General elections were held in British India in December 1945 to elect members of the Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of State. The Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party, winning 59 of the 102 elected seats. The Muslim League won all Muslim constituencies, but failed to win any other seats. Of the 13 remaining seats, 8 went to Europeans, 3 to independents, and 2 to Akali candidates in the Sikh constituencies of Punjab.
These were the last general elections in British India; consequent elections were held in 1951 in India and 1970 in Pakistan.
On 19 September 1945, the Viceroy Lord Wavell announced that elections to the central and provincial legislatures would be held in December 1945 to January 1946. It was also announced that an executive council would be formed and a constitution-making body would be convened after these elections.
Although the Government of India Act, 1935 had proposed an all-India federation, it could not take place because the government held that the Princely states were unwilling to join it. Consequently, rather than choosing 375 members, only 102 elective seats were to be filled. Hence the elections to the central legislature were held under the terms of the Government of India Act 1919.
Results
Central Legislative Assembly
| Party | Seats | Leader |
|---|---|---|
| Indian National Congress | 59 | Sarat Chandra Bose - was congress head |
| Muslim League | 30 | Muhammad Ali Jinnah - head of Muslim League |
| Akali Dal | 2 | |
| Independents | 3 | |
| Europeans | 8 | Percival Joesph Griffiths |
| Total | 102 |
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Indian provincial elections, 1946
Results[edit]
The results were in favour of the Indian National Congress. Of the total of 1585 seats, it won 923 (58.23%). The All-India Muslim League won 425 seats (26.81% of the total), placing it as second-ranking party. The Congress formed its ministries in Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Central Provinces, Madras, NWFP, Orissa and United Provinces. The Muslim League formed its ministries in Bengal and Sind. A coalition consisting of the Congress, Unionist Party and the Akalis was formed in Punjab.[3]
The Communist Party of India had presented 108 candidates, out of whom only 8 won a seat.[4] The set-back came as a result of the decision of the party not to support the Quit India movement of 1942.[5] 7 out of the were elected from labour constituencies. All in all, the Communist Party obtained 2.5% of the popular vote. Albeit far from competing with the two main parties, the communists became the third force in terms of the popular vote.[4] Amongst the communist candidates elected were Jyoti Basu (railways constituency in Bengal), Ratanlal Brahman (Darjeeling) and Rupnarayan Ray (Dinajpur).[6]
Legislative Assemblies[7]
| Province | Congress | Muslim League | Other parties | Independents | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assam | 58 | 31 | Europeans 9 Others 3 | 7 | 108 |
| Bengal | 86 | 113 | Europeans 25 Others 12 | 14 | 250 |
| Bihar | 98 | 34 | 8 | 12 | 152 |
| Bombay | 125 | 30 | 2 | 18 | 175 |
| Central Provinces | 92 | 13 | 7 | 112 | |
| Madras | 165 | 79 | Communist Party | 19 | 215 |
| North West Frontier Province | 30 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 50 |
| Orissa | 47 | 4 | 9 | 60 | |
| Punjab | 51 | 73 | Akalis 22 Unionist Party 20 | 9 | 175 |
| Sind | 18 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 60 |
| United Provinces | 153 | 54 | 7 | 14 | 228 |
| Total | 923 | 425 | 123 | 114 | 1585 |
It was sai that when Muslims are voting for Muslim leage despite the particular region would never be part of Pakistan. Muslims were targetted by Hindus and Hindus by Muslims.
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