CHAPTER-37
First General Elections
- provisions of the Constitution relating to citizenship and Article 324 (the Election Commission) were brought into force on November 26, 1949, while the rest of the Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950.
- Groundwork for the Elections
- The Election Commission-office of the Election Commission had been set up in a small way on January 25, 1950.
- The first Chief Election Commissioner of India was Sukumar Sen, an ICS officer, who assumed office on March 21, 1950.
- The Election Commission of India is a permanent constitutional body, established in accordance with the Constitution. Under Article 324, the Election Commission of India has been vested with the power of the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections
- Legislation for Polls-first of the measures was the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which provided for the qualifications of voters and matters connected with the preparation and publication of electoral rolls.
- The second legislation was the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which laid down other provisions.
- Independent India Goes to the Polls for the First Time-
- The elections were held based on universal adult franchise, with all those twenty-one years of age or older having the right to vote.
- Challenges-Many eligible voters could not be included in the electoral rolls despite much effort on the part of the Election Commission because of
- (i) ignorance and apathy of the common voter,
- (ii) lack of adequate organisation and experience on the part of the political parties, and
- (iii) inexperience and poor organisation of the governmental machinery in some of the states.
- Parties in the Fray for the Lok Sabha-There were 53 political parties participating in the first general elections for the Lok Sabha seats. These included the 14 national parties, according to the report by the Election Commission of India. Besides, there were the independents.
- Conduct of Elections- In the first general elections of the nation, there were three types of constituencies. Indelible ink was introduced as a precautionary step. A mark was put on the voter’s finger as he/she went in to vote so as to prevent impersonation.
- The first-past-the-post system was the mode, so of the many candidates, whoever got the plurality or the largest number of votes would be elected.
- Results-Lok Sabha- The Indian National Congress contested 472 seats and won 364, a stupendous majority of the seats to the Lok Sabha.
- State Leislatures- In the state legislature elections, too, the Indian National Congress swept the polls.
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