1957 Indian general election

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1957 Indian general election
Flag of India.svg
  1951 24 February – 14 March 1957 1962  

494 of the 505 seats in the Lok Sabha [lower-alpha 1]
248 seats needed for a majority
Registered193,652,179
Turnout45.44% (Increase2.svg 0.57pp)
 First partySecond party
  Jnehru.jpg
CPI
Leader Jawaharlal Nehru Ajoy Ghosh
Party INC CPI
Last election44.99%, 364 seats3.29%, 16 seats
Seats won37127
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 7Increase2.svg 11
Popular vote57,579,58910,754,075
Percentage47.78%8.92%
SwingIncrease2.svg 2.79pp Increase2.svg 5.63pp

 Third partyFourth party
  Jayaprakash Narayan (cropped2).jpg
ABJ
Leader Jayaprakash Narayan Debaprasad Ghosh
Party PSP ABJS
Last electionNew3.06%, 3 seats
Seats won194
Seat changeNewIncrease2.svg 1
Popular vote12,542,6667,193,267
Percentage10.41%5.97%
SwingNewIncrease2.svg 2.91pp

Wahlergebnisse in Indien 1957.svg
Results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC

Prime Minister after election

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC

General elections were held in India between 24 February and 14 March 1957, the second elections to the Lok Sabha after independence. Elections to many state legislatures were held simultaneously.

Contents

Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress easily won a second term in power, taking 371 of the 494 seats. They gained an extra seven seats (the size of the Lok Sabha had been increased by five) and their vote share increased from 45% to 48%. The INC received nearly five times more votes than the Communist Party, the second largest party. In addition, 19% of the vote and 42 seats went to independent candidates, the highest of any Indian general election.

Electoral system

There were 494 seats elected using first past the post voting. Out of the 403 constituencies, 91 elected two members, while the remaining 312 elected a single member. [1] [2] The multi-seat constituencies were abolished before the next election.

The elections were overseen by Sukumar Sen, the Chief Election Commissioner, who used the existing election infrastructure to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Historian Ramachandra Guha wrote "this general election cost the exchequer Rs45 million less than the previous one. The prudent Sen had safely stored the 3.5 million ballot boxes the first time round and only half a million additional ones were required." [3]

Results

Lok Sabha Zusammensetzung 1957.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 57,579,58947.78371+7
Praja Socialist Party 12,542,66610.4119–2
Communist Party of India 10,754,0758.9227+11
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 7,193,2675.974+1
Scheduled Castes Federation 2,038,8901.696+4
All India Ganatantra Parishad 1,291,1411.077+1
People's Democratic Front 1,044,0320.872–5
Hindu Mahasabha 1,032,3220.861–3
Peasants and Workers Party of India 924,8320.774+2
Jharkhand Party 751,8300.626+3
Forward Bloc (Marxist) 665,3410.552+1
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party 501,3590.423+2
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad 460,8380.380–3
Revolutionary Socialist Party 308,7420.260–3
Praja Party 140,7420.1200
Independents23,284,24919.3242+5
Appointed members [lower-alpha 2] 11+1
Total120,513,915100.00505+6
Registered voters/turnout193,652,17945.44
Source: ECI

Results by state

StateTotal
seats
Seats won
INC CPI PSP GP SCF JKP BJS OthersInd.App.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 11
Andhra Pradesh 4337222
Assam 12921
Bihar 53412631
Bombay 6638455248
Delhi 55
Himachal Pradesh 44
Kerala 186912
Jammu and Kashmir 66
Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands 11
Madhya Pradesh 36351
Madras 413128
Manipur 211
Mysore 2623111
North-East Frontier Agency 11
Orissa 2071273
Punjab 22211
Rajasthan 22193
Tripura 211
Uttar Pradesh 86701429
West Bengal 36236223
Anglo-Indians 22
Total50537127197664124211
Source: ECI

Andhra Pradesh

PartyVotes%Seats
Indian National Congress 4,906,04451.4737
Communist Party of India 1,144,81112.012
People's Democratic Front 1,044,03210.952
Other parties600,6866.300
Independents1,835,80019.262
Total9,531,373100.0043

Assam

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 1,184,70851.68+5.949–2
Praja Socialist Party 457,64319.96–9.232+1
Communist Party of India 235,04410.25New0New
Independents415,21718.11+4.371+1
Total2,292,612100.00120

Bihar

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 4,450,20844.47–1.3041–4
Jharkhand Party 751,8307.51+0.106+3
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party 501,3595.01+2.653+2
Praja Socialist Party 2,165,46221.64–2.832–1
Communist Party of India 502,7075.02+4.6200
Other parties51,4160.51–6.000–2
Independents1,584,89415.84+2.7610
Total10,007,876100.0053–2

Bombay

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 8,156,27248.66–1.4938–2
Praja Socialist Party 1,457,2038.69–11.455+5
Scheduled Caste Federation 1,354,4758.08+3.655+4
Communist Party of India 1,055,0136.29+4.954+4
Peasants and Workers Party of India 924,8325.52–1.484+3
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 566,0083.38New2New
Other parties136,7490.82–4.1400
Independents3,109,73318.55+6.588+5
Total16,760,285100.0066+21

Kerala

PartyVotes%Seats
Communist Party of India 2,267,88837.489
Indian National Congress 2,102,88334.766
Praja Socialist Party 438,4597.251
Revolutionary Socialist Party 308,7425.100
Independents932,27415.412
Total6,050,246100.0018

Madhya Pradesh

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 3,967,19952.10+0.4735+8
Hindu Mahasabha 373,5034.91+4.601+1
Praja Socialist Party 1,225,73516.10–2.3800
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 1,062,93613.96+9.0200
Other parties376,4414.94–7.7700
Independents608,4087.99–3.940–2
Total7,614,222100.0036+7

Madras

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 5,094,55246.52+10.1331–4
Communist Party of India 1,101,33810.06+1.112–6
Praja Socialist Party 399,7893.65–11.430–8
Independents4,355,16239.77+16.628–7
Total10,950,841100.0041–34

Mysore

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 3,219,01455.52–13.4223+13
Praja Socialist Party 1,082,69818.67–10.7910
Scheduled Caste Federation 115,2141.99New1New
Other parties228,9793.9500
Independents1,152,53519.88+9.521+1
Total5,798,440100.0026+15

Orissa

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 1,776,76740.01–2.507–4
All India Ganatantra Parishad 1,291,14129.08+2.857+1
Praja Socialist Party 684,02315.40–1.442+1
Communist Party of India 214,9034.84–0.9310
Independents473,65610.67+2.023+2
Total4,440,490100.00200

Punjab

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 3,682,21951.26+8.5021+5
Communist Party of India 1,207,60016.81+11.771+1
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 1,152,67216.05+10.4500
Other parties333,6304.64–23.320–2
Independents807,70911.24–7.4000
Total7,183,830100.0022+4

Rajasthan

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 2,494,09453.65+12.2319+10
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 518,35511.15+8.110–1
Other parties356,2787.66–18.720–4
Independents1,280,35627.54–1.623–3
Total4,649,083100.0022+2

Uttar Pradesh

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 10,599,63946.29–6.7070–11
Praja Socialist Party 3,511,15715.34–2.504+2
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 3,385,24714.79+7.502+2
Communist Party of India 383,5091.67+1.321+1
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad 98,1380.43–3.1200
Independents4,918,41321.48+10.149+7
Total22,896,103100.00860

West Bengal

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 5,031,69648.20+6.1023–1
Communist Party of India 1,985,18119.01+9.556+1
Marxist Forward Bloc 665,3416.37+1.852+2
Praja Socialist Party 590,6925.66–5.262+2
Hindu Mahasabha 561,7415.38+1.110–1
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 149,3511.43–4.510–2
Independents1,456,09813.95–4.513+3
Total10,440,100100.0036+2

Women performance in elections

Based on the published data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) website. [4]

Participation

State/UTTotal seatsWomen contestantsElectedWomen contestants (%)Elected (%)
WomenSeats
Andhra Pradesh434333.5%6.9%
Assam122226.5%14.3%
Bihar537753.7%9.4%
Bombay665533.11%4.5%
Kerala181101.7%0
Madhya Pradesh368636.6%8.3%
Madras412213.2%2.4%
Mysore2600000
Manipur200000
Orissa2000000
Punjab221111.3%4.5%
Rajasthan2200  000
Tripura100000
Uttar Pradesh866412.05%13.75%
West Bengal3654211.59%1.1%
Delhi542114.8%20%
Himachal Pradesh400000
India4944537222.96%4.45%

Voting

The first instance of booth capturing in India was recorded in 1957 in the General Elections of that year in Rachiyahi, in Begusarai's Matihani assembly seat. [5] [6] [7] [8]

See also

Notes

  1. Eleven members were appointed, including six representing Jammu and Kashmir, two representing Anglo-Indians, one representing Part B Tribal Areas in Assam, one representing the Amindive, Laccadive and Minicoy Islands and one representing the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
  2. Six representing Jammu and Kashmir, two representing Anglo-Indians, one representing Part B Tribal Areas in Assam, one representing the Amindive, Laccadive and Minicoy Islands and one representing the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

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References

  1. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-I" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  2. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-II" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  3. Guha, Ramachandra (2022). India after Gandhi: the history of the world's largest democracy (10th anniversary edition, updated and expanded, first published in hardcover ed.). New Delhi: Picador India. ISBN   978-93-82616-97-9.
  4. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-I" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  5. "Where booth capturing was born". Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  6. "In central Bihar, development runs into caste wall". Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  7. "Empty words in legend's forgotten village". Archived from the original on 13 October 2015.
  8. "The myth of history's first booth capturing taking place in Begusarai's Rachiyahi". Archived from the original on 12 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.