2024-03-18 21:29:54
New Delhi: The first Lok Sabha was formed on 17 April 1952. The situation was very different in the elections held then. Only four years had passed since the country became an independent country. Then the first general elections were held amidst the growing steps towards democracy. Many things were also different in the first general election. The minimum age to vote in that election was 21 years. There were only 489 Lok Sabha seats in that general election. Congress got a huge majority in the elections held on these. The party had won 364 seats. CPI became the second largest party, which got 16 seats. Bharatiya Jana Sangh had won 3 seats. At that time, the biggest challenge before the Commission in conducting elections was awareness among the voters.
This was the first election of the independent country. The means of communication there were limited. There were no TVs. More than 80 percent of the country’s people were not educated. There were about 18 crore voters then. In such a situation, the Commission then started an awareness campaign on a war footing to inform people about how to vote. A special film was made in 3000 theaters of the country and voters were shown how to cast their vote. People were also made aware through newspapers. Special programs were prepared for radio.
Teachers and other intelligent people across the country were involved in this. Only then could people’s participation in the first general elections be decided. In that election, Shyam Saran Negi of Himachal Pradesh became the first voter of India. He died recently at the age of 106. He had also cast his vote in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections at the end of last year. 1874 candidates from 53 political parties participated in the first general election.