Transformation of colonial India to democratic India was completed by the first general election. It is interesting to know the challenges India faced while conducting the first general election and the way they overcame those challenges. This was the founding stone of one of the largest democracy in the world, which many people termed as the biggest gamble in the history of mankind.

1. First General Election
the biggest gamble
Reference: India after Gandhi by Ramcharndra Guha

2. Background
 26 Jan 1950: India became republic
 Accepted parliamentary democracy
 First-past-the-post system
 Universal adult suffrage
 Election Commission
 Crazy, stupid idea

3. Political Parties
 Indian National Congress
 Socialist Party
 Kisan Majdoor Praja Party
 Jan Sangh
 Scheduled Caste Federation
 Communist Party of India

4. Challenges
 Number of voters and electoral
 Illiteracy
 Concurrent elections
 Geographical problems
 Social problems
 Multi-party election

5. Preparations
 Sukumar Sen: Chief Election Commissioner in March 1950
 224,000 polling booths
 Pictorial symbols
 Multiple ballot boxes
 Developed a variety of indelible ink
 Film and radio to educate the public

6. Election Campaign
 Public meetings, speeches, posters
 Door-to-door canvassing
 Moscow radio used by CPI
 Nehru’s magnificent election campaign
 9 weeks, 25000 miles, 2 crore people
 Travelled more than he slept and talked more than he travelled

7. First General Election - Highlights
 Duration: 4 months
 25th Oct 1951: The first Indians to cast votes in a general election
 Voter turnout: 45.7%
 Election offences: 1250
 Winning party: Indian National Congress
 Some striking defeats

8. Achievements
 Achievement:
 The biggest successful experiment of democracy in human history
 Turkish delegates visited to study the process
 The process of election was gradually improved
 Criticism:
 Universal adult franchise
 First-past-the-post system

9. Next in this series
 Nehru’s foreign policy
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