The Decline of Congress in Uttar Pradesh

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Uttar Pradesh is India’s most politically important state. With 80 seats in the Lok Sabha and 35 in the Rajya Sabha, it has the largest number of legislators in the Indian Parliament. The political might of this state can be imagined when one thinks of the fact that eight of India’s fourteen prime ministers are from Uttar Pradesh. Maharashta with 48 seats has the second largest number of seats in Lok Sabha, 32 less than Uttar Pradesh. In terms of population, if Uttar Pradesh was an independent nation, it would be world’s fifth most populated country.

Congress was once a dominant force in the state during the early years after independence but now the party’s dominance has been reduced to only a few seats in both the Lok Sabha as well as in the legislative assembly.

THE DOMINANT YEARS: FROM INDEPENDENCE TO 1967

The Congress was the single-most dominant party in the state of Uttar Pradesh after independence. In the first Lok Sabha elections, the Indian National Congress (INC) won by a huge margin. The INC won 364 seats out of the available 489 to form the government at the Centre. In Uttar Pradesh alone, Congress won 81 out of the available 85 seats. Also, winning 388 seats in the first legislative elections of the state shows their dominance during that era. One can understand their dominance by simply comparing the second-largest party in the state. Socialist party was the second- largest party with just 20 seats. So the INC got 19.4 times the seats the Socialist party won.

This win could largely be attributed to the INC’s role in the Indian independence struggle which they were able to transform into votes. In addition, the absence of a strong opposition party in the state further helped the...

... middle of paper ...

...to 36.45%. (Statistical Reports of the Election Commission of India)

Among the other political parties in the state assembly elections, the Socialist Party was the second largest party in the state. They won 20 seats in 1952 and 44 in 1957. The Bhartiya Jan Sangh was also there but they could only win a few seats in 1952 and 1957. The real fight from the opposition came in 1962 but was still not enough to give Congress a fight for the formation of government in the state. In 1962 there were a number of parties that won seats. However, not one single opposition party was able to take its tally over 50. In 1962, Bhartiya Jan Sangh won 48 seats, Praja Socialist Party won 38, the Communist Party of India won 14 seats and the Socialist and Swatanta Party won 24 and 15 seats in the state assembly elections. (Statistical Reports of the Election Commission of India)

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