With the Assembly election approaching fast, the State’s key political parties have started making electoral assurances, which, they say, will form part of their manifestos to be released later. These days, all constituents of one political formation or the other, regardless of their degree of influence, come out with their own manifestos. But, in the 1950s when the Lok Sabha elections were held along with Assembly elections simultaneously, all the important parties came out invariably with their respective documents, which were prepared for the entire country. There were no State-specific manifestos.
In the first elections held in 1951-52 after the country became a Republic with the system of a universal adult suffrage in place, the major contestants were the Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI). In fact, the ban on the CPI in many parts of South India had just been lifted. Still, many of the party’s leaders were under detention. It was against this backdrop that the Communists took part in the elections. The Congress and CPI had produced their documents, keeping national issues in mind. However, the foremost issue that was of importance to people in the southern region was the creation of States on linguistic lines. At the time of the elections, the Madras State had encompassed most parts of south India.
Despite the Congress having its State-level units established on linguistic lines such as the Andhra Committee and the Kerala Committee for over 20 years, the State of Andhra had not yet come into being. The leadership of the Congress, which was sympathetic to the idea of States on linguistic lines, did not, however, take a categorical stand in favour of it. This could be seen in the party’s manifesto, which stated: “A decision on this question ultimately depends upon the wishes of the people concerned. While linguistic reasons have undoubtedly a certain cultural and other importance, there are other factors also such as economic, administrative and financial, which have to be taken into consideration. Where such a demand represents the agreed views of the people concerned, the necessary steps prescribed by the Constitution, including the appointment of a boundary commission, should be taken.”
Leaders including C. Rajagopalachari or Rajaji were against the idea, as they held the view this would lead to fissiparous tendencies in the country, which found it then extremely difficult to come to terms with the reality after Partition. Rajaji had argued that the “mix of languages and cultures” had been Tamil Nadu’s (then called Madras) strength and if divided on the basis of language, the province, “once so big and important and progressive, will hereafter grow narrow-minded and intensely anti-culture”, according to The Rajaji Story (1937-72) by Rajmohan Gandhi.
It was in Chennai that the CPI had announced its decision to contest the election and A.K. Gopalan, one of the towering leaders of the Left movement, made the announcement, according to a report of The Hindu published on June 12, 1951. Explaining the rationale behind the party’s opposition to the Congress, he observed even veteran Congressmen were disillusioned and disappointed with the functioning of their party and were leaving the organisation. He called for a united fight. Two months later, the party released a 7,000-word manifesto with a 15-point programme and Jyoti Basu, who became Chief Minister of West Bengal in 1977 and held the post for 23 years, unveiled the document in Kolkata. It called for the establishment of a People’s Democratic government, which would include democratic parties, groups, peasants, middle class and the national bourgeoise, standing for “genuine industrialisation” of the country.
Demanding a “complete break” with the British empire, the party had advocated confiscation and nationalisation of all British capital, abolition of landlordism without compensation and the transfer of all land to the tillers of the soil and granting a living wage to workers and employees, this newspaper reported on August 16, 1951.
In the run-up to the elections, the ruling Congress got a strong critic in Tanguturi Prakasam, a long-standing member of the Congress and former Chief Minister of the State. He went on to form the Praja Party in May 1951 and later, joined hands with J.B. Kripalani to set up the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP). Speaking in Conran Smith Nagar, Chennai, Prakasam came down on the Congress regime which, he contended, had failed to provide the people with necessaries of life, like food and clothing. Referring to the food imports from abroad, he said the expenditure of ₹ 1,000 crore on food imports should be deplored; in no other country would it have been tolerated. The food problem could not be solved unless the government policy was modified, according to a report of The Hindu on July 16, 1951.. His reference to the food issue assumed importance as the State was in the midst of an acute shortage of foodgrains.
The Socialist Party, which had Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) and Asoka Mehta as its guiding lights, had adopted a 12,000-word programme. Among the assurances given by the party were the support to the formation of States on linguistic lines., abolition of zamindari without compensation and nationalisation of banks and insurance firms. It found fault with the Congress government for having failed to contain the problem of inflation, this daily reported on July 6, 1951.
The results of the Assembly elections were stunning as the sitting Chief Minister P.S. Kumaraswami Raja, and most of his Ministers lost. A hung Assembly came up. In the House of 375 members, the Congress obtained 152 seats only but it remained as the single largest party. The CPI, which finished second, garnered 62 seats; the KMPP – 35 and the Socialist Party – 13. However, the Congress party had managed to have its representative – Rajaji – as Chief Minister, despite not getting a majority of its own. Even in the first elections, it was quite clear that the manifestos themselves were not “magic lanterns.”
Published – March 11, 2026 07:00 am IST
