First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
Independent India’s first general elections were held between 25th October 1951 and 21 February 1952. It was a humongous exercise in which a sixth of the world’s population was going to vote, making it the largest election conducted in the world at the time.
First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
There were nearly 1874 candidates and 53 political parties, of which 14 were national. These included the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Socialist Party, the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, and Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, among others.
The parties were contesting for 489 seats. The Indian National Congress won a thumping majority with 364 seats and 45% of the total votes polled. The Communist Party of India, which won a total of 16 seats, became the main opposition party.
Tribute From Nehru (1948-02-01) by Fox PhotosGetty Images
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru became Independent India’s first democratically elected prime minister.
First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
Despite attaining Independence on August 15, 1947, the first election took place only in 1951. For the years in between, India was a constitutional monarchy under King George VI, with Louis Mountbatten as the Governor-General.
The Jawahar Lal Nehru-led Constituent Assembly was serving as the Parliament in the wait for the first elected government to take charge.
First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
While the nation’s leaders started working on rolling out elections in July 1948, there were no laws on how to hold elections.
The Drafting Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, put in rigorous hours to draft the Constitution which was ratified on November 26, 1949, but it came into effect on January 26, 1950.
India, on that day, got the rules and bylaws to conduct elections, and the country finally became the Republic of India.
This was, however, only the beginning of an extraordinary journey. With the Constitution coming into force, the Election Commission had been formed. The laborious task of conducting elections fell on the able shoulders of Sukumar Sen, an Indian civil servant and the first Chief Election Commissioner of India.
Jawahar Lal Nehru wanted the general election to happen in the spring of 1951, and his haste was understandable. India had waited for over three years for this new dawn of democracy to finally begin.
First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
But to organize elections on such a large scale and conduct them in a free, fair, and transparent manner was no straightforward task.
First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
The first, among many challenges, was the sheer population of India, 360 million then. India adopted universal adult suffrage when the Constitution was enacted, and this made 173 million people above the age of 21 people eligible to vote.
However, 85% of this eligible population could not read or write. In this, the task of identifying, naming, and registering voters was a big challenge.
First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
Parliamentary constituencies had to be finalized based on the census data, which happened only in 1951. Then there were the issues of designing party symbols, ballot papers, and ballot boxes for the uneducated population of the country.
There also were polling stations to be built and spaced out properly, and efficient polling officers had to be recruited and trained.
If these challenges weren’t enough, there was a food shortage in many states across India and the administration had to occupy themselves with relief work.
First general elections of Independent India, 1951-52 by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
All these challenges took their time to overcome. But when it finally happened, 45.7% of the eligible population walked out of their homes for the first time to practice their right to vote.
India became the largest democracy in the world, with a government by the people and for the people.
Illustrations by Ruchita Bait Gavhane
