Pakistan Election 1937

By: Sehrish Shahid

Elections, 1937

The elections were held in January and February of

1937.congress won the absolute majority in the five

provinces and was the largest province in four other. It

was invited to united provinces, the central provinces,

Bihar, Orissa, madras, Bombay and later, Assam and the

three remaining provinces(Punjab, Sindh and Bengal)

where there was a Muslim majority ,the league did not

fare well. it won only 109 out of 482 seats while on the

other hand congress won huge number of votes, however,

which seats reserved for Muslims. The election had not

been a success for the muslin league

Election Results

The final results of the elections were declared in

February 1937. The Indian National Congress

emerged in power in all the provinces except for three

- Bengal, Punjab, and Sindh. The All-India Muslim

League failed to form the government in any province.

The Congress ministries resigned in October and

November 1939, in protest against Viceroy Lord

Linlith gow's action of declaring India to be a

belligerent in the Second World War without

consulting the Indian people.

• Madras Presidency legislative assembly

election, 1937 and Madras Presidency

legislative council election, 1937

• In Madras, the Congress won 74% of all

seats, eclipsing the incumbent Justice

Party (21 seats).

Madras Presidency

• Sindh legislative assembly election, 1937• The Sind Legislative Assembly had 60

members. The Sind United Party emerged the leader with 22 seats, and the Congress secured 8 seats. Mohammad Ali Jinnah had tried to set up a League Parliamentary Board in Sindh in 1936, but he failed, though 72% of the population was Muslim.[2] Though 34 seats were reserved for Muslims, the Muslim League could secure none of them.[3]

Sindh

United Provinces

The UP legislature consisted of a Legislative Council of 52 elected and 6 or 8 nominated members and a Legislative Assembly of 228 elected members: some from exclusive Muslim constituencies, some from "General" constituencies, and some "Special" constituencies.[4] The Congress won a clear majority in the United Provinces, with 133 seats, [5] while the Muslim League won only 27 out of the 64 seats reserved for Muslims.[6]

In Assam, the Congress won 33 seats out of a total of 108 making it the single largest party, though it was not in a position to form a ministry. The Governor called upon Sir Muhammad Sadulla, ex-Judicial Member of Assam and Leader of the Assam Valley Muslim Party to form the ministry.[7] The Congress was a part of the ruling coalitio

Assam

• Bombay Presidency elections, 19

• In Bombay, the Congress fell just short of

gaining half the seats. However, it was

able to draw on the support of some small

pro-Congress groups to form a working

majority. B.G. Kher became the first

Chief Minister of Bombay

Bombay

• In three additional provinces, Central Provinces, Bihar, and

Orissa, the Congress won clear majorities. In the

overwhelmingly Muslim North-West Frontier Province,

Congress won 19 out of 50 seats and was able, with minor

party support, to form a ministry.[8

• The Unionist Party under Sikander Hyat Khan formed the

government in Punjab with 67 out of 175 seats. The Congress

won 18 seats and the Akali Dal, 10.[9] In Bengal, though the

Congress was the largest party (with 52 seats), The Krishak

Praja Party of A. K. Fazlul Huq (with 36 seats) was able to

form a coalition government.

Other provinces

• The election results were a blow to the League. After the election, Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the League offered to form coalitions with the Congress. The League insisted that the Congress should not nominate any Muslims to the ministries, as it (the League) claimed to be the exclusive representative of Indian Muslims. This was not acceptable to the Congress, and it declined the League's offer

The Muslim League

• The Muslims league did not do will in the elections

of 1937 because of three reasons

• Because of Jinnah’s voluntary exile

• Because of less experienced leaders and the last

• Because of less political amongst people

Reason behind Muslim league bad

performance in election 1937