1934 Indian general election

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General elections were held in British India in 1934. The Indian National Congress, running in its first national election, emerged as the largest party in the Central Legislative Assembly.[1]

Quick facts 147 seats contested 74 seats needed for a majority, First party ...
1934 Indian general election

← 1930
1934
1945 â†’

147 seats contested
74 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Bhulabhai Desai Madhav Shrihari Aney
Party INC CNP
Seats won 42 12

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The total electorate for the 1934 elections was 1,415,892 (from a population of 242 million), of which 1,135,899 were in contested constituencies. The total number of votes polled was 608,198. The election marked the first year in which Indian women were eligible to vote in any but a local election. Of the 81,602 enrolled women voters, 62,757 of whom were in contested constituencies, only 14,505 actually used the ballot.[2]

Results

Out of the 51 general seats of the general constituencies, the Congress won 37 seats. The party also won 5 seats in the non-General constituencies.[3] A Congress splinter group, the Congress Nationalist Party, was the only other one to gain a significant number of seats. Most of the 30 Muslim constituencies elected independents to the Council, but within the Council, leadership of the independent Muslims was assumed by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who, shortly after the election, resumed the leadership of the moribund Muslim League from which he had previously retired.[2] Of the 32 seats filled without a contest, twelve were in Muslim constituencies, eight in European constituencies, eight in general constituencies, three reserved for landholders and one reserved for commerce.[2]

More information Party, Seats ...
PartySeats
Indian National Congress42
Congress Nationalist Party12
Europeans9
People's Party3
Independents41
Appointed members41
Total148
Source: The Times[1] Schwartzberg Atlas
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Membership by province

More information Province, Europeans ...
Province Europeans Independent Minor parties Congress
(General)
Congress
(Non-General)
Total
Assam1124
Ajmer-Merwara11
Bengal376117
Bihar and Orissa5712
Bombay281516
Burma13 (People's Party)4
Central Provinces11316
Delhi11
Madras1410116
North West Frontier Province11
Punjab83112
United Provinces168116
Total84115375106
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The party position in 1941 stood as follows:[4] Central Legislative Assembly

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats
Indian National Congress40
All-India Muslim League25
Congress Nationalist Party11
Non Party25
Independents10
Europeans9
Officials20
Total140
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Council of State

More information Party, Seats ...
Party Seats
Independent Progressive Party10
Indian National Congress6
All-India Muslim League6
Officials20
Total42
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Members of Central Legislative Assembly

[5][6][7]

Nominated members

  • Government of India: Sir Frank Noyce, Sir Nripendra Nath Sircar, Sir James Grigg, Sir Henry Craik, Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, P. R. Rau, Girija Shankar Bajpai, Sir Aubrey Metcalfe, G. R. F. Tottenham, A. G. Clow, A. H. Lloyd, A. S. Hands, G. H. Spence, H. Dow
  • Officials from Provinces: A. A. Venkatarama Ayyar (Madras), R. V. Krishna Ayyar (Madras), S. A. V. Acott (Bombay), Saiyid Aminuddin (Bombay), A. J. Dash (Bengal), Srimanta Kumar Das Gupta (Bengal), Shaikh Khurshaid Muhammad (Punjab), N. J. Roughton (Central Provinces), W. V. Grigson (Central Provinces), J. H. Hutton (Assam), L. Owen (United Provinces), J. F. Sale (United Provinces), Shyam Narayan Singh (Bihar & Orissa), R. M. MacDougall (Burma)
  • Berar Representative: M. S. Aney
  • Special Interests: M. C. Rajah (Depressed Classes), Henry Gidney (Anglo-Indian), Dr. F. X. DeSouza (Indian Christians), L. C. Buss (Associated Chamber of Commerce), N. M. Joshi (Labour Interests)
  • Non-Officials from Provinces: Dr. R. D. Dalal (Bombay), Sir Satya Charan Mukherjee (Bengal), Sardar Jawahar Singh (Punjab), Ramaswami Srinivasa Sarma (Bihar & Orissa),

Elected members

References

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