The Era of One-Party Dominance

When India held its first elections, few in the world believed a poor, newly independent country could run a democracy. India proved them wrong. But for the first two decades, one party (the Congress) won election after election. This era of one-party dominance shaped how Indian democracy and its party system grew. The pattern was quite different from other countries.

The Constitution came into force in 1950. India was now a sovereign democratic republic. It had to constitute its first Lok Sabha (House of the People) by election. The machinery for that poll was built step by step:

• Article 324: it vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, the state legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President in the Election Commission, a permanent and independent constitutional body.
• Representation of the People Act, 1950: the law that fixed the qualifications of voters, the preparation of electoral rolls and the allocation of seats.
• Representation of the People Act, 1951: the law that governs the conduct of elections, disqualifications and poll expenses. Only after these two Acts were in place could the electoral machinery be built. That is why polling began only in October 1951.
• The electoral rolls: some 173 million voters, about 49% of the population, had to be registered house to house. Most were poor, illiterate and rural. In many states women had been enrolled only as "wife of" or "mother of" someone. The Commission ruled that a voter's own name was essential. Nearly 2–3 million women who would not give their names could not be registered.

India's first general elections were held in 1951–52, and they were a staggering undertaking:

• They were conducted under Sukumar Sen, an ICS officer and the country's first Chief Election Commissioner, who headed the Election Commission (established 25 January 1950, now marked as National Voters' Day).
• Everyone aged 21 or older could vote. 53 political parties (including 14 national parties) and over 1,800 candidates contested.
• Roughly 17 crore voters were eligible. About 85% were unable to read or write. So each party was given a separate ballot box marked with its election symbol, allowing illiterate voters to cast their vote.
• Both the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies were elected together in this first round.
• The ballot was secret. Indelible ink was marked on each voter's finger to prevent impersonation. It is still used today.
• Turnout was about 45.7%. Roughly 40% of eligible women voted.
• The Congress won about 364 of 489 Lok Sabha seats, a decisive majority. Yet it polled only around 45% of the vote. This gap was produced by the first-past-the-post system.
• The only other parties in double figures were the Communist Party of India (16 seats) and the Socialist Party (12). Independents won the next-largest block. Notably, Dr B.R. Ambedkar was defeated in Bombay.
• Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar became the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister after a general election.

Crucially, India adopted universal adult franchise from the very start: every adult could vote, regardless of wealth, education, caste or gender. This was remarkable. Many older democracies (Britain, the USA) had extended the vote to all adults only gradually, over a century or more. Sceptics had called the exercise "a leap in the dark" and "an act of faith". Holding free, peaceful elections in a poor, largely illiterate country defied the widespread prediction that Indian democracy would collapse. It established that democracy firmly instead.

The Congress won the first three general elections (1952, 1957 and 1962) with comfortable majorities at the Centre, and dominated most states too. This pattern is sometimes called the "Congress system" (a phrase associated with political scientist Rajni Kothari).

What made this dominance unusual:

• It was won through free and fair competitive elections, not by banning rivals. So it differed sharply from one-party communist states (USSR, China) or one-party rule in many newly free African nations.
• The Congress was not a narrow party but a broad umbrella forged in the freedom struggle. It held people of many views: socialists and conservatives, different castes, religions, languages and regions. It tried to accommodate them all rather than expel them.
• Internal differences were managed through factions (informal groups) inside the party. Far from weakening it, these factions gave dissenters a voice within the Congress. They kept the party flexible and let it act as both the ruling party and its own opposition.
• Because so many groups found a place inside it, the Congress could appeal to almost everyone. That is why it kept winning. The dominance held until the 1967 elections, when the Congress lost power in several states and its majority at the Centre shrank.

This breadth was older than independence. Before 1947 the Congress debated national questions at its annual sessions. The Congress President's address at each session set the party's agenda. One example is often tested. At the Haripura session of 1938, Congress President Subhas Chandra Bose advocated adopting the Roman script for Hindi in his presidential address. He saw it as the script for a common national language. The party housed many such currents of opinion long before it began winning elections.

Although the Congress dominated, India was not a one-party state. Real opposition parties existed, contested freely, and produced many of the country's later leaders. Know each party by its founder and its core idea:

• Communist Party of India (CPI): formed 1925. It was the main party of the far left, drawing on Marxism and strong among workers and peasants, notably in Kerala and West Bengal. In 1957 it formed the government in Kerala under E.M.S. Namboodiripad. This was the first time a Communist party was democratically elected to power in any Indian state. The party split in 1964, creating the CPI(M).
• Socialist Party: grew out of the Congress Socialist Party (founded 1934) and broke away from the Congress in 1948. Leaders included Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), Ram Manohar Lohia, Acharya Narendra Dev and Asoka Mehta. It stood for democratic socialism, distinct from the Communists.
• Bharatiya Jana Sangh: founded in 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. It emphasised one country, one culture and one nation, Hindi as a national language, and Indian nationalism rooted in Indian culture. It is the ideological forerunner of the present-day BJP (the BJP was formed in 1980).
• Swatantra Party: founded in 1959 by C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), with N.G. Ranga and Minoo Masani. It was the party of the economic right. It opposed state planning, nationalisation and Nehru's controlled economy. It championed free enterprise and private property.
• Congress for Democracy: founded in 1977 by Jagjivan Ram, the veteran Dalit leader, after he left the Congress. It fought the 1977 elections with the Janata combine and soon merged into the Janata coalition. It came after the era of dominance had ended, but it shows how breakaways from the Congress itself became opposition parties.

These parties held few seats, but their role was vital. They criticised government policy, offered alternatives, checked the ruling party, and groomed leaders who would later govern. Their genuine, free competition kept Indian democracy competitive throughout the Congress era. This set India apart from the one-party dictatorships common among newly independent nations.