The Political Landscape in India’s First Three General Elections

July 26, 2024 1873 0

In the first three general elections, the Indian National Congress won. It was popularly called ‘The Congress party’. It won because it had inherited the legacy of a national movement. It was the only party then to have an organization spread all over the country. And in Jawaharlal Nehru, the party had the most popular and charismatic leader in Indian politics. The party won 364 of the 489 seats in the first Lok Sabha. The Communist Party of India came next in terms of seats winning only 16 seats. The Congress scored big victories in state elections as well. Congress won a majority of seats in all states except Travancore-Cochin (part of today’s Kerala), Madras, and Orissa. Even in these states, the Congress formed the government. The Socialist Party, second largest party in terms of votes, secured more than 10 percent of the votes all over the country. But it could not even win three percent of the seats.

                                                           Communist victory in Kerala

In 1957, the Congress party had the bitter taste of defeat in Kerala. In the assembly elections held in March 1957, the Communist Party won the largest number of seats in the Kerala legislature. The party won 60 of the 126 seats and had the support of five independents. The governor invited E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the leader of the Communist Legislature party, to form the ministry. For the first time in the world, a Communist party government had come to power through democratic elections. On losing power in the State, the Congress party began a ‘liberation struggle’ against the elected government. The CPI had come to power on the promise of carrying out radical and progressive policy measures. The Communists claimed that the agitation was led by vested interests and religious organizations. In 1959 the Congress government at the Centre dismissed the Communist government in Kerala under Article 356 of the Constitution. This decision proved very controversial and was widely cited as the first instance of the misuse of constitutional emergency powers.

Figure 2.3: E.M.S. Namboodiripad, leading a procession of
Communist Party workers, after his ministry was dismissed from office in Trivandrum in August 1959.

 

Socialist Party

The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was formed within Congress in 1934 by a group of young leaders who wanted a more radical and egalitarian Congress. In 1948, Congress amended its constitution to prevent its members from having a dual party membership. This forced the Socialists to form a separate Socialist Party in 1948. But party could achieve electoral success only in a few pockets. Socialists believed in ideology of democratic socialism which distinguished them both from Congress as well as from Communists.

They criticized Congress for favouring capitalists and landlords and for ignoring the workers and the peasants. But the socialists faced a dilemma when in 1955 Congress declared its goal to be the socialist pattern of society. Thus it became difficult for the socialists to present themselves as an effective alternative to Congress. Some of them, led by Rammanohar Lohia, increased their distance from and criticism of the Congress party. Some others like Asoka Mehta advocated limited cooperation with Congress. Socialist Party went through many splits and reunions leading to formation of many socialist parties. These included Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, the Praja Socialist Party, and Samyukta Socialist Party. Jayaprakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta, Acharya Narendra Dev, Rammanohar Lohia, and S.M. Joshi were among the leaders of the socialist parties. Many parties in contemporary India, like the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), and Janata Dal (Secular) trace their origins to the Socialist Party.

 

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Conclusion

The term “Congress System” was coined by the political scientist Rajni Kothari. He used the term to describe the period of dominant one-party rule by the Indian National Congress (INC) from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. The Indian National Congress dominated early Indian elections due to its national movement legacy and charismatic leader, Jawaharlal Nehru. However, the Communist Party’s 1957 victory in Kerala marked the first democratically elected communist government. Meanwhile, internal socialist factions evolved into distinct political entities, shaping contemporary Indian politics.

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