1957 Indian general election

General elections were held in India between 24 February and 9 June 1957, the second elections to the Lok Sabha after independence. They were held five years after the 1951–52 elections in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India. Elections to many state legislatures were held simultaneously.

1957 Indian general election
24 February – 14 March 1957
494 of the 505 seats in the Lok Sabha
248 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jawaharlal Nehru Shripat Amrit Dange Jayaprakash Narayan
Party INC CPI PSP
Leader's seat Phulpur Bombay City Central Did not contest
Seats won 371 27 19
Seat change Increase 7 Increase 11 Decrease 2
Popular vote 57,579,589 10,754,075 12,542,666
Percentage 47.78% 8.92% 10.41%
Swing Increase2.79pp Increase5.63pp Decrease5.97pp
Prime Minister before election

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC

 Prime Minister after election

Jawaharlal Nehru
INC

There were 494 seats elected using first past the post voting system. Out of the 403 constituencies, 91 elected two members, while the remaining 312 elected a single member.[1][2] The multi-seat constituencies were abolished before the next election.

Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress easily won a second term in power, taking 371 of the 494 seats. They gained an extra seven seats (the size of the Lok Sabha had been increased by five) and their vote share increased from 45.0% to 47.8%. The INC won nearly five times more votes than the Communist Party, the second largest party. In addition, 19.3% of the vote and 42 seats went to independent candidates, the highest of any Indian general election.

Results
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Indian National Congress57,579,58947.78371+7
Praja Socialist Party12,542,66610.4119–2
Communist Party of India10,754,0758.9227+11
Bharatiya Jana Sangh7,193,2675.974+1
Scheduled Castes Federation2,038,8901.696+4
All India Ganatantra Parishad1,291,1411.077+1
People's Democratic Front1,044,0320.872–5
Hindu Mahasabha1,032,3220.861–3
Peasants and Workers Party of India924,8320.774+2
Jharkhand Party751,8300.626+3
Forward Bloc (Marxist)665,3410.552+1
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata Party501,3590.423+2
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad460,8380.380–3
Revolutionary Socialist Party308,7420.260–3
Praja Party140,7420.1200
Independents23,284,24919.3242+5
Appointed members[lower-alpha 1]11+1
Total120,513,915100.00505+6
Registered voters/turnout193,652,17945.44
Source: ECI
  1. Six representing Jammu and Kashmir, two representing Anglo-Indians, one representing Part B Tribal Areas in Assam, one representing the Amindive, Laccadive and Minicoy Islands and one representing the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Results by state
State Total
seats		 Seats won
INC CPI PSP GP SCF JKP BJS Others Ind. App.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1 1
Andhra Pradesh 43 37 2 2 2
Assam 12 9 2 1
Bihar 53 41 2 6 3 1
Bombay 66 38 4 5 5 2 4 8
Delhi 5 5
Himachal Pradesh 4 4
Kerala 18 6 9 1 2
Jammu and Kashmir 6 6
Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands 1 1
Madhya Pradesh 36 35 1
Madras 41 31 2 8
Manipur 2 1 1
Mysore 26 23 1 1 1
North-East Frontier Agency 1 1
Orissa 20 7 1 2 7 3
Punjab 22 21 1
Rajasthan 22 19 3
Tripura 2 1 1
Uttar Pradesh 86 70 1 4 2 9
West Bengal 36 23 6 2 2 3
Anglo-Indians 2 2
Total 505 371 27 19 7 6 6 4 12 42 11
Source: ECI

Voting

The first instance of booth capturing in India was recorded in 1957 in the General Elections of that year in Rachiyahi, in Begusarai's Matihani assembly seat.[3][4][5][6]

See also

References
  1. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-I" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  2. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-II" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  3. "Where booth capturing was born".
  4. "In central Bihar, development runs into caste wall".
  5. "Empty words in legend's forgotten village". Archived from the original on 13 October 2015.
  6. "The myth of history's first booth capturing taking place in Begusarai's Rachiyahi".
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