Modern History

The Congress party won 364 of the 489 seats in the first Lok Sabha and finished way ahead of any other challenger. The Congress scored big victory in state elections as well.

The country’s first general elections were expected sometime in 1950 itself. But the Election Commission discovered that it was not going to be easy to hold a free and fair election in a country of India’s size.

One of the most important concerns in the early years was that demands for separate states would endanger the unity of the country. It was felt that linguistic states may foster separatism and create pressures on the newly founded nation.

The process of nation-building did not come to an end with Partition and integration of Princely States. Now the challenge was to draw the internal boundaries of the Indian states.

The language problem was the most divisive issue in the first twenty years of independent India, and it created the apprehension among many that the political and cultural unity of the country was in danger.

Despite the Kashmir issue, the Government of India adopted towards Pakistan a policy of fair dealing and of promoting conciliation and reducing mutual tensions.

The state of Kashmir bordered on both India and Pakistan. Its ruler Hari Singh did not accede either to India or Pakistan. Fearing democracy in India and communalism in Pakistan, he hoped to stay out of both and to continue to wield power as an independent ruler.

A few days before Independence, the Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on the assurance that the internal autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.

Just before Independence it was announced by the British that with the end of their rule over India, paramountcy of the British crown over Princely States would also lapse. This meant that all these states, as many as 565 in all, would become legally independent.

The first and the immediate challenge was to shape a nation that was united, yet accommodative of the diversity in our society. The second challenge was to establish democracy. The third challenge was to ensure the development and wellbeing of the entire society and not only of some sections.