Parliamentary elections in East Bengal in 1954
The parliamentary elections in East Bengal in 1954 took place from March 8th to 12th. It was the first parliamentary election since Pakistan's independence in 1947. The opposition United Front, led by the Awami League and the Krishak Sramik Party, won a landslide with 223 of the 309 seats.
background
The parliament in East Bengal was elected in the general election in British India in 1946. The legislative period of the East Bengal parliament has been extended several times. A total of 34 seats remained vacant as no mid-term elections were held.
Electoral system
The parliament of East Bengal had 309 seats. 228 seats were reserved for Muslims, 36 for castes, 12 for women, 2 for Buddhists and 1 for Christians. A total of 19,541,563 voters registered. 9,239,720 of the voters were women. 15,159,825 voters could vote for the Muslims. 2,303,578 voters were able to vote for the castes. 136,417 voters could vote for the Buddhists. 43,911 voters were able to vote for the Christians.
Election campaign
The Muslim League published its manifesto on December 13, 1953. They called for the Bengali language to be recognized as the official language of Pakistan and called for reforms in agriculture, education and health care. The election campaign of the Muslim League began in 1954. The Awami League published a 41-page election program. She called for independence, political reform and nationalism. The opposition campaigned for the establishment of a party alliance. To this end, an agreement was reached between the Awami League and the Krishak Sramik party. The Nizam-e-Islam Party and the Ganatantri Dal joined the alliance. The party alliance entered the elections under the name United Front. A total of 1285 candidates took part in the elections. 986 candidates ran for the 286 Muslim seats, 151 candidates ran for the 36 box seats, and 37 candidates ran for the women's seats. 12 candidates ran for the 2 Buddhist seats. One candidate ran for the Christian seats. The turnout was 37.19%.
Result
The Awami League secured 143 seats in parliament. The Krishak Sramik party received 48 seats. The party alliance United Front was able to secure a total of 228 out of 309 seats in the East Bengal parliament. The United Front victory, however, was only an illusion. The Governor of East Pakistan, Choudhury Khaliquzzaman, instructed the chairman of Krishak Sramik, AK Fazlul Huq, to set up a ministry. However, the Awami League was not part of the ministry. However, this led to tensions in the party alliance and Fazlul Haq expanded the ministry to include politicians from the Awami League.
Individual evidence
- ^ M Bhaskaran Nair (1990) Politics in Bangladesh: A Study of Awami League, 1949-58 , Northern Book Center, p. 137
- ^ Nair, p. 136
- ^ Elections 1954
- ^ Elections 1954
- ^ United Front Elections of 1954 in East Pakistan
