1957 Indian general election

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

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]

Conduct

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.^[4][5][6][7]

Results

Results by state

Women performance in elections

Based on the published data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) website.^[8]

Participation

See also

• List of members of the 2nd Lok Sabha
• Election Commission of India
• Booth capturing
• Category:1957 Indian general election by state or union territory

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.

References

1. ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-I". Election Commission of India. p. 5. Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
2. ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-II". Election Commission of India. Archived 6 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. 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. ^ "Where booth capturing was born". The Times of India. 14 February 2005. Archived 20 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
5. ^ "In central Bihar, development runs into caste wall". The Times of India. 21 September 2015. Archived 30 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
6. ^ "Empty words in legend's forgotten village". Archived from the original on 13 October 2015.
7. ^ "The myth of history's first booth capturing taking place in Begusarai's Rachiyahi". Archived 12 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
8. ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-I". Election Commission of India. p. 5. Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 July 2015.