Do you know? India's first LS polls held in 1951-52 with 17.32 crore people casting their votes

The first Lok Sabha elections in India were held in 68 phases between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952. There were a total of 1874 candidates including 53 political parties and 533 independents for 489 seats. Out of 36,10,88,090 people, only 17,32,12,343 people were registered in the voter list and only 44.8 percent of them voted.

Congress got 44 percent of the votes and came to power by winning in 364 seats out of 489. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India. The CPI won 16 seats with 3.29 percent votes and became the main opposition party. AKG was the leader of the opposition.

The Socialist Party secured 10.59 percent of the votes and got 12 seats. Independent candidates won 15.9 percent of the vote. 37 of them won. But the architect of the constitution BR Ambedkar lost. Ambedkar, who contested for the Scheduled Caste Federation from Bombay North Central, was defeated by Congress candidate Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar. But he became a Rajya Sabha member representing Bombay. In 1954, Ambedkar also lost the by-election in Bhandara, Maharashtra.

First election in Himachal

The first phase of elections in 1951-1952 was in Himachal Pradesh. Shyam Saran Negi of Himachal was the first voter of independent India. He passed away on November 5, 2022 at the age of 105. Shyam Saran, who came to vote even in the last days despite his physical disabilities, was a role model for the new generation.