Page 26 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Leap of Faith Journey of Indian Elections

The qualification for electors varied across the provinces. national size was 2.8 percent of population (as per Census
It was mostly based on property rights, which led to of India, 1921), it actually varied between 3.9 percent in
dismal enfranchisement of women (except in Burma, Bombay Presidency to meager 1.1 in Bihar & Orissa. In
which was part of the Indian Empire until 1937). The eight provinces the number of uncontested seats was as
franchise size was extremely limited; whereas the high as - 191 (out of 638) in 1920, 139 (out of 638) in 1923
and 129 (out of 639) in 1926. In 1923 elections, a rule of
an election deposit of INR 250 was introduced. The
deposit was forfeited if a candidate secured less than one-
eighth of the votes polled.

On November 26, 1927 a seven-member Commission was
appointed by His Majesty's Government to study the
growth of responsible government in India and
recommend further course of action. The Commission,
chaired by Sir John Simon, planned joint study tours with
Indian members of Council of States, Legislative Assembly
and Provincial Legislative Councils. It toured India twice
during 1928-29 whereupon it submitted its report in
1930. This all-White Commission, however, was boycotted
by all political parties in India. It was shown black flags
wherever it went. It may be recalled that the popular
nationalist leader, Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928), succumbed
to injuries suffered in a police assault on anti-Simon
Commission demonstration in Lahore in November, 1928.

The Indian response crystallised in form of two reports.
First, was by the eight-member Indian Central Committee
chaired by Sir C. Sankaran Nair, which joined the
Statutory Committee in its investigations, but submitted
an independent report. The Indian Central Committee
found adult suffrage impractical in near future. However,
it recommended extension of electorate in stages, so that
one-third of the adult population was enfranchised by
1941; two-thirds by 1951; and whole in 1961. The other
was by a committee chaired by Pandit Motilal Nehru,
appointed by the All Parties Conference.
A typical ballot paper used in Bombay Presidency in 1920s

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