Elections to a 30-member Electoral College were held in the Indian state of Tripura in January 1952. The Electoral College was a unique arrangements for "Part C" states that didn't have an elected Legislative Assembly to allow for the election of representatives in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Parliament of India). The Tripura Electoral College election was held in parallel to the 1952 Lok Sabha (lower house of the Parliament of India) election, and occurred in the immediate aftermath of the armed struggle waged by the communist-led Ganamukti Parishad (GMP). The Communist Party of India (CPI) formed a United Front to contest the election, which won a majority of the Electoral College seats.
Background
editAfter the Independence of India, the Constitution of the country outlined that the states of Tripura and Manipur would share a single seat in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Parliament of India).[1] As the "Part C" states like Tripura and Manipur did not have any elected Legislative Assemblies, instead being ruled by a Chief Commissioner on behalf of the President of India, Electoral Colleges were elected whose sole function was to elected a Rajya Sabha parliamentarian.[2][3] The Tripura Electoral College would elect the Rajya Sabha member for the 1952-1954 period[1] and had thirty single-member seats.[4] The Electoral College election was held parallel to the first Lok Sabha election,[2] with 329,806 voters registered in Tripura.[5] Voter registration had been conducted discriminately, with some areas dominated by non-Congress excluded by the administration due to 'communist lawlessness and vandalism'.[2]
The Communist Party of India began preparing for elections in Tripura in early 1951, when the armed struggle of its mass front Ganamukti Parishad (GMP) was at its peak.[5] The May 1, 1951 rallies in Tripura were used for mobilization by CPI for the upcoming elections.[5] CPI set-up election committees across state, and national party leaders would visit the state to address campaign gatherings.[5] On October 2, 1951 a large mass rally was organized in Agartala on the Durbar Ground by the CPI, GMP, Ganatantrik Nari Samiti, and Tea Workers Union in co-operation with the Forward Bloc (Ruikar) and the Tripura Ganatantrik Sangha (TGS).[2]
On November 15, 1951 a United Front coalition was formed by CPI, GMP, TGS, Ganatantrik Nari Samiti, and independents to contest the upcoming Electoral College vote, on basis of a three-point program: to defeat of the Congress Party, for the restoration of democratic rights and the establishment of a people's responsible government in the state.[2][6][7] The CPI-led United Front began organizing meetings in localities across the state, raising questions on food, relief, peace and democratic rights.[2] The main campaign demands raised by the United Front were the installation of a Legislative Assembly, introduction of a responsible government, abolishing Chief Commissioner's rule, granting civic and political rights, rehabilitation of jhumia communities displaces by refugees, and rehabilitation of refugees.[2][7]
A second mass rally in Agartala was scheduled for December 2, 1951.[2] A reception committee was set up with Forward Bloc leader Sailen Sen as president and Biren Dutta as secretary, with participation of leaders of TGS, GMP and at least 26 other mass organizations.[2] The rally was to be held at the Durbar Ground, but had to be moved to a Pratapgarh rice field at the last minute due to withdrawal of permission by the authorities.[2] Key speakers included national CPI leaders Muzaffar Ahmad and S.A. Dange.[2]
The preparations for the elections occurred in a context of tensions and accusations that the administration was biased in favour of the Congress Party.[2] Police cases were lodged and arrest warrants were issued against communist leaders.[2][8] On December 6, 1951, Prabhat Ray (editor of Chiniha and candidate in the Electoral College election) was arrested.[2] Arrest warrants were also taken out against communist candidates Dasarath Deb (CPI candidate for Tripura East Lok Sabha seat), Sudhanwa Debbarma, and Hemanta Debbarma throughout the electoral process.[2]
On December 29, 1951 a number of United Front candidates were conditionally released from jail. The candidates were released only for the period of the remainder of the electoral process and were to report back at Agartala Central Jail on February 1, 1952. Additional conditions for the temporary release were that the candidates agreed not travel between constituencies without prior permission from the District Magistrate and not to 'indulge in any illegal or terrorist activities'. The candidates conditionally released included Prabhat Ray, Banshi Thakur, Biren Datta (CPI candidate for the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat) and Seerajul Islam.[2] A third United Front mass rally was held in Agartala on December 30, 1951, at which the release of CPI and TGS leaders was celebrated as a victory.[2] The slogan 'Forfeit Security Deposits of the Congress and reactionary forces in the coming elections' was raised at the rally.[2] The main speaker at the December 30, 1951 rally was CPI general secretary Ajoy Ghosh.[2]
Uncontested winners
editNominations were scrutinized on December 8, 1951.[2] After the scrutiny of nominations after withdrawals of candidatures, six constituencies had only one candidate each.[2][9] Thus three Congress candidates, two CPI candidates, and one TGS candidate were elected unopposed.[4][2][1]
Of the 27 seats contested by the United Front, 16 had CPI candidates, five had TGS candidates, and five were contested by independent candidates supported by the United Front.[5] Generally speaking CPI candidates contested GMP strongholds, leaving less secure seats for their allies.[5] The exception was the Reang-dominated Belonia subdivision, which was not a communist stronghold but where CPI contested both seats.[5] The United Front independents mainly contested constituencies in northern Tripura.[5]
The Tripura State Congress fielded 24 candidates, out of whom 18 were Bengalis (mostly from upper castes).[10] The Forward Bloc (Ruikar) had been aligned with the United Front, and participated in the United Front mass rallies of October 2, 1951 and December 2, 1951.[4][1][6] However, at the last possible moment the party had pulled out from the United Front and decided to contest three seats on their own.[4][6][2] Apart from the United Front, the Congress and Forward Bloc (Ruikar) there were also a number of independents in the fray.[2]
Results
editVoting took place on January 11, 16 and 26, 1952.[10] The United Front emerged victorious in the election - with 12 seats won by the CPI, 3 by TGS and 4 by United Front-supported independents.[1][2][10] The Congress won nine seats and one independent supported by the Congress (Kshetra Majumdar) was elected.[2] One independent candidate, elected from Belonia, had contested against both the United Front and the Congress.[2] CPI voters were mainly rural, but its ally TGS had been able to make some inroads in areas where CPI had weak support.[5] The United Front overwhelmingly won the vote from tribal and Muslim communities.[2] The Congress had a strong backing in urban areas and among Hindu refugees.[2] The Reang community in Udaipur had largely boycotted the election over the absence of monarchy in the state.[5]
Out of the 12 seats won by CPI, the party had won 7 out of 10 seats in Agartala Sadar Sub-Division, all three seats from the Khowai Sub-Division, one of the two seats in the Kamalpur Sub-Division, and one of the two seats in the Kailashahar Sub-Division.[5] In Agartala city, the Congress, TGS, and CPI won one seat each.[5][9] The result indicated a level of support for CPI among urban upper caste Bengali Hindus (who constituted 84.58% of the city population), in contrast to the earlier municipal elections that CPI had lost.[5]
Party-wise result
edit | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political party | Seats Contested | Won | % of Seats | Votes | Vote % | ||
| Communist Party of India | 16 | 12 | 40.00 | 55,603 | 43.22 | ||
| Indian National Congress | 24 | 9 | 30.00 | 36,167 | 28.11 | ||
| Tripura Ganatantrik Sangha | 5 | 3 | 10.00 | 6,221 | 4.84 | ||
| Forward Bloc (Ruikar) | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | 2,775 | 2.16 | ||
| Independent politician | 15[i] | 6 | 20.00 | 27,886 | 21.68 | ||
| Total Seats | 30 | Voters | 329,806 | Turnout | 128,652 (47.36%) | ||
| Notes |
| ||||||
Constituency-wise result
edit| Constituency | Electorate | Valid votes | Turn-out (%) | United Front | Congress | Independents and Forward Bloc | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
| 1 | Mohonpur | 11,227 | 8,326 | 74.16% | Promode Ranjan Das Gupta (CPI) | 7,671 | 92.13% | Amiya Kumar Roy | 471 | 5.66% | Rani Nilima Devi | 184 | 2.21% |
| 2 | Agartala Sadar I | 9,673 | 4,683 | 48.41% | Hemanta Debbarma (CPI) | 3,418 | 72.99% | Mugbhul Hossain | 984 | 21.01% | Prafulla Chandra Sarker | 169 | 3.61% |
| Taleb Miah | 112 | 2.39% | |||||||||||
| 3 | Agartala Sadar II | 9,434 | 3,198 | 33.90% | Atikul Islam (CPI) | 1,647 | 51.50% | Sonatan Sarker | 1,551 | 48.50% | |||
| 4 | Agartala Sadar III | 8,502 | Uncontested | Sudhanwa Debbarma (CPI) | |||||||||
| 5 | Agartala Town II | 8,329 | 2,951 | 35.43% | Nandalal Chakraborty (TGS) | 1,563 | 52.97% | Anil Kumar Das Gupta (FB) | 1,388 | 47.03% | |||
| 6 | Agartala Town III | 9,203 | 3,211 | 34.89% | Saroj Ranjan Chanda (CPI) | 464 | 14.45% | Umeshlal Sinha | 1,937 | 60.32% | Dwijen Dey (FB) | 810 | 25.23% |
| 7 | Old Agartala | 16,556 | 11,076 | 66.9% | Seerajul Islam (CPI) | 10,154 | 91.68% | Bankim Bihari Debbarma | 922 | 8.32% | |||
| 8 | Takarjala | 7,313 | Uncontested | Birchandra Debbarma (TGS) | |||||||||
| 9 | Bishalgarh | 10,726 | 7,279 | 67.86% | Aftabuddin (CPI) | 5,360 | 73.64% | Baishnab Chanran Shaha | 1,048 | 14.40% | Shyama Kauta Choudhry | 717 | 9.85% |
| Muktal Hossain | 154 | 2.12% | |||||||||||
| 10 | Charilam | 9,059 | Uncontested | Aghore Chandra Debbarma (CPI) | |||||||||
| 11 | Sonamura North | 10,029 | Uncontested | Janab Kala Miah | |||||||||
| 12 | Sonamura South | 10,029 | 3,939 | 39.28% | Subodh Kumar Gangopadhyaya (TGS) | 1,567 | 39.78% | Krishnachandra Debbarma | 2,372 | 60.22% | |||
| 13 | Belonia | 9,228 | 3,117 | 33.78% | Khargarai Riang (CPI) | 415 | 13.31% | Anil Chakraborty | 797 | 25.57% | Jainal Abedin | 1,031 | 33.08% |
| Bancharam Roaja | 466 | 14.95% | |||||||||||
| Surendra Kumar Biswas | 408 | 13.09% | |||||||||||
| 14 | Muhuripur | 9,718 | 3,368 | 34.66% | Charan Pai Riang (CPI) | 958 | 28.44% | Kshetra Mohon Majumdar (Congress ind.) | 1,534 | 45.55% | Sujaio Choudhry | 800 | 23.75% |
| Dinesh Chandra Chakraborty | 76 | 2.26% | |||||||||||
| 15 | Sabroom | 11,173 | 4,212 | 37.70% | Bangshi Debbarma (UF ind.) | 1,696 | 40.27% | Angajoy Choudhry | 800 | 18.99% | Surendra Kumar Sil (FB) | 577 | 13.7% |
| Adhar Chandra Basak | 505 | 11.99% | |||||||||||
| Mathihari Choudhry | 356 | 8.45% | |||||||||||
| Sekendar Mirja | 278 | 6.60% | |||||||||||
| 16 | Khowai-Ashrambari | 12,336 | 6,554 | 53.13% | Satish Chakraborty (CPI) | 4,906 | 74.86% | Jadu Prasanna Bhattacharjee | 1,648 | 25.14% | |||
| 17 | Khowai-Kalyanpur | 13,523 | 9,347 | 69.12% | Kiran Mala Debi (CPI) | 9,052 | 96.84% | Prahlad Chandra Shome | 295 | 3.16% | |||
| 18 | Kalyanpur-South | 11,434 | 7,099 | 62.09% | Ram Charan (CPI) | 4,322 | 60.88% | Gunamani Sardar | 2,777 | 39.12% | |||
| 19 | Kulaihour | 8,393 | 4,230 | 50.40% | Krishnamani Tripura (CPI) | 3,562 | 84.21% | Sunil Chandra Dutta | 668 | 15.79% | |||
| 20 | Kamalpur | 9,128 | 5,037 | 55.18% | Gana Sinha (UF ind.) | 2,926 | 58.09% | Babu Chand Sinha | 1,091 | 21.66% | Debendra Dutta | 722 | 14.33% |
| Banka Bihari Bhattacharjee | 298 | 5.92% | |||||||||||
| 21 | Kailasahar | 17,068 | 7,318 | 42.88% | Abdul Latif | 4,447 | 60.77% | Kiriti Chandra Sinha | 1,523 | 20.81% | |||
| Usha Ranjan Sinha Roy | 841 | 11.49% | |||||||||||
| Jogendra Malakar | 295 | 4.03% | |||||||||||
| Musak Ali Choudhry | 212 | 2.90% | |||||||||||
| 22 | Fatikroy | 16,001 | 5,293 | 33.08% | Gokul Chandra Sinha (CPI) | 2,994 | 56.57% | Satchhidananda Dhar | 1,660 | 31.36% | Ram Sundar Paul | 410 | 7.75% |
| Abdul Sattar | 229 | 4.33% | |||||||||||
| 23 | Kanchanpur | 8,453 | 1,666 | 19.71% | Mangal Singh Tripura (CPI) | 680 | 40.82% | Madhab Chandra Master | 986 | 59.18% | |||
| 24 | Kurte | 8,652 | 5,027 | 58.10% | Basaratullah | 2,820 | 56.10% | Birendra Chandra Bhattacharjee | 1,292 | 25.70% | |||
| Abdul Satar Choudhry | 737 | 14.66% | |||||||||||
| Abdul Bari Choudhry | 178 | 3.54% | |||||||||||
| 25 | Dharmanagar North | 11,510 | 6,308 | 54.80% | Damanjit Rajkumar (TGS) | 1,049 | 16.63% | Karun Chandra Nath | 3,873 | 61.40% | Adhar Chandra Paul | 1,212 | 19.21% |
| Banka Behari Bhattacharjee | 174 | 2.76% | |||||||||||
| 26 | Dharmanagar South | 11,570 | 5,933 | 51.28% | Abdul Wajid (UF ind.) | 2,823 | 47.58% | Gaya Prasad Trivedi | 2,260 | 38.09% | Nripendra Kumar Bhattacharjee | 651 | 10.97% |
| Naba Krishana Choudhry | 199 | 3.35% | |||||||||||
| 27 | Radhakishorepur | 17,064 | 5,079 | 29.76% | Ershad Ali Choudhry (UF Ind.) | 3,065 | 60.35% | Brajalal Debbarma | 2,014 | 39.65% | |||
| 28 | Salgarh | 11,245 | 4,401 | 39.14% | Manindra Kishore Choudhry (TGS) | 2,042 | 46.40% | Abdul Gafur | 1,668 | 37.90% | Adhar Chandra Jamatia | 691 | 15.70% |
| 29 | Dhumburnagar | 11,612 | Uncontested | Pyari Mohan Jang | |||||||||
| 30 | Birganja | 11,618 | Uncontested | Garu Miah | |||||||||
Aftermath
editImmediately after the election, the Congress sought to recruit defectors to gain a majority in the Electoral College.[2] They managed to convince Abdul Wajid and Ershad Ali Choudhry from the United Front and the independent Jainal Abedin to cross over to the Congress ranks.[2] Thus the tally in the Tripura Electoral College changed to 17 seats for the United Front and 13 seats for the Congress bloc.[2] Once the Tripura Electoral College gathered for the vote for the Rajya Sabha seat, there were two candidates. The candidate of CPI and their allies, Arman Ali Munshi, was elected to the Rajya Sabha with 14 votes against 13 votes for the Congress candidate Umeshlal Sinha.[1][9] After the Rajya Sabha vote, Gana Sinha, Banshi Thakur and Seerajul Islam joined the Congress, giving the Congress bloc a majority position in the Electoral College.[2]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sadanand Vasudeo Kogekar, Richard L. Park. Reports on the Indian General Elections 1951-1952. Popular Book Depot, 1956. pp. 311, 314-315
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Basu, Pradip Kumar. The Communist Movement in Tripura. Progressive Publishers, 1996. pp. 96-101, 103
- ↑ Dutta, Jyotish Chandra. An Introduction to the History of Tripura: From Monarchy to Democracy. Book Home, 1984. p. 44
- 1 2 3 4 5 Rama Rao, T. V.; Binani, G. D. (1954). India at a Glance: A Comprehensive Reference Book on India. Orient Longmans. p. 593.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Bhattacharyya, Harihar. Radical Politics and Governance in India's North East: The Case of Tripura. Taylor & Francis, 2018.
- 1 2 3 Encyclopaedia Indica: Freedom fighters. Anmol Publications, 1996. p. 131
- 1 2 Mohanta, Bijan. Tripura in the Light of Socio-political Movements Since 1945. Progressive Publishers, 2004. p. 130
- ↑ Majumder, Benimadhab. The Legislative Opposition in Tripura. Tripura State Tribal Cultural Research Institute & Museum, Government of Tripura, 1997. p. 21
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Election Commission India. Report On The First General Election In India 1951-52 Vol II (Statistical). p. 179, 762-765.
- 1 2 3 Bhattacharyya, Harihar. Communism in Tripura. Ajanta Publications (India), 1999. p. 148
- ↑ Bajkumar, N. F.. The Pilgrimage and After: The Story of how the Congress Fought and Won the General Elections. All-India Congress Committee, 1952. p. 161