For the first time in the history of India, in 1920, something like this happened which millions of inhabitants of this land had never seen. That was to go to the polling booth and choose the representatives of your choice by voting.
Earlier, the Panchayat system was prevalent here, in which the people were represented in some form or the other, but it would not be correct to call it a complete democracy as this system was informal and had no permanent rules. Moreover, powerful landlords or government officials could easily twist the arms of this system to their liking.
A glance at Indian history reveals that panchayats are mentioned in both Diwan-i-Aam and Diwan-i-Khas in the Rigveda. From 500 BC to the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, the Panchayat had a special status here, for which, although there was no concept of vote, the functioning of the Panchayat lost its legitimacy without the acceptance of the republic.
Then the British enter India. The form of democracy we see today in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh is British and has its roots in the 1920 elections, in which Indians first got a limited right to vote.
It was not that the British Crown ruled India without any laws. After the failure of the War of Independence in 1857, the flag of the British Crown was hoisted directly in place of the Company, and specific rules were laid down for running the business of the Empire.
The Government of India Act 1858, then further amended by the Indian Majlis Act 1861, vested all powers in the Governor-General’s Council. The power to appoint the members of the Council was also at the discretion of the Governor.
Further amendments were made in 1892 which for the first time opened the way for the appointment of natives to the central and provincial councils. The formation of the Congress in 1885 and the Muslim League in 1906 led to a campaign of political awakening in India, leading to a growing demand for greater public participation at the provincial and central levels.
The British Parliament first empowered natives to elect their own representatives at the local level through the Indian Councils Act of 1909, known as the ‘Minto Marley’ reforms. Lord Minto was the Governor General of India at that time while Lord Marley was the Minister of India in the British Cabinet.
The Act proposed a Legislative Council consisting of 68 members, of whom only 27 were elected and who were not to be elected by the common man but by specific persons including members of municipal committees, district and local boards, universities , chambers of commerce and merchants’ organizations besides landlords and tea growers were involved.
This representation was not given for people’s rule but to facilitate the rule of the Crown of Great Britain. In this act, some seats were reserved for Muslims only. Political observers say that Minto Marley reforms actually laid the foundation of political division in India.
First general election on Indian soil
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For thousands of years, India was dominated by monarchies, rajwads, nawabi system, followed by the East India Company, while England colonized India after the War of Independence in 1857.
During this time, democracy was established in many regions of the world. In 1920, the British for the first time allowed the people of India to participate, albeit on a limited scale, in basic democratic processes such as elections.
In 1916, the Lucknow Pact was signed between the Congress and the Muslim League, which demanded that Britain declare self-government for the people of India. Further amendments were made to the Government of India Act 1915 and were named the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms in 1919.
It was said that the Crown was fulfilling a promise made to the Indian people after the end of the First World War. Edwin Montagu was then the Minister of India while Lord Chelmsford was the Governor General of India. In this act, separate elections were introduced for Muslims as well as Sikhs.
A bicameral legislature was created at the centre. The Council of State, which was the upper house, had 60 members, of which 34 were elected while 16 were nominated by the Governor-General.
Its tenure was five years while the Central Legislative Assembly was given the status of the Lower House. For the first time, elected representatives had a majority in both houses. Of the 145 members of the Central Legislative Assembly, 105 were elected while 40 were nominated.
The term of this assembly was three years but the governor could extend the term. Along with the central parliament, 637 seats were also allocated for the provincial assemblies, of which 440 were contested while 188 members were elected uncontested. 38 seats in the provincial assemblies were reserved for whites.
Limited suffrage in 1920 elections
According to the 1921 census, the population of India was more than 250 million, but the number of voters who were empowered to elect the Council of State in India was 17,000 and the number of voters for the lower house was 1,128,000. was
As if the power to elect the members of the two houses was vested in certain people and only those who owned property, were taxpayers of income tax or municipal committee could vote.
There were stricter requirements for electorate as well as representatives, in that only those who could become candidates were wealthy landlords or merchants, with prior experience of legislation at the central or provincial level, a municipal corporation or a university senate. I am a member of Thus the Act of 1919 also negated the claims of representation of the Indian people.
Karamchand Gandhi boycotted the 1920 elections (Public Domain)
Elections were held despite Gandhi’s boycott
Karamchand Gandhi was in favor of giving full internal autonomy to Indians. They not only boycotted these general elections but later also started non-cooperation movement. Nevertheless, these elections were held.
In the Central Legislature, the ‘Democratic Party’ emerged as the majority party, with 48 members elected, while the number of other parties and independent members was 47. Jawaharlal Nehru was also elected as a member of the Central Council from Punjab.
The inaugural session of the new legislature was held on February 9, 1921, in which Queen Victoria’s son, the Duke of Connaught, made a special appearance. The Central Legislature was empowered to make laws for all subjects of British India and servants of the Crown, but it could not make any law relating to the Minister for India or the Governor-General, nor to matters of finance, religion, the armed forces and foreign affairs. Relationships were also beyond his sphere of influence.
As a result of the elections, a 25-member Union Cabinet was formed, of which 21 were British ministers. Thus, through these elections, the British Crown tried to create an impression by giving representation to its loyalists that the affairs of India were being run by the Indians, but in practice neither they had the real powers nor the common Indians had the right to vote. He was right.
For this reason, the Congress and the Muslim League came together on a platform and demanded that India should be given the same political rights in the British colonies as Australia, Canada and South Africa, including adult suffrage and double suffrage. Right should also be included and seats should be reserved separately for minorities.
The first elections of 1920 definitely paved the way for a political awakening in India, from which the journey to independence began.
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