1951–52 Indian general election

The Indian general election of 1951–52, held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952, was the first election to the Lok Sabha since India became independent in August 1947.[1][2][3] It was conducted under the provisions of the Indian Constitution, which was adopted on 26 November 1949. Elections to most of the state legislatures took place simultaneously.

1951 Indian general election

25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952
All 489 seats in the Lok Sabha 245 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Jawaharlal Nehru A. K. Gopalan Party INC CPI Leader's seat Allahabad Kannur Seats won 364 16 Popular vote 47,665,875 3,484,401 Percentage 44.99% 3.29%
Prime Minister before election Jawaharlal Nehru INC Subsequent Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru INC

After the adoption of the constitution on 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly continued to act as the interim parliament. The interim cabinet was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru and consisted of 15 members from diverse communities and parties. Various members of this cabinet resigned from their posts and formed their own parties to contest the elections.

1949 candidates competed for 489 seats in the Lok Sabha. More than 173 million people out of an overall population of about 360 million were eligible to vote,[4] making it the largest election conducted at the time. Voter turnout was 45.7%.[5]

The Indian National Congress (INC) won a landslide victory, winning 364 of the 489 seats and 45% of the total votes polled. This was over four times as many votes as the second-largest party. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country.

India has a parliamentary system of government, where the Cabinet, headed by a Prime Minister, forms the de facto executive. Unlike most countries, the elections are conducted by an independent constitutional body, the Election Commission of India. Sukumar Sen was the first election commissioner of India.

India had 173,200,000 voters (excluding Jammu and Kashmir) in 1951 general elections.[6] All Indian citizens over the age of 21 were eligible to vote. Around 85% of the population could not read or write. This widespread illiteracy posed a challenge to the commission in organising the election. This was overcome by allotting each candidate a differently-coloured ballot box at the polling booth, on which each candidates name and symbol were written. 16,500 clerks were appointed on a contract of 6 months to type and collate the electorate rolls and 380,000 reams of paper were used for printing the rolls.[7]

Due to the harsh climate and challenging logistics, the election was held in 68 phases.[8] A total of 196,084 polling booths were set up, of which 27,527 booths were reserved for women. All states except Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir voted in February–March 1952; no polls were held for Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir until 1967. Himachal Pradesh voted in 1951 for the first Lok Sabha weather tends to be inclement in February and March, heavy snow impending free movement.[9] The first votes of the election were cast in the tehsil (district) of Chini in Himachal Pradesh.[10]

Voters elected 489 members to the lower house of the Parliament of India. These were allotted across 401 constituencies in 25 Indian states. There were 314 constituencies electing one member using first-past-the-post system. 86 constituencies elected two members, one from general category and one from Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. There was one constituency with three elected representatives.[11] These multi-seat constituencies were present to fulfill the reservations granted to backward sections of the society by the Constitution. They were later abolished in the 1960s.

The Constitution also provides for 2 Anglo-Indian members to be nominated by the President of India.