General elections were held in India between 24 February and 14 March 1957, the second elections to the Lok Sabha after independence. Elections to several state legislatures were held simultaneously.
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% to 48%. The INC received nearly five times more votes than the Communist Party, the second largest party. In addition, 19% of the vote and 42 seats went to independent candidates, the highest of any Indian general election.
Electoral system There were 494 seats elected using first past the post voting. Out of the 403 constituencies, 91 elected two members, while the remaining 312 elected a single member. The multi-seat constituencies were abolished before the next election.
The elections were overseen by Sukumar Sen, the Chief Election Commissioner, who used the existing election infrastructure to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Historian Ramachandra Guha wrote "this general election cost the exchequer Rs45 million less than the previous one. The prudent Sen had safely stored the 3.5 million ballot boxes the first time round and only half a million additional ones were required."
Conduct 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.
Results
Results by state StateTotalseatsSeats wonINCCPIPSPGPSCFJKPBJSOthersInd.App.Andaman and Nicobar Islands11Andhra Pradesh4337222Assam12921Bihar53412631Bombay6638455248Delhi55Himachal Pradesh44Kerala186912Jammu and Kashmir66Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands11Madhya Pradesh36351Madras413128Manipur211Mysore2623111North-East Frontier Agency11Orissa2071273Punjab22211Rajasthan22193Tripura211Uttar Pradesh86701429West Bengal36236223Anglo-Indians22Total50537127197664124211Source: ECI
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Bombay
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Madras
Mysore
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Women performance in elections Based on the published data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) website. Participation State/UTTotal seatsWomen contestantsElectedWomen contestants (%)Elected (%) Women Seats Andhra Pradesh 43 4 3 3 3.5% 6.9% Assam 12 2 2 2 6.5% 14.3% Bihar 53 7 7 5 3.7% 9.4% Bombay 66 5 5 3 3.11% 4.5% Kerala 18 1 1 0 1.7% 0 Madhya Pradesh 36 8 6 3 6.6% 8.3% Madras 41 2 2 1 3.2% 2.4% Mysore 26 0 0 0 0 0 Manipur 2 0 0 0 0 0 Orissa 20 0 0 0 0 0 Punjab 22 1 1 1 1.3% 4.5% Rajasthan 22 0 0 0 0 0 Tripura 1 0 0 0 0 0 Uttar Pradesh 86 6 4 1 2.05% 13.75% West Bengal 36 5 4 2 11.59% 1.1% Delhi 5 4 2 1 14.8% 20% Himachal Pradesh 4 0 0 0 0 0 India 494 45 37 22 2.96% 4.45%
See also List of members of the 2nd Lok Sabha Election Commission of India Booth capturing
Notes
References