1. The first general elections in India were held in 1951-52. But the numbers collated by the Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD), and thus the data presented in this application, begin from 1962.
2. Byelections are not covered.
3. Over time, some constituency names have changed, as have constituency boundaries. In order to enable comparison with older elections, where we were reasonably sure of constituency names, we have linked them based on their names (for example, it was Madras Central from 1962 to 2004 and Chennai Central from 2009 onwards), without delving into the mapping.
4. Data for new states start from when they were formed. For example, Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000. Thus, till the 1999 elections, the Chhattisgarh constituencies are shown as a part of Madhya Pradesh. From the 2004 elections, they are shown as part of Chhattisgarh.
5. General elections were held across India in 1984, but in Assam and Punjab, they were conducted a year later. These constituencies are shown here as part of the 1984 elections. In Punjab, again, the 1991 general elections were held in 1992, but here, these seats are shown as part of the 1991 polls.
6. Maps start from the 1977 elections. Given the change in boundaries due to delimitation, there are two sets of maps: from 1977 to 2004, and from 2009 onwards