Indian Democracy and the General Election

Abstract

THE recent general election in India resulted in victory for the Congress Party and its leader, Prime Minister Nehru. Congress Party ministries have been formed both in the Center and in all of the states other than PEPSU (Patiala, East Punjab States Union).' In this sense the election was a political act which provided the people of India with representative institutions charged with constitutional functions in the promotion of responsible government. The general election was also a stage in the fulfilment of the democratic ideal outlined in the Constitution of the Republic. Evaluation of the formal process and of its statistical consequences can be made on the basis of the record. To assess the spirit of the election, or to make generalizations concerning the present status of political structure in India as it was reflected in the polling, is a much more difficult task. There is, perhaps, no other country in the world whose internal politics is so complex and so little understood as India's. No handbook exists which elucidates current lines of political opinion; no textbook fills in the historical and analytical background; no chart or outline can be found to simplify what, in fact, is a maze of local, regional and ideological points of view gathered for purposes of elections and patronage into political parties, cliques within parties, and independent fronts. Furthermore, India's political party structure is in the process of change, not having adjusted as yet to relatively definite party programs which make a choice between parties meaningful for both the electorate and the candidates. Characteristic phenomena of the first Indian general election have been the shifts from party to party of various candidates, the large number of independents running for office, and the postelection accession of small-party members to the fold of the successful Congress Party. All of these indicate an immature political party pattern which further experience in elections may render more stable.