Vol. 9 · pages 176–180

147 WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE TO THE UNTOUCHABLES : A FALSE CLAIM in New Delhi on March 19, and 20, 1987. In that connection, the Congress issued a bulletin in which their names are given. Taking that information as accurate, the following appears to be the strength of the Congress in each Provincial Legislature :— Table 6 Congress Strength in Provincial Assemblies Province Total Strength of the Assembly Congress Strength in the Assembly Assam ... ... ... 108 35 Bengal ... ... ... 250 60 Bihar ... ... ... 152 95 Bombay ... ... ... 175 85 C. P. and Berar ... ... 112 70 Madras ... ... ... 215 159 Orissa ... ... ... ... 60 36 Punjab ... ... ... 175 18 Sind ... ... ... 60 8 U.P ... ... ... ... 228 134 N.W.F.P. ... ... ... 50 19 Total ... ... ... 1,585 719 Table 7 Congress Strength in Provincial Councils Province Total Strength of the Council Congress Strength in the Council Assam ... ... ... ... 18 Nil Bengal ... ... ... ... 57 10 Bihar ... ... ... ... 26 8 Bombay ... ... ... ... 26 14 Madras ... ... ... ... 46 26 Total ... ... ... 173 58 These tables show that taking the two Houses together the Congress secured 777 seats out of a total of 1,758. The Congress obviously is not a majority party. It did not secure even half the number of seats. This is the position of the Congress in terms of the number of seats. What is the position of the Congress in terms of voting strength ? The following figures will show that even in point of voting strength the Congress came out as a minority.

148 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Table 8 Abstract of Votes Cast in the Election distributed as between Congress and Non-Congress Parties Province Total Votes cast Votes cast in favour of Congress Votes cast in favour of NonCongress Madras Assembly … 4,327,734 2,658,966 1,668,768 Council … 33,511 16,907 16,604 Bombay Assembly … 3,408,308 1,568,093 1,840,215 Council … 23,730 9,420 14,310 Bengal … Assembly … 3,475,730 1,055,900 2,419,830 Council … 5,593 1,489 4,104 U.P. Assembly … 3,362,736 1,899.325 1,463,411 Council … 9,795 1,580 8,215 Bihar … Assembly … 1,477,668 992,642 485,026 Council … 4,318 96 4,222 Punjab … Assembly … 1,710,934 181.-265 1,529,669 C. P. … Assembly … 1,317,461 678,265 639,196 Assam Assembly … 522,332 129,218 393,114 Council … 2,623 Nil 2,623 N.W.F.P. Assembly … 179,529 43,845 135,684 Orissa Assembly … 304,749 198,680 106,069 Sind Assembly … 333,589 18,944 314,645 Total … … … 20,500,340 9,454,635 11,045,705 It is not enough to know these figures. They must be read in the light of other circumstances. The first such circumstance is the level of the franchise. The other is the relative position of the two parties in the election. Without taking these into account it would not be possible to understand the full significance of the election results. As to franchise, it is very high, and the electorate, compared with the total population, is indeed very small. How small a part of the total population it formed will be seen from the comparative figures given in the following table:— Table 9 Province Population (1931) Electorate Madras … … ... ... ... 47,193,602 6,145,450 Bombay and Sind ... ... ... 26,398,997 3,249,500 Bengal … … ... ... ... 51,087,338 6,695,483 U.P … … ... ... … 49,614,833 5,335,309 Punjab … … ... ... … 24,018,639 2,686,094 Bihar and Orissa ... ... ... 42,329,583 2,932,454 C.P. … … ... ... ... 17,990,937 1,741,364 Assam … … ... ... ... 9,247,857 815,341 N.WJ.P. … … … ... 4,684,364 246,609 Total … … 272,566,150 29,847,604

149 WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE TO THE UNTOUCHABLES : A FALSE CLAIM Only about ten per cent of the population was given the right to vote. The high franchise made the electorate a hive of the middle and the intellectual classes, both of which were intensely pro-Congress. Coming to the relative position of the Congress and the Non-Congress Parties, the following points call for special notice. On the Congress side there were massed all the sinews of war, money and organization. The Non-Congress candidates were without a party chest and had no organization. The Congress candidates were the blue boys of the public. They were enemies of British Imperialism, out to achieve freedom and independence of the country. Gaol life had invested the Congress candidates with the halo of martyrdom. As a rule no one was selected as a Congress candidate who had not gone to gaol. The Non-Congress candidates were represented by the congress Press—and as I have said there is no other press in India—as the showboys of the British, with no record of service to or sacrifice for the country, agents of British Imperialism, enemies of the country, job-hunters, fellows out to sell the interests of the country for a mess of pottage and so on. There was another factor which told in favour of the Congress candidates and against the Non-Congress candidates. The Congress had boycotted the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1920 and the Congress candidates had not to answer for any act of commission or omission in regard to the administration of the country. The Non-Congress candidates on the other hand were drawn from those who had worked the Reforms and had to answer for many acts of omission and commission, which is the lot of all those who have the courage to take upon their shoulders the responsibilities of administration. The Non-Congress candidates were accused of having made the places dirty and the Congress candidates were proclaimed as angels going to clean the augean stables. In a situation like this, any one, knowing how the dice was loaded in favour of the Congress, cannot but feel surprised at the sorry figure the Congress cut in the election. With all its resources, prestige and public sympathy the Congress should have swept the polls. But it did not even get fifty per cent of the seats or the votes. Is there any doubt that the Congress claim to represent all classes and communities is a hollow claim with no foundation in fact ?

150 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES II LET me next proceed to examine the Congress claim to, represent the Untouchables. This claim also can now be determined by reference to the results of the elections that took place in 1937. A correct understanding of the results of the electoral contests between Congress and the Untouchables, I fear, will not be possible to those who have no knowledge of the electoral plan devised to give representation to the Untouchables. I therefore feel it necessary to explain in the first instance the Indian Electoral system, particularly for the benefit of the foreigner. It may be described by reference to the four elements of an Electoral System, namely, (1) Electorates which is the Indian term for constituencies, (2) Right to vote, (3) Right to stand as a candidate for election and (4) Rules for determining who is a successful candidate. 1. There are two sorts of Electorates recognized by the Government of India Act, 1935, (1) Non-Territorial. (2) Territorial. 2. Non-Territorial Electorates are Electorates which are designed to give representation to special interests such as Landlords, Chambers of Commerce, Trade Unions, etc. 3. Territorial Electorates fall into three categories :— (i) Separate Territorial Electorates known in their abbreviated form as Separate Electorates. (ii) General Territorial Electorates. (iii) Joint Territorial Electorates with Reserved Seats, commonly spoken of as Joint Electorates. 4. Separate Electorates are Communal Electorates. They are designed to give representation to specified Communities, namely, Muslims, Indian Christians, Europeans and Anglo-Indians. The voters of each of these Communities in a given area are grouped into one Electorate, separate from the rest. They elect a voter of their Community as their representative exclusively by their own votes. The governing feature of a separate electorate is that in an election through a separate electorate only voters of a Community can vote and stand for election. If it is a Muslim Electorate the voter and the

151 WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE TO THE UNTOUCHABLES : A FALSE CLAIM candidate must be a Musalman; if it is a Christian Electorate the voter and the candidate must be a Christian and so on. The election is decided by a majority of votes cast by voters of the particular community. 5. A General Electorate is the normal usual form of the electorate, an electorate which comprises of voters of all communities living in an area but which are outside the system of Separate Electorates. It is called a General Electorate because it is an electorate in which neither community nor religion finds any recognition. It is an electorate of the Rest i.e. other than Muslims, Indian Christians, Europeans and Anglo-Indians. In a General Electorate :— (i) No voter who is in a Separate Electorate has a right to vote in or stand for election. (ii) Every voter who is on its electoral roll has a right to vote and to stand for election without reference to his caste, creed or community. (iii) The result of the election is determined by a simple majority of votes cast. 6. A Joint Electorate is a cross between Separate Electorate and the General Electorate. It has some things in common with Separate Electorate and the General Electorate. But it also differs from both in other particulars. The points of agreement and of difference are set out below :— (i) Joint Electorate compared with Separate Electorate : (1) Joint Electorate is akin to Separate Electorate in as much as both aim to earmark a seat for a particular community. (2) Joint Electorate differs from a Separate Electorate in two respects :— (a) In a Separate Electorate the right to vote in the election is confined to voters of the community for which the seat is earmarked, while in a Joint Electorate, though the seat is earmarked for a particular community, in other words though the right to stand is confined to a member of a particular community, the right to vote in the election for that seat is open to other communities which make up the General Electorate.