Question

write about the first general election in India​

Answer 1

Answer:

India had its first general elections in 1951-52, although Election commission was set up in January 1950. This was because the election commission soon discovered that conducting free and fair elections in a country of India’s size wouldn’t be a piece of cake. Holding an election required drawing the boundaries of the electoral constituencies. It also required preparing the electoral rolls or the list of all the citizens eligible to vote. When the first draft of the rolls was published, it was discovered that the names of nearly 40 lakh women were not recorded in the list. They were simply listed as “wife of…”, Or “daughter of…” Election commission refused to accept these entries and ordered a revision. Preparing for the first general elections was a laborious task. No election on such scale had been organised before. These were the primary problems other major problems being- Illiteracy of the people, poverty, the population of the state, as well as it’s continental size. Till then democracy had existed only in the prosperous countries, mainly Europe and North America, where everyone was literate. By that time many countries in Europe had not given voting rights to all women. In this context, India’s experiment with universal adult franchise appeared bold and risky. But the Indian experiment proved the critics wrong. Elections were competitive- there were on an average more than four candidates for each seat. The level of participation was encouraging, more than half the eligible voters turned out to vote. Hence India’s general elections of 1952 became a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world.

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]

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.

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.