were Independents. While 37 Independents had come out victorious, 360 had to forfeit their deposits.
The best year for Independents was 1957 when 42 of 481 who fought the polls came out victorious. The victory percentage was 8.7.
The success rate for Independents was at the lowest in 1991 with only five out of 5,546 Independents, at 0.09 per cent success rate, winning the polls.
In the 15 general elections that India has seen over the past 62 years, a total of 74,805 candidates have contested the power-battle of which 55 per cent were Independents.
The success rate of Independents was around 0.2 per cent in the previous two elections held in 2009 and 2004.