Indian general election, 1951
Indian general election, 1951
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General elections to the first Lok Sabha since independence were held in India were held between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952. The Indian National Congress (INC) stormed into power with 364 of the 489 seat. With this, India's grand old party managed to secure 45 per cent of the total votes polled. An electoral participation of 44.87 per cent was reported across the country. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the first elected Prime Minister of the country, his party winning 44.99% (47,665,875) of the votes cast. Voter turnout was 45.7%.[1]
Parties
Before Independent India went to the polls, two former cabinet colleagues of Nehru established separate political parties to challenge the INC's supremacy. While Shyama Prasad Mookerjee went on to found the Jana Sangh in October 1951, Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar revived the Scheduled Castes Federation (which was later named the Republican Party). Other parties which started coming to the forefront included the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Parishad, whose prime mover was Acharya Kripalani; the Socialist Party which had Ram Manohar Lohia and Jay Prakash Narayan's leadership to boast of and the Communist Party of India. However, these smaller parties knew that they really didn't stand a chance to win against the Congress.
Constituencies
The first general elections, which were conducted for 489 seats in 401 constituencies, represented 26 Indian states. At that time, there were 314 one-seat, 86 two-seat and even one three-seat constituency.[2] The multi-seat constituencies were discontinued in the 1960s. There were also 2 nominated Anglo-Indian members.
Results
| Party |
Abbr. |
Votes |
% |
Seats |
| Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha |
ABHM |
|
0.95 |
4 |
| Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad |
RRP |
|
1.97 |
3 |
| Bharatiya Jana Sangh |
BJS |
3,246,288 |
3.06 |
3 |
| Bolshevik Party of India |
BPI |
|
0.02 |
0 |
| Communist Party of India |
CPI |
3,484,401 |
3.29 |
16 |
| Forward Bloc (Marxist) |
FB(M) |
|
0.91 |
1 |
| Forward Bloc (Ruiker) |
FB(R) |
|
0.13 |
0 |
| Indian National Congress |
INC |
47,665,875 |
44.99 |
364 |
| Krishikar Lok Party |
KLP |
|
1.41 |
1 |
| Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party |
KMPP |
6,156,558 |
5.79 |
9 |
| Revolutionary Communist Party of India |
RCPI |
|
0.06 |
0 |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party |
RSP |
|
0.44 |
3 |
| Scheduled Caste Federation |
SCF |
|
2.38 |
2 |
| Socialist Party |
SP |
11,266,779 |
10.59 |
12 |
| All India Republican Party |
REP |
|
0.04 |
0 |
| All India Republican Party |
RPP |
|
0.05 |
0 |
| All India United Kisan Sabha |
UKS |
|
0.06 |
0 |
| All Manipur National Union |
AMNU |
|
0.02 |
0 |
| All Peoples Party |
APP |
|
0.03 |
0 |
| Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party |
CNSPJP |
|
0.22 |
1 |
| Cochin Party |
CP |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Common Weal Party |
CWP |
|
0.31 |
3 |
| Ganatantra Parishad |
GP |
|
0.91 |
6 |
| Gandhi Sebak Seva |
GSS |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Hill Peoples Party |
HPP |
|
0.02 |
0 |
| Historical Research |
HR |
|
0.00 |
0 |
| Hyderabad State Praja Party |
HSPP |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Jharkhand Party |
JKP |
|
0.71 |
3 |
| Justice Party |
JP |
|
0.06 |
0 |
| Kamgar Kisan Paksha |
KKP |
|
0.13 |
0 |
| Kerala Socialist Party |
KSP |
|
0.1 |
0 |
| Khasi-Jaintia Durbar |
KJD |
|
0.03 |
0 |
| Kisan Janata Sumyukta Party |
KJSP |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Kisan Mazdoor Mandal |
KMM |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Kuki National Association |
KNA |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Lok Sevak Sangh |
LSS |
|
0.29 |
2 |
| Madras State Muslim League Party |
MSMLP |
|
0.08 |
1 |
| National Party of India |
NPI |
|
0.00 |
0 |
| Peasants and Workers Party of India |
PWPI |
|
0.94 |
2 |
| Peoples Democratic Front |
PDF |
|
1.29 |
7 |
| Praja Party |
PP |
|
0.02 |
0 |
| Punjab Depressed Class League |
PDCL |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Pursharathi Panchayat |
PURP |
|
0.01 |
0 |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party (Uttar Pradesh) |
RSP(UP) |
|
0.02 |
0 |
| Shiromani Akali Dal |
SAD |
|
0.99 |
4 |
| S.K. Paksha |
SKP |
|
0.13 |
0 |
| Saurashtra Khedut Sangh |
SKS |
|
0.03 |
0 |
| Tamil Nadu Toilers Party |
TNTP |
|
0.84 |
4 |
| Tamil Nadu Congress Party |
TNCP |
|
0.03 |
0 |
| Tribal Sangha |
TS |
|
0.11 |
0 |
| Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress Party |
TTNC |
|
0.11 |
1 |
| Uttar Pradesh Praja Party |
UPP |
|
0.2 |
0 |
| Zamindar Party |
ZP |
|
0.27 |
0 |
| Independents |
16,817,910 |
15.9 |
37 |
| Nominated Anglo-Indians |
- |
- |
2 |
| Total |
105,944,495 |
100 |
489 |
Notable losses
Scheduled Caste leader and the creator of the constitution B. R. Ambedkar was defeated from Bombay constituency. He was defeated by a little known Kajrolkar.[3]
Government formation
The Speaker of the first Lok Sabha was Shri G.V. Mavalankar. The first Lok Sabha also witnessed 677 sittings (3,784 hours), the highest recorded count of the number of sittings. The Lok Sabha lasted its full term from 17 April 1952 until 4 April 1957.
See also
References