Indian general election, 1934

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Indian general election, 1934
British Raj Red Ensign.svg
  1930 1934 1945  

147 seats contested

  First party Second party
  Bhulabhai Desai.png
Leader Bhulabhai Desai Madhav Shrihari Aney
Party INC CNP
Seats won 42 12

Indian General Election 1934.svg

Emblem of India.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
India

General elections were held in British India in 1934. The Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party in the Central Legislative Assembly. [1]

British Raj British rule in the Indian subcontinent, 1858–1947

The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India. The region under British control was commonly called British India or simply India in contemporaneous usage, and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and those ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British tutelage or paramountcy, and called the princely states. The whole was also informally called the Indian Empire. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945.

Indian National Congress Major political party in India

The Indian National Congress(pronunciation ) is a broadly based political party in India. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement. Congress led India to independence from Great Britain, and powerfully influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire.

Central Legislative Assembly the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council

The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometimes called the Indian Legislative Assembly and the Imperial Legislative Assembly. The Council of States was the upper house of the legislature for India.

Contents

The total electorate for the 1934 elections was 1,415,892, of which 1,135,899 were in contested constituencies. The total number of votes polled was 608,198. The election marked the first year in which Indian women were eligible to vote in any but a local election. Of the 81,602 enrolled women voters, 62,757 of whom were in contested constituencies, only 14,505 actually used the ballot. [2]

Results

Out of the 51 general seats of the general constituencies, the Congress won 37 seats. The party also won 5 seats in the non-General constituencies. [3] A Congress splinter group, the Congress Nationalist Party, was the only other one to gain a significant number of seats. Most of the 30 Muslim constituencies elected independents to the Council, but within the Council, leadership of the independent Muslims was assumed by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who, shortly after the election, resumed the leadership of the moribund Muslim League from which he had previously retired. [2] Of the 32 seats filled without a contest, twelve were in Muslim constituencies, eight in European constituencies, eight in general constituencies, three reserved for landholders and one reserved for commerce. [2]

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Founder and 1st Governor General of Pakistan

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a lawyer, politician and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947, and then as Pakistan's first Governor-General until his death. He is revered in Pakistan as Quaid-i-Azam and Baba-i-Qaum, "Father of the Nation"). His birthday is considered a national holiday in Pakistan.

PartySeatsLeader
Indian National Congress 42 Bhulabhai Desai
Congress Nationalist Party 12 Madhav Shrihari Aney
Europeans8Sir Leslie Hudson
People's (Leading Separationists) Party 3
Independents41 Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Appointed members41
Total147
Source: The Times [1] Schwartzberg Atlas

Membership by province

ProvinceEuropeansIndependentMinor partiesCongress
(General)
Congress
(Non-General)
Total
Assam 1 124
Ajmer-Merwara 1 1
Bengal 3 7 6117
Bihar and Orissa 5 712
Bombay 2 8 1 5 16
Burma 1 3 (People's Party)4
Central Provinces 1 1 3 1 6
Delhi 1 1
Madras 1 4 10 1 16
North West Frontier Province 1 1
Punjab 8 3 1 12
United Provinces 1 6 8 1 16
Total84115375106

The party position in 1941 stood as follows: [4] Central Legislative Assembly

PartySeats
Indian National Congress 40
All-India Muslim League 25
Congress Nationalist Party 11
Non Party25
Independents10
Europeans9
Officials20
Total140

Council of State

PartySeats
Independent Progressive Party10
Indian National Congress 6
All-India Muslim League 6
Officials20
Total42

Members of Central Legislative Assembly

[5] [6] [7]

Nominated members

Girija Shankar Bajpai Indian civil servant and diplomat

Sir Girija Shankar Bajpai was an eminent Indian civil servant, diplomat and Governor.

Rao Bahadur Mylai Chinna Thambi Pillai Rajah was a Tamil politician, social and political activist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was born into Paraiyar caste, which is a Scheduled Caste.

Sir Henry Albert John Gidney FRSE MID was a leader of the Anglo-Indian community of the British Raj for 20 years.

Elected Members

Kuladhar Chaliha Indian freedom fighter

Kuladhar Chaliha was a freedom fighter and prominent leader of Assam from Indian National Congress. Chaliha was one of the elected member of Indian general election, 1934 from Assam state. He was first president of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee when it was founded. He was also first speakers of the Assam Legislative Assembly from March 1952 to June 1957.

Nabin Chandra Bardoloi Indian politician

Nabin Chandra Bardoloi (1875–1936) was an Indian writer, politician and leader of Indian National Congress party from Assam. An Indian independence movement activist, he was a prominent leader from Assam in the Non-cooperation movement (1920–1922) of Mahatma Gandhi. The Government of India issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour during his birth centenary year in 1975.

Amarendranath Chatterjee Indian revolutionary

Amarendranath Chatterjee was an Indian independence movement activist. In charge of raising funds for the Jugantar movement, his activities largely covered revolutionary centres in Bihar, Odisha and the United Provinces.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Elections in India The New Delhi Assembly, Congress Party's Position", The Times, 10 December 1934, p15, Issue 46933
  2. 1 2 3 "Major Elections, 1920–45". Schwartzberg Atlas. Digital South Asia Library.
  3. Schwartzberg Atlas
  4. Constitutional Schemes and Political Development in India. p. 19.
  5. Reed, Stanley (1937). The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who. Bennett, Coleman & Company.
  6. "Assembly Passes Bengal Cr. L. A. Bill". Indian Express. 6 August 1934. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  7. "A New Party for Assembly". The Indian Express. 21 September 1936. Retrieved 24 August 2013.