THE FIRST COUNT

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1947-2008-India-Roundup

There were 18,000 candidates for 4,500 seats. 497 of which were in the Lok Sabha, during the first general elections. One-hundred-and-seventy-six million Indians, 85 per cent of whom couldn’t read or write, formed the electorate. There were 2,24,000 polling booths and as many policemen pressed into service. Symbols were used on ballot papers for voters who couldn’t read. When the results came in, the congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru had swept into power winning 364 of the 489 seats in Parliament.

VOTING FOR INDIA Sukumar Sen

Appointed Chief Election Commissioner, the ics officer had the unenviable task of conducting the first two general elections in independent India. He supervised voter registration, design of party symbols and recruitment of honest polling officers. Add to that an electorate spread over more than million square miles. The second election in 1957 cost India Rs 45 million less. Reason: The prudent Sen had safely stored the 3.5 million ballot boxes used the first time round.

DMK’S ICON

With a famous courtroom scene that lasted five minutes, Parashakti starring the legendary Sivaji Ganesan, had its dialogues crafted by future Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi. The film was also considered a dmk-vehicle as it dispersed the party’s ideals and made Ganesan a dmk icon.

FIRST CUT

• India launched a family planning programme, the first in the world.
• The first International Film Festival was inaugurated at Bombay.
• The first radio telescope was installed at Calcutta.
• The first general budget was presented in Parliament.
• India won its first ever cricket Test match, defeating England in Madras.

OLYMPIAN FEATS

In the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, India won a gold in hockey defeating Holland 6-1. Balbir Singh Sr. Scored five of Indian’s six goals. Wrestler K.D. Jadhav won a bronze medal, the only time the country won more than one medal.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU on Potti Sriramulu’s hunger strike for an Andhra state

“I’m unmoved by this and propose to ignore it completely”

The new Temples

Jawaharlal Nehru at the Tungabhadra dam, the largest in Karnataka. Situated north of Bangalore, it is spread over 400 sq km with 33 gates. On the Independence Day all 33 gates are opened.

ELSEWHERE…

• The Diaries of Anne Frank was published in English.
• Elizabeth was formally proclaimed Queen of England following the death of her father, King George VI.
• A revolution in Egypt occurred after Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the monarchy and ended, 2,300 years of foreign domination.

3,89,816

Phials of indelible ink were used in the first election.

76

‘A’ certificates and 6,492 ‘U’ certificates were issued by the Central Board of Film Censors till October 31, 1952

133

Vijay Manjrekar’s score in the first Test against England at Leeds.

Courtesy By India Today