A landslide in Patiala and East Punjab States Union's second election
Congress won a clear majority in Patiala and East Punjab States Union's second election, after a divided first vote.
A landslide in Patiala and East Punjab States Union's second election
What happened
Congress won a clear majority this time, after falling short of one in the previous election.
The Indian National Congress won 37 of the 60 seats on offer, a landslide.
That was 6 seats more than it needed for a majority.
Its nearest rival, the Akali (Mann Grp), won just 11 seats.
What changed
The opposition that had trailed Congress at the previous election split into two rival factions before this one.
One of them, the SAD(MG), became the largest opposition party in its own right.
The INC itself grew from 26 to 37 seats.
The share of registered voters who turned out to vote also rose, by +2.3 pp from the previous election.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that election stand out.
The tightest race was Dhanaula, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 4 votes.
The widest win was in Nalagarh, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, where the winner finished 82.9% ahead of the runner-up.
Across the union, about 61.7% of registered voters turned out to cast a ballot.
The most crowded contest was Dadri, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, where 12 candidates stood for a single seat.
The backdrop
This election came after a period of political instability that followed the previous, inconclusive result.
The 1951 PEPSU election left no party with a majority; though Congress won the most seats, Gian Singh Rarewala formed a coalition with the Akali Dal, the Communist Party of India and independents, sworn in as Chief Minister on 22 April 1952 — called India's first non-Congress state government. President's Rule followed on 5 March 1953.