1920 Punjab Legislative Council election

1920 Punjab Provincial Legislative Council election
1920 1923 →
71 seats of The Punjab Legislative Council
Turnout34.81%
  First party
 
Leader None
Party Independent
Seats won 71

First Provincial Legislative Council election was held in Punjab in 1920 as mandated by the Government of India Act 1919.[1]

Introduction

The First World War gave the momentum to the growing demand for self-government in British India. Therefore, the new constitutional reforms, under the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms were introduced by British Government. The scheme was implemented through the Government of India Act 1919. The first Council was constituted on 8 January 1921 for the first time. The election for first Council was held in December 1920. 71 members were elected and 22 were nominated by Governor.[2]

In 1920 the election was not contested on Party lines thus all elected candidates considered as Independent.[3]

The term of the council was fixed for three years. The council, for first time, was presided by a nominated person designated as President and in his absence, an elected person designated as Deputy President.[4]

The first election which was conducted in the house was of Deputy President between Mehtab Singh and Chaudhary M. Amin. Mehtab Singh won election by securing 48 votes, while Amin secured 37 Votes.

The First Council had held 98 meetings when the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab dissolved the council on 27 October 1923 after completion of three years tenure.[5]

Distribution of seats

Category Urban Rural Total
General 7 13 20
Mohammadans 5 27 32
Sikh 1 11 12
Special^ - - 7
Total 13 51 71

Special^ (Non-Territorial)

  • Punjab Landholders - 3
    • General - 1
    • Mohammadan - 1
    • Sikh - 1
  • Baluch Tumandars - 1
  • Punjab Universities - 1
  • Punjab Commerce and Trade - 1
  • Punjab Industry - 1

Voter statistics

  • Total Voters - 5,33,812
  • Total Vote Turnout - 34.81%
  • Territorial Constituencies voters - 5,29,189
    • Highest No. of Voters - 34,594 in South-Eastern Towns (Muhammadan-Urban)
    • Lowest No. of Voters - 2,271 in Dera Gazi Khan (Muhammadan-Rural)
    • Highest Turnout - 67% in Gujarat East (Muhammadan-Rural)
    • Lowest Turnout - 2% in Amritsar City (Mohammadans-Urban)
  • Non-Territorial Constituencies voters - 4,623
    • Highest No. of Voters - 1,984 in Punjab Universities
    • Lowest No. of Voters - 11 in Baluch Tumandars
    • Highest Turnout - 100% in Baluch Tumandars
    • Lowesr Turnout - 43% in Punjab Universities

Office bearer

Post Holder Tenure
President Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler 8 January 1921 21 March 1922
Herbert Alexander Casson 10 May 1922 27 October 1923
Deputy President Mehtab Singh 23 February 1921 24 October 1921
Manohar Lal 3 November 1921 27 October 1923
Ex-Officio Member Sundar Singh Majithia 8 January 1921 27 October 1923
Secretary to Council T. P. Ellis

Election schedule

Event Date
Filing of Nominations 5 November 1920
Scrutiny of Nominations 9 November 1920
Polling ? December 1920
Counting ? December 1920
  • Election schedule in special constituencies were not same and the dates were different, unfortunately not available.

Constituency wise result

  Candidate Elected Unopposed

General-Urban

S. No. Constituency Winner
1 Lahore City Ganpat Rai
2 Amritsar City Bhawani Shankar
3 South-Eastern Towns Atma Ram
4 North-Eastern Towns Panna Lal
5 East-Western Towns Daulat Ram Kalia
6 North-Western Towns Thakur Das
7 Western Punjab Hari Chand

General-Rural

S. No. Constituency Winner
8 Hissar Lajpat Rai
9 South-Eastern Rohtak Sarup Singh
10 North-Eastern Rohtak Lal Chad
11 Gurgaon Balbir Singh
12 Karnal Bans Gopal
13 Ambala-Simla Daya Ram
14 Kangra Motilal Kaistha
15 Hoshiarpur Beli Ram
16 Jullundur-Ludhiana Mela Ram
17 Lahore-Ferozpur-Sheikhupura Ganpati Rai
18 Amritsar-Gurdaspur Kharak Singh
19 Rawalpindi Amar Das
20 Multan Sewak Ram

Muhammadan-Urban

S. No. Constituency Winner
21 Lahore City Muharram Ali Chisti
22 Amritsar City Yusuf Shah
23 Western Punjab Towns Akbar Khan
24 East West Central Towns Nawab Din
25 South-Eastern Towns Mir Mohammed Khan

Muhammadan-Rural

S. No. Constituency Winner
26 Gurgaon Hissar Hayat Khan
27 Ambala Shafi Ali Khan
28 Hoshiarpur Ludhiana Rai Wali Khan
29 Ferozpur Pir Akbar Ali
30 Jullundur Mohammed Jamil Khan
31 Kangra Gurdaspur Ali Akbar
32 Lahore Mohammed Shah Nawaz
33 Amritsar Nabi Baksh
34 Sialkot Mohammed Amin
35 Gujranwala Attullah Khan
36 Sheikhupura Mohabat Ram
37 Gujarat East Ghulam Muhammad Warraich
38 Gujarat West Chaudhary Fazl Ali
39 Shahpur East Ghulam Mohammed Shah
40 Shahpur West Firoz Khan Noon
41 Mianwali Saifullah Khan
42 Attock S. H. Khan
43 Rawalpindi Pir Ali Hyder Shah
44 Jehlum Karimullah Khan
45 Lyallpur North Amir Khan
46 Lyallpur South Mehdi Shah
47 Montgomery Husaini Shah
48 Multan East Ahmed Yar Khan Daultana
49 Multan West Raza Shah Gilani
50 Jhang Hussain Shah
51 Muzaffargarh Abdullah Khan
52 Dera Gazi Khan Allah Khan Drishak

Sikh-Urban

S. No. Constituency Winner
53 Sikh Urban Mehtab Singh

Sikh-Rural

S. No. Constituency Winner
54 Ambala Division Rasa Singh
55 Hoshiarpur Kangara Bakhtawar Singh
56 Jullundur Balwant Singh
57 Ludhiana Dasaundha Singh
58 Ferozpur Kartar Singh
59 Lahore Sangat Singh
60 Amritsar Raghbir Singh
61 Sialkot Gurdaspur Randhir Singh
62 Lyallpur Dilbagh Singh
63 Multan Shekhupura Bedi Hara Singh
64 Rawalpindi Gujranwala Harnam Singh

Special

S. No. Constituency Winner
Landholders
65 Punjab (General) Raja Narendra Nath
66 Punjab (Muhammadan) Fazl-i-Husain
67 Punjab (Sikh) Hardit Singh Bali
Tumandars
68 Baluch Tumandars Jamal Khan Leghari
University
69 Punjab
Universities 		Manohar Lal
Commerce and Trade
70 Punjab Commerce and Trade Edward E. Clarke
Industry
71 Punjab
Industries 		Harkishan Lal

See also

Punjab legislative council (British India)

References

  1. ^ "Pre Punjab First synopsis". papmis.pitb.gov.pk. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  2. ^ The Punjab Parliamentarians 1897-2013, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Lahore - Pakistan, 2015
  3. ^ Elections in Punjab 1920-1947 (Pdf),(p. 45), Book by Kirpal C. Yadav. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  4. ^ Government of India Act 1919, Section 20.
  5. ^ Proceedings, Punjab Legislative Council, October 27, 1923, page 187.