First Elections In India

The first such elections were held in 1952 (before that the legislative bodies acted in the composition, elected back in 1946 on the basis of the colonial constitution of 1935). The elections were made by the INC, the left opposition represented by the CPI and the Socialists, as well as the right-wing opposition, which was represented by states by various parties that reflected the interests of the feudal strata. The victory was won by the INC, in which the broad masses of voters saw the leader of the victorious liberation movement. The party of Gandhi and Nehru received an absolute majority in all legislative bodies in the center and in the localities. Established a kind of monopoly of the INC on political power. His influence was particularly strong in the main part of North India - areas where the population speaks Hindi's related dialects - from Rajasthan in the west to Bihar in the east. The second place in terms of the number of votes received came from the Communists. Their influence in North India was mainly felt in Bengal and Punjab. Defeat suffered right, professions. This trend was further developed in the next elections (in 1957), which reflected a general line for a shift to the left in the political life of the country.

The ruling party strengthened the center-left wing, headed by J. Nehru: in 1955, at its next congress, a resolution was adopted proclaiming the construction of a "socialist model society" in India. The victory of the Communists in the southern Indian state of Kerala and the formation there of the government of the left front, which existed before its removal in 1959, 1 4 had an impact on the political situation in Northern India, especially the situation within the ruling party. In 1959 the INC adopted a decision on further radical agrarian reforms, the extreme right wing emerged from. Party and formed in union with the remnants of party organizations of feudal reaction the new general Indian party Swat Tantra (Independence), which won a certain number of seats in the legislative bodies in elections in 1962. The INC, using the majority system in elections, retained its majority In the parliament and state legislatures, but the number of votes cast for him has since been steadily declining. The disillusionment of the broad masses of voters with its policies, the failure of broadcast programs to improve the living conditions of the people, was felt. The accelerated development of capitalism exacerbated class conflicts, often occurring in the conditions of the existence of traditional social ties (religion, caste, rural community, etc.) in the form of contradictions on a pre-bourgeois social basis. The functioning of bourgeois democracy in the conditions of illiteracy more than 70% of the electoral corps, the adherence of its overwhelming majority to pre-bourgeois ideals, the absence of an extensive party structure - all this turned the caste into one of the main tools for linking political elites with the mass of voters. This, in turn, led to an increase in the role of caste and religion. But-caste conflicts in the political life of the country. The latter adversely affected the development of the organized workers 'and peasants' movement.

First Elections In India