Indian general election, 1957

Indian general election, 1957
India
24 February to 14 March 1957

All 494 seats in the Lok Sabha
248 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Jawaharlal Nehru Shripat Amrit Dange
Party INC CPI
Leader's seat Phulpur Bombay City Central
Seats won 371 27
Seat change Increase7 Increase11
Popular vote 57,579,589 10,749,475
Percentage 47.78% 8.92%
Swing Increase2.79% Increase5.63%

Prime Minister before election

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC

Subsequent Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC

The Indian general election of 1957 elected the 2nd Lok Sabha of India. The election was held from 24 February to 14 March, just over five years after the previous general election.[1] There were 494 seats elected using first past the post voting system. Out of the 403 constituencies, 91 elected two members, while the remaining 312 elected a single member.[2][3] The multi-seat constituencies were abolished before the next election.

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 45.0% to 47.8%. The INC won nearly five times more votes than the Communist Party, the second largest party. In addition, 19.3% of the vote and 42 seats went to independent candidates, the highest of any Indian general election.

Results

Results by Party

Lok Sabha elections 1957
Electoral participation: 55.42%
% Won
(total 494)
Bharatiya Jana Sangh BJS 5.97 4
Communist Party of India CPI 8.92 27
Indian National Congress INC 47.78 371
Praja Socialist Party PSP 10.41 19
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha ABHM 0.86 1
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad RRP 0.38 0
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party CNSPJP 0.42 3
Forward Bloc (Marxist) AIFB 0.55 2
Ganatantra Parishad GP 1.07 7
Jharkhand Party JKP 0.62 6
Peasants and Workers Party of India PWPI 0.77 4
Indian Union Muslim League IUML 0.18 1
People's Democratic Front PDF 0.87 2
Praja Party PP 0.12 0
Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP 0.26 0
Scheduled Castes Federation SCF 1.69 6
Independents - 19.14 41
Nominated Anglo-Indians - - 2

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

See also

References

  1. "ONCE UPON A POLL: Second Lok Sabha elections (1957)". The Indian Express. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  2. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-I" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  3. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-II" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  4. "Where booth capturing was born".
  5. "In central Bihar, development runs into caste wall".
  6. "Empty words in legend's forgotten village".
  7. "The myth of history's first booth capturing taking place in Begusarai's Rachiyahi".
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