The only election Saurashtra ever held
In its only state election, Saurashtra handed Congress a commanding majority before merging into a larger state.
The only election Saurashtra ever held
What happened
In the only state election Saurashtra ever held, Congress won in a landslide, capturing nearly every seat on offer.
The Indian National Congress won 55 of the 60 seats up for election.
Its closest rival by seats was Independent, with just 2 seats.
What changed
This was Saurashtra's only general election before the state disappeared from the map, merged into a larger one a few years later.
Some of its constituencies used a multi-member design, where the same contest sent more than one member to the assembly.
5 of the state's 55 constituencies worked this way.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that election stand out.
The closest contest was Liliya, Saurashtra, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 123 votes.
At the other extreme, the widest margin came in Porbandar Taluka, Saurashtra, where the winner finished 80.2% ahead of the runner-up.
Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — ranged widely: Dhrol Jodiya, Saurashtra recorded the highest, at 70.9%, while Limbdi Wadhwan, Saurashtra recorded the lowest, at 28.3%.
The most crowded contest was Rajkot City (South, Saurashtra, where 11 candidates stood for a single seat, well above the average of about 4.1 candidates per seat across the state.
The backdrop
Saurashtra existed only briefly as its own state, formed from a large group of former princely territories after independence.
On 15 February 1948, about 222 princely states and estates of the Kathiawar peninsula merged into the United State of Saurashtra (renamed Saurashtra State later that year), with Rajkot as capital. It functioned as a Part B state through its 1951-52 general election, then merged into Bombay State on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act.