Converting votes to seats: Who was the best at it, and when?

In a first-past the post system such as India's, the holy grail for any party is not votes in themselves, but converting those votes into seats. ET compared seat shares in Parliament for the larger parties, with their vote shares to arrive at a list of those who were most 'efficient' at making that conversion. The comparison was done for the last four elections - in 1998, 1999, 2004, and 2009.

Except For 2009

The Best

Nitish’s JD(U) in 2009 was the most efficient at converting votes to seats. It earned a national vote share of 1.5%, but its seat share in parliament was actually higher at 3.7%. The Tamil parties - the PMK, ADMK and the DMK were particularly good at it, in different years.

The Worst

The short-lived Janata Dal-led government was trounced in the 1998 elections, and was punished with the worst vote-to-seat conversion in the last four elections. The TDP in 2009 suffered a similar fate. But fortunes can swing wildly. Laloo’s RJD turned in a bad performance in 1999, but was one of the best performers in the next election in 2004.