How India held its 1st Lok Sabha election
On October 25, 1951, hundreds of people carrying ballot papers queued up in the small town of Chini, Himachal Pradesh, to cast their first-ever votes in independent India. The first in line was Shyam Saran Negi, a school teacher. This first Lok Sabha election, held from 1951-1952, marked the start of the democratic process that gave the people of the country power to elect their representatives. Here is an overview of the first Lok Sabha election.
Rest of the country began voting on December 10, 1951
The inaugural Lok Sabha election was conducted in 68 phases and witnessed a 45.7% voter turnout. This monumental exercise was hailed as the "biggest experiment in democracy in human history," with Jawaharlal Nehru echoing this sentiment by exclaiming, "Naya Hindustan Zindabad." Himachal was the first to cast votes, taking into consideration the inclement weather. The rest of the country began voting on December 10, 1951, starting with the Thiruvella and Trichur Lok Sabha constituencies of Travancore-Cochin (Kerala).
The Election Commission and the upholding of Adult Suffrage
To set things in motion, the Election Commission of India (ECI) was established on January 25, 1950, with Sukumar Sen, an Indian Civil Services officer, leading it from March that year. Shortly after Sen's appointment, PM Nehru announced that India would conduct its first election in the spring. Despite concerns about logistical issues and widespread illiteracy among voters, the Constituent Assembly upheld adult suffrage, granting every adult citizen the right to vote without bias.
Voter registration and challenges faced
Sen and his team undertook the colossal task of registering voters for this historic election, launching a door-to-door campaign to ensure every eligible voter was registered. However, about 28 lakh women, mainly from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, were not included in the first election due to their failure to provide full names. According to the final count, of the total 17.32 crore registered voters across India, women constituted 45%.
Ballot design and party symbol allocation
Another significant challenge was designing ballot boxes and allocating party symbols. With the majority of the population being illiterate at the time, the ECI realized that printing the names of the candidates and the parties would not help people make their choice. So, it decided to give each party contesting polls a certain symbol. For instance, the Congress received a "pair of oxen carrying a yoke" as their symbol. The commission produced nearly 6.2 crore ballot papers for this election.
Voting process and election results
Overall, the election cost ₹10.45 crore. The results were finally declared on April 2, 1952. The Congress emerged victorious, capturing 364 of the 489 Lok Sabha seats. Among the winners were Nehru and Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The most shocking outcome, however, was BR Ambedkar's loss to his former personal assistant, Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar, by approximately 15,000 votes in Bombay North Central.
