What is not correct about the first general election of Independent India, held in 1952?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Level of participation was discouraging, with less than half the eligible voters turning out.
Option (1) Introduction of universal adult franchise. True. In the first general election every adult citizen had the right to vote. At that time many countries in Europe had not given voting rights even to all women, so India’s experiment with universal adult franchise appeared very bold and risky.
Option (2) Democratic elections held in conditions of poverty and illiteracy. True. Till then democracy had existed only in the prosperous countries of Europe and North America, where nearly everyone was literate. Holding it in a poor and illiterate country was so new that an Indian editor called it “the biggest gamble in history”.
Option (3) Campaigning, polling and counting were completed within six months. True. It took six months for the campaigning, polling and counting to be completed.
Option (4) Level of participation was discouraging, with less than half the eligible voters turning out. False. The level of participation was encouraging — more than half the eligible voters turned out to vote.
NCERT (2025-26): “Challenge of building democracy … The elections had to be postponed twice and finally held from October 1951 to February 1952. But this election is referred to as the 1952 election since most parts of the country voted in January 1952. It took six months for the campaigning, polling and counting to be completed. Elections were competitive – there were on an average more than four candidates for each seat. The level of participation was encouraging — more than half the eligible voters turned out to vote on the day of elections. When the results were declared these were accepted as fair even by the losers.…” |