Analysis

What the results show. Every figure here is calculated directly from Election Commission data.

The closest results in India since 2009

Tiruppattur in Tamil Nadu was decided in 2026 by 1 vote out of 2,15,710 cast. No Lok Sabha or assembly general election since 2009 has been closer. It isn't a one-off. 463 assembly results since 2009 were decided by fewer than 500 votes, and 861 by less than 1% of the vote.

YearHouseStateSeatWinnerVotesRunner-upVotesMargin
2026AssemblyTamil NaduTiruppattur
Seat 185
Seenivasa Sethupathy. R
TVK
83,375
38.6%
Periakaruppan. Kr
DMK
83,374
38.6%
1 vote
under 0.01%
2014AssemblyHaryanaRai
Seat 29
Jai Tirath
INC
36,703
31.2%
Inderjeet
INLD
36,700
31.2%
3 votes
under 0.01%
2018AssemblyMizoramTuivawl
Seat 7
Lalchhandama Ralte
MNF
5,207
39.4%
R. L. Pianmawia
INC
5,204
39.6%
3 votes
0.02%
2018AssemblyNagalandNoklak
Seat 56
H. Haiying
BJP
5,643
40.6%
P. Longon
NPF
5,638
40.7%
5 votes
0.04%
2023AssemblyNagalandWestern Angami
Seat 8
Salhoutuonuo Kruse
NDPP
7,078
49.7%
Keneizhakho Nakhro
IND
7,071
49.7%
7 votes
0.05%
2014AssemblyArunachal PradeshMariyang-Geku
Seat 40
Olom Panyang
BJP
4,198
46.0%
J. K. Panggeng
INC
4,189
45.9%
9 votes
0.10%
2023AssemblyMeghalayaRajabala
Seat 47
Dr. Mizanur Rahman Kazi
AITC
12,628
37.9%
Md Abdus Saleh
NPP
12,618
37.9%
10 votes
0.03%
2013AssemblyMeghalayaMendipathar
Seat 38
Marthon Sangma
NCP
5,307
30.6%
Frankenstein Momin
INC
5,296
30.5%
11 votes
0.06%
2014AssemblyAndhra PradeshMangalagiri
Seat 87
Alla Rama Krishna Reddy (RK)
YSRCP
88,977
44.7%
Ganji Chiranjeevi
TDP
88,965
44.7%
12 votes
under 0.01%
2020AssemblyBiharHilsa
Seat 175
Krishnamurari Sharan Urf Prem Mukhiya
JD(U)
61,848
37.4%
Atri Muni Urf Shakti Singh Yadav
RJD
61,836
37.6%
12 votes
under 0.01%

Source: Election Commission of India results, 2009 onwards.

Lok Sabha seats decided by less than 1%

2009
36 of 539
2014
23 of 539
2019
26 of 539
2024
21 of 538

Lok Sabha seats are large, so knife-edge results are rarer than in assemblies. Even so, every general election since 2009 has had at least 21 seats decided by less than 1%.

Lok Sabha turnout since 2009

2009
58.2%
2014
66.4%
2019
67.3%
2024
66.1%

Calculated across the seats in the dataset, which doesn't yet include four single-seat Union Territories.