Challenges

Most of the voters were poor, illiterate, and came from rural areas, and had no experience of elections. There was much scepticism about such an electorate being able to exercise its right to vote in a politically mature and responsible manner. The electoral exercise was described by some as ‘a leap in the dark’ and by others as ‘fantastic’ and as ‘an act of faith’ before the elections took place.

The Election Commission faced many challenges. There was a house-to-house survey to register the voters. 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.

According to the report by Sukumar Sen after the elections were over, a large number of women voters had been enrolled in some states not by their own names but by the description of the relationship they bore to their male relations, e.g., as the mother of so and so or the wife of so and so; this was because local custom dictated that women do not disclose their proper names to strangers. The Election Commission had to issue firm instructions that, as the name of an elector was an essential part of his or her identity, the correct name must be included in the electoral rolls and that no elector should be enrolled unless sufficient particulars, including the name, were given. If a woman did not give her proper name, she was not to be registered as a voter. As a result, the names of nearly two to three million out of a total of nearly 80 million women voters in the country were unable to be registered as they failed to disclose their proper names, and these women could not exercise their vote. Most of these women, says the report, were from the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Bharat, Rajasthan and Vindhya Pradesh.

The Election Commission also faced a major problem with regard to the displaced persons (who had migrated from Pakistan in the wake of partition) in West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi and, to some extent, in Assam. These migrants constituted a considerable floating population, and it was very difficult to register those of them that were eligible for registration under the law.

Political parties in a mature democracy participate in all stages of the process of elections. The parties could be of great help in the preparation of electoral rolls. However, India was a nascent democracy and political parties lacked experience; they took little interest in doing their bit. As it was, the huge task of preparing the electoral rolls in a country of some 173 million voters had to be borne almost entirely by the governmental machinery in the states acting under the directions of the Election Commission.

With over 70 per cent of the voters being illiterate, it was necessary for candidates to be identified by symbols. The Election Commission had to allot a symbol to each major party and independent candidate. At the time of allotment of symbols the political parties became more active. Indeed, according to the Sen report, a remarkable feature of the increasing tempo was the formation of new political parties all over the country, some of them ultimately proving to be a mushroom growth. There were as many as 178 parties but most of these parties virtually disappeared after the elections, with many of their candidates forfeiting their deposits.

The symbols were painted on the ballot-boxes (this was later changed to symbols on the ballot papers). “A voter had to simply insert the ballot paper given to him in the ballot box of the candidate of his choice in the voting compartment,” writes former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi in his book, An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election. The ballot was secret.

Parties in the Fray for the Lok Sabha Though it was generally accepted that the Congress had the largest following, various other political strands in India were also beginning to take shape. Just before the first elections, Shyama Prasad Mookeree (industries minister under Nehru) broke away to set up the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (a proto-BJP) in October 1951. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar revived the Scheduled

Castes Federation (which was later named the Republican Party). Another high-profile Congress leader, J. B. (Acharya) Kripalani, founded the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party. Ram Manohar Lohia and Jaya Prakash Narayan, were the forces behind the Socialist Party. And the communists (then united), having just abandoned an armed struggle in Telangana, too contested.

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. There were a total number of 1,874 candidates, including 533 independents.

The national parties were:

1. All India Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS)

2. Bolshevik Party of India (BPI)

3. Communist Party of India (CPI)

4. Forward Bloc (Marxist Group) FBL (MG)

5. Forward Bloc (Ruikar Group) FBL (RG)

6. Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (HMS)

7. Indian National Congress (INC)

8. Krishikar Lok Party (KLP)

9. Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP)

10. Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI)

11. Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad (RRP)

12. Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)

13. All India Scheduled Caste Federation (SCF)

14. Socialist Party (SP)