Story of Adult Suffrage in India

It is not known to many that Republican forms of government existed in many parts of ancient India and there are numerous examples in Buddhist literature. As far back as 4th century B.C., there was a republican federation known as the Kshudrakmalla Sangha, which offered strong resistance to Alexander the Great. The Greeks have left descriptions of many other republican states in India, some of which were described by them as pure democracies while others were said to be “aristocratic republics”. A vote was known as “chhanda” which literally means a “wish”. This expression was used to convey the idea that by voting a member, the individual was expressing his free will and choice. There are also evidence of methods of collection of votes of citizens who could not be present at the meeting of the assembly. For purposes of voting in the assembly, there used to be multi-coloured tickets, called “shalakas” (pins). These were distributed to members when a division was called and were collected by a special officer of the assembly, known as “shalakas grahak” (collector of pins). This officer was deployed by the assembly in unison. It was his job to take the vote which could be either secret or open. In the context of history, therefore, the establishment by the constitution of the democratic and parliamentary form of government in the country on the basis of adult franchise was like the rejoining of a historic thread that had been snapped by alien rule. Franchise on a liberal scale had been common in various parts of ancient India, and by providing for universal adult suffrage, the country boldly achieved the consummation of its electoral aspirations on a national basis. The election held in British India on a restricted franchise merely whetted the country’s desire for full and universal adult suffrage. Restrictions imposed on the right of franchise on the ground of qualifications based on property, payment of taxes, etc., were considered as arbitrary, unnatural and retrograde. As far back as 1928, the Nehru Committee, appointed by All Parties Conference to determine the principles of a Constitution