It is election season, and what better time than this to look back at some elections of the past? Independent India’s greatest achievement was to create a functioning democracy with equal voting rights for men and women over the age of 21 (now 18), regardless of caste, religion, status, education and wealth.
Adult suffrage was provided for in Article 326 of the Constitution, which was adopted on 26 January 1950, the day India became a Republic. The Constituent Assembly, that had drafted the Constitution, then became the provisional Parliament. One hundred more members were added, as representatives of the Indian states. Next, the first election commissioner, Sukumar Sen, was selected. In those days with poor communications, no electronic media, when even telephones were few and literacy was only 12 per cent, it was a mammoth task to hold the first elections. An electoral roll first had to be prepared, with election officers going from house to house across the country to identify potential voters. They listed around 176 million people. Many did not know when they had been born, or their exact age. Around two million women had to be deleted from the list, as because of shyness and tradition, they would not meet the election officials or provide their own names.
Then, the territorial constituencies had to be delimited. For the Lok Sabha, there were 489 constituencies, and for the state assemblies, for which elections would be held at the same time, there were 3,283. Ballot papers were printed and steel ballot boxes were made. As many voters could not read, a simple system was used. The ballot boxes were made in different colours, and the symbol of the party or candidate was pasted on them. The voter had to place the ballot paper in the box of the candidate or party. Indelible ink, to mark the fingers of those who had voted, was also introduced. The main political parties at this time were the Indian National Congress, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party of India, and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, among others.
The symbol of the Congress was two bullocks drawing a plough, the Socialist Party chose a banyan tree, and the Bharatiya Jan Sangh had a lighted diya. These and other parties were yet to face the divisions and problems that beset them in later years.
The first elections took place between October 25, 1951 and February 21, 1952. There was a festive atmosphere around the voting booths, as people came out to vote wearing their best clothes, celebrating by buying from the food stalls and barrows selling various items that had mushroomed near the booths. One million officials supervised the elections, and 46 per cent of the electorate voted. Those who voted were excited, they had understood that finally they would, though indirectly, have some say in their very own government. In this first election, the Congress won 364 seats in the Lok Sabha. Out of 3,279 seats for which elections were held in the state assemblies, it won 2248. After this, elections to the Rajya Sabha could be held, and the first Rajya Sabha was formed.
The next elections took place in 1957. A lot had changed in the mean time, the integration of the Indian (Princely) states had been completed, leading to the formation of new states. The structure of the government and administration was in place. The electorate was now 193 million, there were 494 constituencies, and in the Lok Sabha, the Congress once again had a clear majority with 371 seats. State assembly elections had again taken place simultaneously, and in Kerala, the Communist Party of India won, with EMS Namboodiripad as chief minister. Even in the third Lok Sabha elections, taking place in 1962 before the Indo-China War, the Congress won 361 seats, but then after the deaths of Nehru and Shastri, by 1967, with the Lok Sabha seats having risen to 520, the Congress won only 284. After Lal Bahadur Shastri’s untimely death at Tashkent in January 1966, Indira Gandhi had become the prime minister. She was supported by Kamaraj and some of the other older Congressmen because they mistakenly thought they could control her. Morarji Desai challenged her candidature, but lost. Opposition leaders too did not think much of her, with Ram Manohar Lohia famously referring to her as ‘gungi gudia’ (dumb doll). Soon she asserted her control over the major part of the Congress which split into two. A ‘Grand Alliance’ of four parties arrayed themselves against her, and, after mid-term elections were held in 1971, Indira’s Congress, with a new symbol of a cow and calf, won 352 of 518 Lok Sabha seats.
Almost fifty years have passed since then. With many ups and downs and changes in fortune, elections continue to be held regularly, and this, as noted at the beginning of the article, is a great achievement, despite some disturbing trends that are seen today. (More information on these and subsequent elections can be found in my book The Puffin History of India Volume 2).
(A PhD in ancient Indian History, the writer lives in Dehradun and has authored more than ten books)
