With the Assembly election approaching fast, the State’s key political parties have started making electoral assurances, which, they say, will form part of their manifestos to be released later. These days, all constituents of one political formation or the other, regardless of their degree of influence, come out with their own manifestos. But, in the 1950s when the Lok Sabha elections were held along with Assembly elections simultaneously, all the important parties came out invariably with their respective documents, which were prepared for the entire country. There were no State-specific manifestos.
In the first elections held in 1951-52 after the country became a Republic with the system of a universal adult suffrage in place, the major contestants were the Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI). In fact, the ban on the CPI in many parts of South India had just been lifted. Still, many of the party’s leaders were under detention. It was against this backdrop that the Communists took part in the elections. The Congress and CPI had produced their documents, keeping national issues in mind. However, the foremost issue that was of importance to people in the southern region was the creation of States on linguistic lines. At the time of the elections, the Madras State had encompassed most parts of south India.
