Political Dimensions of the 1946 Elections in the Punjab

 

Political Dimensions of the 1946 Elections in the Punjab

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The Government of India Act of 1935 gave unicameral legislation to the Punjab, although with a changed designation. The Punjab Legislative Council has been styled now as the Punjab Legislative Assembly. It now has 175 elected members from various communities, increasing its power. Fresh elections held in the Punjab at the end of the Second World War confirmed that Muhammad Ali Jinnah had secured the backing of almost all Muslims in India.

All Muslim seats in the Muslim Legislative Assembly and most Muslim seats in provincial assemblies have been won by the Muslim League (ML). The Muslim League gained all seventy-nine Muslim seats, while Sir Khizr Hayat Khan's Muslim Unionists were reduced to a mere seven. This was their most notable achievement in the Punjab. Pre-Partition Punjab has been a Muslim-majority province and the demographic spread of the Muslim population was such that the Muslim League (ML) projected it as the basis of its theory for partition.

Some of the districts in the province’s western region had up to ninety-five percent of the Muslim population and likewise, some eastern districts had upward of ninety-five percent of the Hindu population.

The Unionist Party of Punjab was amongst the major and most assertive opponents of the partition of India. The Unionist Party played a significant and successful role in the life of Punjab during the most critical phase.

In the last pre-Partition decade, Punjab got converted into a kind of “boiling pot” of caste, communal, ethnic, rationalistic, and feudalistic politics. The Unionist Party was deeply involved in it. Its politics was collaborative with Colonial rule.

The 1946 election was the most significant democratic upheaval, altering the subcontinent's entire history. As the primary target of the Sikh, the Hindu, and the British forces, the all-India Muslim League grew to become a significant political force.

Every political and administrative organization worked extremely hard to prevent the Muslim League (ML) from becoming a significant force in Punjab politics. Even after the Government and its allies used official channels and resources to suppress the Muslim League (ML), the Muslims throughout Colonial Punjab's political history achieved extraordinary electoral success.

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Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections of 1946

 

Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections of 1946

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The 1946 elections of the Punjab Legislative Assembly were an important turning point in the Punjab history. These elections changed the political scenario in the Punjab. Following the 1946 elections, the Muslim League (ML) became a powerful political force in Punjab politics. Out of the total number of Muslim seats, the Muslim League (ML) secured seventy five seats. The 1946 elections in the Punjab changed the entire history of the subcontinent. 

Prior to Partition, Punjab was a province dominated by Muslims. The massive victory of the Muslim League (ML) strengthened the hands of the Muslim League (ML). The Punjabi groups, which aimed to survive by endorsing their separate political parties based on religious affinities, were profoundly affected by the revolutionary elections of 1946.All Muslim seats in the Muslim Legislative Assembly and most Muslim seats in provincial assemblies were won by the Muslim League (ML). 

Hindus constituted the majority of the members of the INC (Indian National Congress). While the Muslim League served as the Punjabi Muslim community's spokesperson, ‘Shiromani Akali Dal’ (SAD) was able to attain the support of the Sikh majority. The Main political agenda of the Muslim League (ML) has been the formation of Pakistan and for congress, it was to achieve freedom of India. The Unionists with no political agenda worth the name simply drifted along into growing irrelevance.

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Campaign by various political parties during the election of 1946

Campaign by various political parties during the election of 1946

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The primary goal of the Unionist Party, according to its electoral platform released on November 28, 1945, was to better the economic circumstances of all Punjabi classes, whether they were urban and rural, agricultural or non-agricultural. The party decided to accept the secularism principle. It brought the Muslim League (ML) and the Unionist Party of Punjab into direct conflict.

 Both the Unionists and the Muslim League (ML) ran in the elections for every Muslim constituency. The Muslim instructors and students in the province provided Jinnah with a great deal of support during the election campaign. Muhammad Ali Jinnah gave the provinces with a majority of Muslims special consideration. A third of the Unionist Party Assembly members had sided with the Muslim League by the end of 1945.

Among the province’s Hindu population, the Congress Party was also starting to gain ground. In the Punjab, it had defeated the Hindu ‘Sabha’, its opponent. The Congress Party was given the complete backing of the ‘Arya Pradeshak Pratinidhi Sabha’ President. The call for the liberation of political prisoners held by the Indian National Army (INA), as well as an attack on the British administration, dominated the election campaign of the Congress in the Punjab. Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India announced on September 19, 1945, that elections to the central and provincial legislatures will take place in the coming winter.

For the Muslim community, the 1946 elections meant the difference between life and death. The Muslim League (ML) leaders decided to contest the elections in a big way. Muhammad Ali Jinnah had a lot of support from Muslim lecturers and learners during his election campaign.

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Something about the Election Manifesto of various Political Parties in the Punjab during the 1946 Election

Something about the Election Manifesto of various Political Parties in the Punjab during the 1946 Election

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The elimination of the political, economic, and social exploitation of the weaker segments of society through planned development of industry and agriculture, the elimination of unemployment, poverty, and debt, the preservation of minority languages and writing systems, and plans for rural masses ‘education were the main demands of the Congress’ election manifesto for provincial assemblies. The Congress made a nationwide plea at the end of the manifesto to people to lend their full support to the Congress candidates in the upcoming elections.

The Congress’s ranks were fortified once the Sikh leaders were freed. A medium path was being taken by Master Tara Singh. He wanted to prevent a scenario that would force Sikhs who support Congress to abandon ‘Akali Dal’. During the election campaign, Sardar Baldev Singh played a significant role in Punjabi politics and initiated appeals against the Muslim League.

The Muslim League, with seventy five members out of 175 total seats, surprised the Congress, National Muslims, and the Unionist Party by emerging as the largest single party. The Muslim League’s overwhelming victory gave them more power.

According to the Unionists, eighty percent of Punjab's population resided in rural areas, which remained their main focus throughout their entire political history. Complete independence attained via constitutional planning, provincial autonomy, improved amenities for the underprivileged urban classes, and national self-respect to contribute to the army’s recruitment drive for Punjabis, Development in education, industry, and agriculture, as well as improvement of rural areas promoting the tolerance-based cultural and religious integrity of all communities.

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Punjab Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’

 

Punjab Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’

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The Punjab Hindu ‘Sabha’ was founded in 1907 and it prepared the ground for the establishment of the All India Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’. The All India Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’ was born out of it in December, 1913. The Hindu consciousness led to the formation of local Hindu organizations at various places in North India in the starting of the twentieth century in the Punjab.

The middle class comprising of merchants, professionals, service persons etc., came under the influence of Arya Samaj, played an important role in the provincial Hindu Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’.

The Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’ arranged about twenty public meetings in the Punjab. Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’ leaders explained the reasons in these meetings, why to oppose the Indian National Congress (INC). But these meetings were poorly attended by the people. During the Elections of 1946, the Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’ was not a well organized body. It lacked resources and its influence was waning. The Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’ suffered from dissensions in the provinces and its leaders at the local level failed to give a coherent ideological programme which could attract people.

As the formation of Pakistan had become a reality, the Hindu ‘Maha Sabha’ raised the issue of Hindu ‘Rashtravad’ in a militant manner in order to consolidate the Hindus against the Muslims.

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‘Kirti Kisan’ Party of the Punjab

 

‘Kirti Kisan’ Party of the Punjab

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The Communist Party in the Punjab was originally known as ‘Kirti’ group. It was founded in 1922. The ‘Kirtis’ were deadly enemies of Capitalism and wanted to install a movement of workers and Peasants in India. The origin of the Communist Movement in Punjab can be seen in the beginning of the twentieth century when anti-Imperialist Patriotic feelings were high in the Punjab in the wake of the ‘Ghadar’ Movement and the activities of the ‘Muhajirs’. ‘Muhajirs’ returned to India from Kabul and Tashkant with Marxist ideas and founded a Communist group of Lahore. These anti Imperialist movements created atmosphere for establishment of the Communist Movement in the Punjab.

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Unionist Party of Punjab

 

Unionist Party of Punjab

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Fazl-i-Hussain and Chhotu Ram worked together to form the Unionist Party of Punjab in 1923. They issued an election manifesto and it defined its aim as being to assist and encourage the backward classes and communities of the province. The Unionist Party of the Punjab was a party of land holders comprising of Hindu and Sikh landlords and agriculturists.

The landowners apprehended their extinction in competition with the commercial class had united to form a party to defend their privileges initially as Rural Party and then renamed as Unionist Party in 1923. The Unionist Party was supported by the British.

The Unionist Party of the Punjab got support from the big landowners and peasant proprietors and appealed to the Hindu ‘Jats’ of the Ambala division and the Muslim tribes of the Western Punjab. Chaudhary Chhotu Ram played a leading role in the development of the Punjab Unionist Party. The Unionist Party emerged as a big political power in the Punjab, in 1937 elections.

There was a decline in the social base of the Unionist Party from 1942 to 1946, among the military personnel, the rich landowners, the official and non official revenue agency and other Government officials. By the elections of 1946, the Punjab no longer stood in splendid isolation of the rest of India.

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