Era of one-party dominanceClass 12 Politics in India Since Independence Notes

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Challenge of building democracy

After achieving independence amidst difficult circumstances like Partition, India's leaders faced the challenge of establishing a democratic political system. Many other newly independent countries, facing similar challenges of nation-building, chose non-democratic paths. Their leaders argued that national unity was the top priority and that democracy would create conflict. These nations often experienced:

  • One-party rule
  • Rule by a single leader
  • Direct army rule

These non-democratic regimes usually promised to restore democracy soon, but once in power, they became very difficult to remove.

India's leaders, however, chose the more difficult path of democracy. This decision was rooted in the freedom struggle, which was deeply committed to democratic ideals. They saw politics not as a problem, but as a way to solve problems and pursue the public interest.

The Indian Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950. With the rules laid down, the next step was to install the country's first democratically elected government.

  • The Election Commission of India was set up in January 1950.
  • Sukumar Sen became the first Chief Election Commissioner.
  • The first general elections were initially expected to happen in 1950.

The First General Election: A Mammoth Exercise

The Election Commission soon realized that holding free and fair elections in a country of India's size was a massive task. Several major challenges emerged:

  1. Delimitation: Drawing the boundaries of electoral constituencies across the vast country took a lot of time.
  2. Preparing Electoral Rolls: Creating a list of all eligible voters was a monumental exercise. The first draft was flawed, as the names of nearly 40 lakh women were not properly recorded. They were listed only as "wife of..." or "daughter of...". The Election Commission refused to accept these entries and ordered revisions.
  3. Unprecedented Scale: No election on this scale had ever been conducted in the world before.
    • There were 17 crore eligible voters.
    • They had to elect about 3,200 MLAs and 489 Members of Lok Sabha.
    • Only 15 per cent of these voters were literate.
Note
India's decision to hold elections based on universal adult franchise (giving all adults the right to vote) was a bold and risky experiment, especially in a poor and largely illiterate country. At the time, even many European countries had not granted voting rights to all women.

This experiment was met with skepticism. An Indian editor called it "the biggest gamble in history," while a British member of the Indian Civil Service called it an "absurd farce."

The 1952 Election

The elections had to be postponed twice and were finally held from October 1951 to February 1952. Because most of the voting took place in January 1952, it is referred to as the 1952 election.

  • Duration: The entire process of campaigning, polling, and counting took six months.
  • Participation: More than half of the eligible voters turned out to vote.
  • Fairness: The results were accepted as fair even by the losing parties.

The success of the 1952 election was a landmark in the history of democracy worldwide. It proved that democracy could be practiced in conditions of poverty and illiteracy, confounding all its critics.

Changing methods of voting

The way people voted in India has changed significantly over time.

  1. First General Election: A separate box was placed inside each polling booth for each candidate, marked with their election symbol. Voters were given a blank ballot paper, which they dropped into the box of the candidate they chose. About 20 lakh steel boxes were used for this purpose.
  2. After the first two elections: This method was changed. A single ballot paper was used, which carried the names and symbols of all candidates. Voters had to put a stamp on the name of the candidate they wanted to vote for. This method was used for nearly forty years.
  3. Late 1990s onwards: The Election Commission began using the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). By 2004, the entire country had shifted to the EVM system.