French
Deutsch1946 Bengal Legislative Assembly election
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
All 250 seats in the Bengal Legislative Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1946 Bengal Legislative Assembly election was held in January 1946 as part of the final British Indian provincial elections before independence. The election resulted in a decisive victory for the All-India Muslim League, which formed the provincial government in the Bengal Legislative Assembly under Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. The election played a crucial role in shaping the political future of Bengal, leading to the eventual partition of the province in 1947.
Background
[edit]The campaign environment was heavily polarized. The All-India Muslim League, led in Bengal by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, framed the election as a referendum on the demand for Pakistan, urging Muslim voters to support the League exclusively. This strategy mobilized Muslim communities around the League’s vision for a separate Muslim homeland.[1]
Meanwhile, the Indian National Congress, with Sarat Chandra Bose leading the charge in Bengal, emphasized unity and a united India. Congress primarily contested general and Hindu seats, positioning itself as antithetical to partition and working to hold together a composite Bengal.[1]
Seats
[edit]The allocation of 250 seats in the assembly was based on the communal award. It is illustrated in the following.[2]
- General elected seats- 78
- Muslim electorate seats- 117
- Urban seats- 6
- Rural seats- 111
- Anglo-Indian electorate seats- 3
- European electorate seats- 11
- Indian Christian electorate seats- 2
- Commerce, Industries and Planting seats- 19
- Port of Calcutta
- Port of Chittagong
- Bengal Chamber of Commerce
- Jute Interest
- Tea Interest
- Railways
- Traders Associations
- Others
- Zamindar seats- 5
- Labour representatives- 8
- Education seats- 2
- Women seats- 5
- General electorate- 2
- Muslim electorate- 2
- Anglo-Indian electorate- 1
Results
[edit]The election resulted in a decisive victory for the All-India Muslim League, giving it a dominant position in the 250-member Assembly. The League’s success was seen as a popular endorsement of the demand for Pakistan, particularly in Bengal, where Muslims constituted a majority of the population. The Indian National Congress secured most of the general (Hindu) seats, becoming the main opposition party. Other parties and independents also won a limited number of seats but failed to challenge the Muslim League’s dominance in Muslim constituencies.[3][4]
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Muslim League | 114 | |
| Indian National Congress | 86 | |
| Krishak Praja Party | 3 | |
| Communist Party of India | 3 | |
| Hindu Mahasabha | 1 | |
| Independent Hindus | 8 | |
| Independent Muslims | 13 | |
| Others | 22 | |
| Total | 250 | |
Aftermath
[edit]Government Formation
[edit]Following the election, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy of the Muslim League was invited to form the government. He became the Chief Minister of Bengal in April 1946 and led a Muslim League-only ministry, one of the few provinces to be governed solely by the League during this period.[3]
Suhrawardy’s government functioned during a period of intense political negotiations over the future of India. His administration promoted provincial autonomy, economic reform aimed at Muslim-majority rural areas and furthered the League’s vision of Pakistan. The strong electoral mandate in Bengal was later used by Muslim League leaders to argue that Muslims in eastern India supported partition.[5]
United Bengal Plan
[edit]In the months leading up to Partition, a proposal emerged to create an independent, undivided Bengal, separate from both India and Pakistan. This initiative, known as the United Bengal Plan, was spearheaded by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the then Chief Minister of Bengal, and Sarat Chandra Bose, a prominent Congress leader and elder brother of Subhas Chandra Bose.[6]
The plan envisioned Bengal as a sovereign nation-state, free from communal division, where Hindus and Muslims would co-govern a pluralistic society. Proponents argued that Bengal's unique cultural and economic unity should not be destroyed by partition. They emphasized Bengal's interdependent religious communities and sought to avoid the displacement and violence that partition would likely bring.[7]
At the same time, constitutional negotiations were underway at the national level. The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 proposed a federal structure for India, grouping provinces into sections with significant autonomy, leaving open the possibility for provinces like Bengal to choose their political future. The United Bengal Plan was thus seen by its advocates as a practical response aligned with the Cabinet Mission’s emphasis on provincial autonomy and regional grouping.[5]
Suhrawardy and Bose received some backing from other political figures, including Kiran Shankar Roy and Abul Hashim, then Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League. They also sought support from Mahatma Gandhi and the British Cabinet Mission, both of whom showed some interest in the idea as a potential solution to the communal deadlock.[8]
However, the proposal faced strong resistance from both the Indian National Congress and the Hindu Mahasabha, particularly in western Bengal. Many Hindu leaders feared that an independent Bengal with a Muslim majority would marginalize Hindu interests and effectively align Bengal with Pakistan. The All-India Muslim League, while initially cautious, ultimately supported partition along religious lines, consistent with its wider campaign for Pakistan.[9]
On 20 June 1947, in a special session of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, members voted on the issue of partition. The Muslim-majority legislators voted for joining Pakistan, while non-Muslim members voted for remaining in India. This resulted in the partition of Bengal under the Indian Independence Act 1947, forming East Bengal (Pakistan) and West Bengal (India) on 15 August 1947. The Suhrawardy ministry came to an end with the dissolution of the United Bengal Assembly.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Sengupta, Nitish (2012-11-19). Bengal Divided. Random House Publishers India Pvt. Limited. ISBN 978-93-86495-30-3.
- ^ Sirajul Islam (2012). "Bengal Legislative Assembly". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ a b Hasan, Mushirul (2012). India Partitioned: The Other Face of Freedom. Roli Books Private, Limited. ISBN 978-81-7436-955-0.
- ^ Mitra, Subrata Kumar; Enskat, Mike; Spieß, Clemens, eds. (2004). Political parties in South Asia. Political parties in context (1st publ ed.). Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96832-8.
- ^ a b Bennell, A. S. (April 1983). "Escape from empire: the Attlee government and the Indian problem. By R. J. Moore, pp. xii, 376, front. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1983. £19.50". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 115 (2): 329–331. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00137955. ISSN 2051-2066.
- ^ Chatterji, Joya (1994). Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932–1947. Cambridge South Asian Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511563256. ISBN 978-0-521-52328-8.
- ^ Jalal, Ayesha (1985). The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan. Cambridge South Asian Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511558856. ISBN 978-0-521-45850-4.
- ^ a b Menon, V. P. (1997). The Transfer of Power in India. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-81-250-0884-2.
- ^ Chatterji, Joya (1 January 1999). "The Fashioning of a Frontier: The Radcliffe Line and Bengal's Border Landscape, 1947–52". Modern Asian Studies. 33 (1): 185–242. doi:10.1017/S0026749X99003066. ISSN 1469-8099.
Further sources
[edit]- Shila Sen: Muslim Politics in Bengal 1937-47. Impex India: New Delhi, 1976 (online summary)
- Assembly Proceedings Official Report Bengal Legislative Assembly Second Session 1946 The 17th 24th 25th 26th 27th 30th and 31st July and 1st August 1946 (online version)
- AdvocateTanmoy.com: History of West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1861