Third General Election 1962 : –
๐นIn 1962 , the third general election was held in India, in which again Congress won the elections comfortably in almost all the places. In this election, Congress won 361 seats in the Lok Sabha and Jawaharlal Nehru became Prime Minister for the third time.
Dominance of Congress in the first three elections : –
๐นThe Indian National Congress dominated the first three general elections.
- First General Election (1951-52) 364 seats.
- Second general election (1957) 371 seats.
- Third General Election (1962) 361 seats.
Congress dominance in the first three general elections : –
๐น The party won 364 of the 489 seats in the 1st Lok Sabha and finished way ahead of any other challenger. The Communist party of India that comes next in terms of seats won only 16 seats.
๐น It won a majority of seats in all the states except Travancore-Cochin (part of todayโs Kerela),Madras and Orissa.
๐น Finally, even in these states the Congress formed the government, so the party ruled all over the country at the national and state level and Nehru became the Prime Minister after the 1st general elections.
๐น In the 2nd and 3rd general elections, held in 1957 and 1967 respectively, the Congress maintained the same position in the Lok Sabha by winning ยพ of the seats.
๐น None of the opposition parties could win even 1/10 of the number of seats won by the Congress.
๐น Apart from some exceptions, the Congress controlled the national and all the state governments.
Reasons for dominance of Congress in the first three general elections : –
๐ธ Important role in the freedom struggle. : – It was seen as the inheritor of the national movement.
๐ธ Famous leaders : – Many leaders who had led the movement were now contesting elections as Congress candidates.
๐ธ Oldest political party. : – Many parties had formed only around Independence or after it and the Congress had the โfirst off the blocksโ advantage.
๐ธ Well organized party. : – It was already a very well organized party, and by the time other parties could even think of astrategy, the Congress had already its campaign.
๐ธ Nationwide network of the party. : – By the time of Independence, the Congress had not only spread across the length and breadth of thecountry, but also had an organized network down to the local level.
๐ธ Nature : – Most importantly, as the Congress was till recently a national movement, The nature of taking everyone together and moving in harmony.
Nature of Congress’s Dominance : –
๐น The rule of Congress in India was similar to the dominance of one party, but its specialty was that it was established in democratic conditions, that is, the people had given the Congress a chance to rule for so many years by electing them. It was completely different from other countries.
๐น In other countries such as Cuba, China and Syria, only one party rule is provided in the constitution and on the other hand, in countries like Myanmar and Belarus, one party rule was established by military. The situation in India was different from this, the dominance of Congress was established in India through democracy which shows the popularity of Congress in India.
Factions in a coalition : –
๐น The Congress had a nature of coalition. If a group was not happy with the position of the party or with its share of power, it would remain inside the party and fight the other groups rather than leaving the party and becoming an opposition. These groups inside the party are called factions.
The social base of the Congress ( social coalition ) : –
๐น The Congress evolved from its origin in 1885 as a pressure group for the newly educated,professional and commercial classes to a mass movement in the 20th century which laid the basis forits eventual transformation into a mass political party and domination of the political system.
๐น It began as a party dominated by the English speaking, upper caste, upper middle-class and urbanelite, but with every civil disobedience movement it launched, its social base widened.
๐น Peasants and industrialists, urban dwellers and villagers, workers and owners, lower and upperclasses and castes, all found space in the Congress.
๐น Gradually, its leadership also expanded beyond the upper caste and class professional to agriculturebased leaders with a rural background.
Socialist Party : –
- Establishment : – in 1934
- founded by :- Acharya Narendra Dev
- Other main leaders : – Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Ashok Mehta, M.S. Joshi, Achyut Patwardhan
- Thoughts : – Belief in socialism, Criticized the Congress as a party of the rich and the capitalists.
๐น The Socialist Party was formed in 1934 by some leaders within the Congress, but in 1948, when the Congress changed its constitution and abolished dual citizenship, the Socialists formed a separate Socialist Party, but this party did not get much success in the elections.
๐น In future, the Socialist Party was split into different parties : – Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, Praja Socialist Party, United Socialist Party.
Communist Party of India : –
- Establishment : – in 1941
- founded by : – Ak Gopalan
- Other main leaders : – ES Namburipad, PC Joshi, Ajay Ghosh
๐น Thoughts : –
- This party was influenced by communist ideology.
- He said that the freedom achieved in 1947 is not true freedom.
- In 1951, contested the elections leaving the path of violent rebellion and emerged as the second largest party.
๐น Inspired by the Russian Revolution in 1917, many communist groups emerged in India as well. These were the groups who wanted to solve the problems of the country through communist ideology.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh : –
- Establishment : – Bharatiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951.
- founded by : – Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was its founder-president.
๐น Thoughts : –
- It emphasised the idea of one country, one culture and one nation.
- believed that the country could become modern, progressive and strong on the basis of Indian culture and traditions.
- He supported making Hindi the national language.
- opposed English language
- Supported the creation of a united India by joining Pakistan.
Swatantra Party : –
๐น Swatantra party was formed in August 1959 after the Nagpur resolution of the congress which called for land ceilings, taking over of food grain trade by the state and the adoption of cooperative farming. The party was led by old congress men like Raja Gopalachari, K.M. Munshi, N.G. Ranga and Minoo Masani.
Difference between Socialist Parties and Communist Parties : –
Socialist Parties : –
- These parties believed in ideology of democratic socialism.
- Socialist party criticised capitalism and for establishment of socialistic state.
- Socialist party wanted more radical and egalitarian nature of Congress.
Communist Parties : –
- This party believed in communism.
- Communist party was primarily secular, modern and also authoritarian.
- Communist party also wanted radical nature of Congress but went through violence to achieve its aims.
Opposition parties play role in the era of one-party dominance : –
๐น Opposition parties were able to get a token representation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies during the era of Congress Party, but they played a vital role in maintaining the democratic character of the system.
๐น These parties offered a constant criticism to the policies Congress party and kept democratic political alternative alive. These parties groomed the leaders who were to play a crucial role in shaping of our country.
The emergence of opposition parties : –
๐น India has a larger number of diverse and vibrant opposition parties and some of these had come intobeing even before the first general election of 1952.
๐น Some of these parties played an important part in the politics of the country in the 60s and 70s.The roots of almost all the non-Congress parties of today can be traced back to one or other of theopposition parties of the 1950s.
๐น All these opposition parties succeeded in gaining only a token representation in the Lok Sabha andstate assemblies during this period but their presence played a crucial role in maintaining thedemocratic character of the system.
๐น These parties offered a sustained and often principled criticism of the policies and practices of theCongress party. This kept the ruling party under check and often changed the balance of power within the Congress.
๐น By keeping democratic political alternative alive, these parties prevented the resentment with thesystem from turning anti-democratic. These parties also groomed the leaders who were to play a crucial role in the shaping of our country.
Related Chapters
Challenges of nation building
Era of one party Dominance
Politics of Planned Development
Indiaโs External Relations
Challenges to and restoration of the congress system
The Crisis of Democratic Order
Rise of Popular Movements ( Deleted )
Regional Aspirations
Recent Developments in Indian Politics