Indian general election, 1951
Encyclopedia
General elections to the first
1st Lok Sabha
The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957.- Important Members :- List of Members by state :...

 Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

 since independence were held in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 were held between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952. The Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 (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%.

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. 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
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha
The Akhil Bhārat Hindū Mahāsabhā is a Hindu nationalist political party in India. It was founded in 1915, as an alternative for Hindus who were not attracted to the secular Indian National Congress and sought to oppose the Muslim separatism of the Muslim League.-Hindutva:The Mahasabha promoted the...

ABHM 0.95 4
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad RRP 1.97 3
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh existed from 1951 to 1980, whereupon it was succeeded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of India's largest political parties...

BJS 3,246,288 3.06 3
Bolshevik Party of India
Bolshevik Party of India
The Bolshevik Party of India was a communist political party in the India. Although the party is now defunct and doesn't contest election anymore, it is logged with the Election Commission of India as having contested the very first parliamentary elections in 1951 in India....

BPI 0.02 0
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

CPI 3,484,401 3.29 16
Forward Bloc (Marxist)
All India Forward Bloc
The All India Forward Bloc is a leftwing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party after the independence of India...

FB(M) 0.91 1
Forward Bloc (Ruiker) FB(R) 0.13 0
Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

INC 47,665,875 44.99 364
Krishikar Lok Party
Krishikar Lok Party
Krishikar Lok Party , a political party in the Hyderad State, India, existing April-June 1951. KLP was formed when Acharya N. G. Ranga broke away from the Hyderabad State Praja Party....

KLP 1.41 1
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party
The Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party was a socialist political party of India. Although the party is now defunct and doesn't contest election anymore, it is logged with the Election Commission of India as having contested the very first parliamentary elections in 1951 in India...

KMPP 6,156,558 5.79 9
Revolutionary Communist Party of India
Revolutionary Communist Party of India
Revolutionary Communist Party of India is a political party in India. The party was founded by Saumyendranath Tagore in 1934, breaking away from the Communist Party of India. During the period 1934–1938 the name of the party was Communist League...

RCPI 0.06 0
Revolutionary Socialist Party
Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)
Revolutionary Socialist Party is a Marxist-Leninist political party in India. The party was founded on March 19, 1940 and has its roots in the Bengali liberation movement Anushilan Samiti and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. The party got around 0,4% of the votes and three seats in the Lok...

RSP 0.44 3
Scheduled Caste Federation SCF 2.38 2
Socialist Party
Socialist Party (India)
Socialist Party has been the name of several political parties in India, all of which have their roots in the Congress Socialist Party formed during the freedom struggle...

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
Ganatantra Parishad
The Ganatanra Parishad or the All India Ganatantra Parishad was a regional political party based in Orissa state in eastern India from 1950 to 1962. This political party was formed by the former rulers of the erstwhile princely states and big landlords. It was founded in 1950 and Rajendra Narayan...

GP 0.91 6
Gandhi Sebak Seva GSS 0.01 0
Hill Peoples Party HPP 0.02 0
Historical Research
Historical Research
Historical Research is a scholarly journal published by the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London. It was first published in 1923 under the title Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. Beginning with Vol. 60, no. 141 , the journal appeared under its present name...

HR 0.00 0
Hyderabad State Praja Party
Hyderabad State Praja Party
Hyderabad State Praja Party, a political party in the Hyderabad State. HSPP was formed in 1951 when Tanguturi Prakasam and Acharya N. G. Ranga broke away from the Indian National Congress....

HSPP 0.01 0
Jharkhand Party
Jharkhand Party
Jharkhand Party, a political party in India. The party was founded on March 5, 1949 at a large conference in Ranchi. Jaipal Singh was elected president and Idsen Deba general secretary. JKP grew out of the demand for a separate Jharkhand state....

JKP 0.71 3
Justice Party
Justice Party (India)
The Justice Party , officially known as South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. The party was established in 1917 by T. M. Nair and Theagaroya Chetty as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency...

JP 0.06 0
Kamgar Kisan Paksha KKP 0.13 0
Kerala Socialist Party
Kerala Socialist Party
Kerala Socialist Party was a political party founded under the leadership of Mathai Manjooran on September 21, 1947 at Kozhikode. It began as a small party, but its front-line leaders compelled the party deep into the public imagination....

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
Peasants and Workers Party of India
Peasants and Workers Party of India , is a marxist political party in Maharashtra, India. The party was founded in 1949, having its roots from the pre-Independence period and has around 10,000 members. The influence of the party is largely limited to three districts.Member of legislative council of...

PWPI 0.94 2
Peoples Democratic Front
Peoples Democratic Front (Hyderabad)
Peoples Democratic Front was a mass front of Communist Party of India in the Hyderabad State.Peoples Democratic Front abbreviated as PDF is one of the post Independence parties in India....

PDF 1.29 7
Praja Party
Praja Party
The Praja Party, initially called the Council Praja Party or the Bengal Praja Party and later renamed the Nikhil Banga Praja Samiti and finally the Krishak Praja Party , was a political party of Bengal in the latter days of British India. Formed in July 1929, it lasted until 1937...

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
Shiromani Akali Dal
The Shiromani Akali Dal , translation: Supreme Akali Party) is a Sikh nationalist political parties based in Punjab. The current party to be recognized by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Parkash Singh Badal...

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-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...

s
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.

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.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK