# Canonical recap data for 1948 Indian General Elections Begin (1948)
# Source: https://recap.at/1948/1948-indian-elections
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: 1948-indian-elections
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1948/1948-indian-elections"
title: 1948 Indian General Elections Begin
subtitle: The world's largest democratic election commenced in newly independent India, testing universal suffrage on a population of 350 million.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1948-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1948
decade: 1940
country:
name: India
slug: india
summaryShort: General elections were held in British India in December 1945 to elect members of the Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of State. Election under Government of India Act 1935 were held with limited franchise and only around 10% of the population in direct British controlled provinces were eligible to vote bas
summaryLong: General elections were held in British India in December 1945 to elect members of the Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of State. Election under Government of India Act 1935 were held with limited franchise and only around 10% of the population in direct British controlled provinces were eligible to vote based on their income and property. The Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party, winning 57 of the 102 elected seats. The Muslim League won all Muslim constituencies, but failed to win any other seats. Of the 13 remaining seats, 8 went to Europeans, 3 to independents, and 2 to Akali candidates in the Sikh constituencies of Punjab. This election coupled with the provincial one in 1946 proved to be a strategic victory for Jinnah and the partitionists. Even though Congress won, the League had united the Muslim vote and as such it gained the negotiating power to seek a separate Muslim homeland as it became clear that a united India would prove highly unstable. The elected members later formed the Constituent Assembly of India.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Indian_General_Election_1945.svg/1280px-Indian_General_Election_1945.svg.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "1945 Indian general election"
importance: 82
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Indian_general_election"
  title: 1945 Indian general election
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- election
metaDescription: General elections were held in British India in December 1945 to elect members of the Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of State. Election under Gove
wikidataQid: Q14943865
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260413083003/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Indian_general_election"
  capturedAt: 2026-04-13
  label: 1945 Indian general election
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Indian_general_election"
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- election
canonicalClasses:
- governance
- competition
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: single_domain
