Elections to a 30-member Electoral College were held in the Indian state of Tripura in January 1952. The Electoral College was a unique arrangements for "Part C" states that didn't have an elected Legislative Assembly to allow for the election of representatives in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Parliament of India). The Tripura Electoral College election was held in parallel to the 1952 Lok Sabha (lower house of the Parliament of India) election, and occurred in the immediate aftermath of the armed struggle waged by the communist-led Ganamukti Parishad (GMP). The Communist Party of India (CPI) formed a United Front to contest the election, which won a majority of the Electoral College seats.
Background After the Independence of India, the Constitution of the country outlined that the states of Tripura and Manipur would share a single seat in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Parliament of India). As the "Part C" states like Tripura and Manipur did not have any elected Legislative Assemblies, instead being ruled by a Chief Commissioner on behalf of the President of India, Electoral Colleges were elected whose sole function was to elected a Rajya Sabha parliamentarian.Dutta, Jyotish Chandra. An Introduction to the History of Tripura: From Monarchy to Democracy. Book Home, 1984. p. 44 The Tripura Electoral College would elect the Rajya Sabha member for the 1952-1954 period and had thirty single-member seats. The Electoral College election was held parallel to the first Lok Sabha election, with 329,806 voters registered in Tripura. Voter registration had been conducted discriminately, with some areas dominated by non-Congress excluded by the administration due to 'communist lawlessness and vandalism'.
The Communist Party of India began preparing for elections in Tripura in early 1951, when the armed struggle of its mass front Ganamukti Parishad (GMP) was at its peak. The May 1, 1951 rallies in Tripura were used for mobilization by CPI for the upcoming elections. CPI set-up election committees across state, and national party leaders would visit the state to address campaign gatherings. On October 2, 1951 a large mass rally was organized in Agartala on the Durbar Ground by the CPI, GMP, Ganatantrik Nari Samiti, and Tea Workers Union in co-operation with the Forward Bloc (Ruikar) and the Tripura Ganatantrik Sangha (TGS).
On November 15, 1951 a United Front coalition was formed by CPI, GMP, TGS, Ganatantrik Nari Samiti, and independents to contest the upcoming Electoral College vote, on basis of a three-point program: to defeat of the Congress Party, for the restoration of democratic rights and the establishment of a people's responsible government in the state.Encyclopaedia Indica: Freedom fighters. Anmol Publications, 1996. p. 131 The CPI-led United Front began organizing meetings in localities across the state, raising questions on food, relief, peace and democratic rights. The main campaign demands raised by the United Front were the installation of a Legislative Assembly, introduction of a responsible government, abolishing Chief Commissioner's rule, granting civic and political rights, rehabilitation of jhumia communities displaces by refugees, and rehabilitation of refugees.Mohanta, Bijan. Tripura in the Light of Socio-political Movements Since 1945. Progressive Publishers, 2004. p. 130
A second mass rally in Agartala was scheduled for December 2, 1951. A reception committee was set up with Forward Bloc leader Sailen Sen as president and Biren Dutta as secretary, with participation of leaders of TGS, GMP and at least 26 other mass organizations. The rally was to be held at the Durbar Ground, but had to be moved to a Pratapgarh rice field at the last minute due to withdrawal of permission by the authorities. Key speakers included national CPI leaders Muzaffar Ahmad and S.A. Dange.
The preparations for the elections occurred in a context of tensions and accusations that the administration was biased in favour of the Congress Party. Police cases were lodged and arrest warrants were issued against communist leaders.Majumder, Benimadhab. The Legislative Opposition in Tripura. Tripura State Tribal Cultural Research Institute & Museum, Government of Tripura, 1997. p. 21 On December 6, 1951, Prabhat Ray (editor of Chiniha and candidate in the Electoral College election) was arrested. Arrest warrants were also taken out against communist candidates Dasarath Deb (CPI candidate for Tripura East Lok Sabha seat), Sudhanwa Debbarma, and Hemanta Debbarma throughout the electoral process.
On December 29, 1951 a number of United Front candidates were conditionally released from jail. The candidates were released only for the period of the remainder of the electoral process and were to report back at Agartala Central Jail on February 1, 1952. Additional conditions for the temporary release were that the candidates agreed not travel between constituencies without prior permission from the District Magistrate and not to 'indulge in any illegal or terrorist activities'. The candidates conditionally released included Prabhat Ray, Banshi Thakur, Biren Datta (CPI candidate for the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat) and Seerajul Islam. A third United Front mass rally was held in Agartala on December 30, 1951, at which the release of CPI and TGS leaders was celebrated as a victory. The slogan 'Forfeit Security Deposits of the Congress and reactionary forces in the coming elections' was raised at the rally. The main speaker at the December 30, 1951 rally was CPI general secretary Ajoy Ghosh.
Uncontested winners Nominations were scrutinized on December 8, 1951. After the scrutiny of nominations after withdrawals of candidatures, six constituencies had only one candidate each. Thus three Congress candidates, two CPI candidates, and one TGS candidate were elected unopposed.
Of the 27 seats contested by the United Front, 16 had CPI candidates, five had TGS candidates, and five were contested by independent candidates supported by the United Front. Generally speaking CPI candidates contested GMP strongholds, leaving less secure seats for their allies. The exception was the Reang-dominated Belonia subdivision, which was not a communist stronghold but where CPI contested both seats. The United Front independents mainly contested constituencies in northern Tripura.
The Tripura State Congress fielded 24 candidates, out of whom 18 were Bengalis (mostly from upper castes).Bhattacharyya, Harihar. Communism in Tripura. Ajanta Publications (India), 1999. p. 148 The Forward Bloc (Ruikar) had been aligned with the United Front, and participated in the United Front mass rallies of October 2, 1951 and December 2, 1951. However, at the last possible moment the party had pulled out from the United Front and decided to contest three seats on their own. Apart from the United Front, the Congress and Forward Bloc (Ruikar) there were also a number of independents in the fray.
Results Voting took place on January 11, 16 and 26, 1952. The United Front emerged victorious in the election - with 12 seats won by the CPI, 3 by TGS and 4 by United Front-supported independents.Sadanand Vasudeo Kogekar, Richard L. Park. Reports on the Indian General Elections 1951-1952. Popular Book Depot, 1956. pp. 311, 314-315Basu, Pradip Kumar. The Communist Movement in Tripura. Progressive Publishers, 1996. pp. 96-101, 103 The Congress won nine seats and one independent supported by the Congress (Kshetra Majumdar) was elected. One independent candidate, elected from Belonia, had contested against both the United Front and the Congress. CPI voters were mainly rural, but its ally TGS had been able to make some inroads in areas where CPI had weak support. The United Front overwhelmingly won the vote from tribal and Muslim communities. The Congress had a strong backing in urban areas and among Hindu refugees. The Reang community in Udaipur had largely boycotted the election over the absence of monarchy in the state.
Out of the 12 seats won by CPI, the party had won 7 out of 10 seats in Agartala Sadar Sub-Division, all three seats from the Khowai Sub-Division, one of the two seats in the Kamalpur Sub-Division, and one of the two seats in the Kailashahar Sub-Division. In Agartala city, the Congress, TGS, and CPI won one seat each. The result indicated a level of support for CPI among urban upper caste Bengali Hindus (who constituted 84.58% of the city population), in contrast to the earlier municipal elections that CPI had lost.Bhattacharyya, Harihar. Radical Politics and Governance in India's North East: The Case of Tripura. Taylor & Francis, 2018.
Party-wise result
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9; text-align:center;" !colspan=8| |- ! class="unsortable" | ! Political party !! Seats Contested !! Won !! % of Seats !! Votes !! Vote %
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;" |Communist Party of India | 16 || 12 || 40.00 || 55,603 || 43.22
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;" | Indian National Congress | 24 || 9 || 30.00 || 36,167 || 28.11
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;" |Tripura Ganatantrik Sangha | 5 || 3 || 10.00 || 6,221 || 4.84
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;" |Forward Bloc (Ruikar) | 3 || 0 || 0.00 || 2,775 || 2.16
! scope="row" style="text-align:left;" |Independent politician | 15 || 6 || 20.00 || 27,886 || 21.68 |- class="unsortable" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan = 2| Total Seats ! 30 !! style="text-align:center;" |Voters !! 329,806 !! style="text-align:center;" |Turnout !! 128,652 (47.36%) |- class="unsortable" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" !align=left|Notes |align=left, colspan=6|
Constituency-wise result