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The 1946 Punjab Elections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

I. A. Talbot
I. A. Talbot
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway College, University of London
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Extract

On August 21st 1945 the viceroy announced that elections would be held that Winter to the Central and Provincial Legislative Assemblies. They were to precede the convention of a constitution-making body for British India. The Muslim League had to succeed in this crucial test if its popular support of its demand for Pakistan was to be credible. In particular it had to succeed in the Punjab as there could be no Pakistan without that province. But in the Punjab's last elections held in 1937 the League had fared disastrously. It had put forward a mere seven candidates for the 85 Muslim seats and only two had been successful. In the 1946 elections the League won 75 of the total Muslim seats. This improvement in its performance which had momentous implications for the future for the subcontinent requires explanation.

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Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , February 1980 , pp. 65 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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References

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30 Many of the Punjab landlords who had been defeated by the PPP in 1970 joined it during the period to 1977.Google Scholar

31 The Zemindara League which was created as a result of Sir Chhotu Ram's efforts was the Unionist Party's extra parliamentary organization. It had originally been formed to mobilize support for the ‘Golden’ Agricultural Legislation of the late 1930s. It was revived again in 1944 in an effort to counter the Muslim League's growing influence in the countryside.Google Scholar

32 The Eastern Times (Lahore), 2 08 1945.Google Scholar

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34 Bari, Abdul, President of the Lyallpur District Muslim League to Jinnah, 23 January 1946, Shamsul Hasan Collection, Punjab Vol. I, General Correspondence.Google Scholar

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36 Over 800,000 Punjabis served in the British Army during the war.Google Scholar

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41 (FR 25 October 1944) L/P&J/5/247 IOR.Google Scholar See also The Tribune (Ambala), 8 10 1944.Google Scholar

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60 Shaukat Hyat who had been serving in the army before his return to the Punjab to take up his ill-fated ministerial post in the Khizr Cabinet was the League's chief spokesman on this matter. He delivered a series of hard-hitting speeches against the Unionist Party in the main recruiting areas in September 1945.Google ScholarThe Eastern Times (Lahore), 29 09 1945.Google Scholar

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65 Such practice on one occasion in the Khanewal Tehsil in the Multan District almost proved detrimental to the League, when the Parliamentary Board in an endeavour to maintain its authority rode roughshod over the religious susceptibilities of the local electorate, and elected Pir Budhan Shah as candidate for the constituency—despite the fact that he had written a promise on the first page of the Quran to stand down as candidate in favour of someone else. Hussain Bakhash Propaganda Secretary Anjuman Islah-ul-Muslemeen, Miancharri, Multan District to Jinnah, 21 January 1946, Shamsul Hasan Collection, Punjab Vol. 1, General Correspondence.Google Scholar

66 Immediately after the results were known the Punjab Provincial Muslim League issued a statement praising the students' crucial role in its success. The Eastern Times (Lahore), 17 03 1946.Google Scholar

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68 Ibid.; see fn. 51.

69 The Unionist Party employed Mirasis to work on its behalf during the elections. The Eastern Times (Lahore), 30 12 1945.Google Scholar

70 It never in fact kept this promise. The Punjab League ran into financial difficulties during the campaigning and had to resort to a 3 lac rupee loan from its parent body's Central Election Fund. In such circumstances the question of the payment of the student workers became a vexed issue. At one point, because of difficulties over funds, the Aligarh students were able to stay only ten days at a time in the Punjab. Jinnah handed over 30,000 rupees in all from the Central Election Fund to the Aligarh Election committee. See Shamsul Hasan Collection U.P. Vol. 3.Google Scholar

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96 Pir Makhad had always been traditionally factionally aligned against the Khan of Makhad who in 1946 was supporting the League.Google Scholar

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101 Nawa-e-Waqt (Lahore), 18 01 1946.Google Scholar

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