The Indian National Congress (INC) is currently the principal opposition party in India. The INC was in power from the first national election held in 1952 upto 1977, from 1980 to 1989, 1991 to 1996 and lastly from 2004 to 2014.
In the 2014 National Elections the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) led coalition won 336 out 545 seats, with the BJP alone winning 282 seats. The INC won 44 seats and lost 162 of the seats it previously held.