Indian General Election of 1951-52

The first election of independent India, held under universal adult suffrage, gave Nehru's Congress 364 of 489 seats.

Overview

Held in phases from October 1951 to February 1952, India's first general election was the largest democratic exercise the world had yet seen, with about 173 million people eligible to vote, most of them illiterate. Chief Election Commissioner Sukumar Sen oversaw a system of separate ballot boxes marked with party symbols so that voters could choose without reading. The Indian National Congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru won 364 of 489 seats in the Lok Sabha with about 45 percent of the vote, while the Communist Party of India became the largest opposition group. The peaceful election established universal suffrage as the foundation of the new republic.