Page 35 - Leap of Faith Vol - 2

Long Road to Democracy Chapter 1

The method, therefore, arrived at was-
(a) to allot to each province a total number of seats
proportional to its population, roughly in the ratio of
one to a million, as the nearest substitute for
representation by adult suffrage.

(b) to divide this provincial allocation of seats between
the main communities in each province in proportion
to their population.
(c) to provide that the representatives allocated to each
community in a province shall be elected by members
of that community in its legislative assembly.
Interestingly, the right to vote was once temptingly close to
being recognised as a Fundamental Right in the Constitution
of India. At least two sub-committees of the Constituent
Assembly viz. Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights and
Sub-Committee on Minorities had favoured that a) right to
vote and b) Election Commission for the Union of India be
placed in the Chapter on Fundamental Rights. Sardar Election officials carrying ballot boxes
Vallabhbhai Patel as Chairman, Advisory Committee on
Minorities, Fundamental Rights, Tribals and Excluded Areas the Draft Constitution had envisaged two sets of Election
while agreeing with those views, in principle, recommended Commissions - one for the elections to the Central
that these provisions be shifted to some other part of the Legislature; another for elections to the State Legislatures.
Constitution. His letter on the subject to Dr. Rajendra This scheme, however, was suspected to be vulnerable to
Prasad, President, Constituent Assembly on April 23, 1947 political and provincial influences (as a letter by Dr.
was well taken. The Drafting Committee accordingly moved Rajendra Prasad, the President of Constituent Assembly
the question from the chapter on Fundamental Rights to to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on February 19, 1949
another part while re-wording it simultaneously. In the argues). The idea, therefore, was abandoned in favour of a
adopted Constitution, it found a place in Part XV (Elections). unified and centralised Election Commission.

The conduct and supervision of the limited-franchise This was achieved through an amendment motion that
elections held under Government of India Act, 1935 had Dr. B.R. Ambedkar moved in the Constituent Assembly on
been left to the executive arm of the colonial government. June 15, 1949. “The whole of the election machinery”
Creation of a central, autonomous and permanent asserted Dr. Ambedkar, “should be in the hands of a
Election Commission was a pragmatic and progressive Central Election Commission which alone would be
decision taken by the Constituent Assembly. Previously, entitled to issue directives to returning officers, polling

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