A Lok Sabha bypoll in Tamil Nadu that triggered the first Motion of Confidence in Indian legislature

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Shri C Rajagopalachari. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The adverse outcome of a by-election in Tamil Nadu in 1952 forced the then Chief Minister C. Rajagopalachari (CR or Rajaji) to come up with an innovation in India’s legislature — the first vote of confidence motion proposed by the incumbent government.

The by-election in question was for the Aruppukottai Lok Sabha constituency, which was considered to be the largest in the country in the early 1950s, as the constituency covered from Rameswaram in the east to Sattur in the north, says a nonagenarian who hails from Virudhunagar.

The by-poll was caused by the resignation of one of the prominent leaders of the State U. Muthuramalinga Thevar, who was elected to the Assembly too from the two-member Mudukulathur (general seat) in the 1952 polls on the ticket of the Forward Bloc (Marxist Group).

At that time (February 1952), elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly were held simultaneously. On April 10, CR was sworn in Chief Minister, heading the Congress government.

Within weeks of capturing power, the new regime had faced by-elections for two Lok Sabha seats, the other being Coimbatore where vacancy arose due to the death of T. A. Ramalingam Chettiar. Polling for Coimbatore was scheduled for June 14, and for Aruppukottai, June 23. In the former, the principal candidates were N. M. Lingam (Congress) and Parvati Krishnan (Communist Party of India). In the latter, Rajathl Kunjithapatham (Congress) and M.D. Ramasamy (FB-MG) were the key contestants.

The Chief Minister, who had managed to cobble up a majority in the Assembly despite his party – the Congress – not securing a majority of its own, sought to turn the outcome in the two constituencies into a “referendum” on the performance of his two-month-old Council of Ministers. In his appeal to Coimbatore, Rajaji told the electors:” There may be many issues, local and personal. But, the main question is: ‘Does this constituency want the present Ministry to continue or does it desire Communists to take over the affairs of the State ?”

While passing through Kovilpatti (which came under the Aruppukottai constituency) a few days before the day of polling, CR made a statement at the railway station: “The test this time is whether you want me or not. If you want me, you must support the candidate set up by the Congress. This election is coming after I have assumed responsibility of administering this State. The by-election will show to what extent people supported this Government of mine.”

In Coimbatore, the Congress won hands down by securing 92,465 votes out of 1,49,664 votes polled totally, according to The Hindu’s report on June 18. The margin over the nearest rival and the CPI’s nominee was about 41,300 votes, as Parvathi bagged nearly 51,140 votes.

But, the surprise was in store for the ruling party as it lost in Aruppukottai, where the FB (MG)’s candidate won with a margin of 18,835 votes. Ramaswami received 69,126 votes and Rajathi, 50,291 votes, this newspaper reported on June 27.

Discussing the outcome in Aruppukottai, Finance Minister in the CR Cabinet, C. Subramaniam, in his memoirs Hand of Destiny (Volume 1), referred to the Chief Minister taking the election as a “prestige issue” and stated that when the result was out, “we were in a dilemma. Rajaji was taking the stand that he had failed to gain the confidence of the people. But, many people told him that even if Mahatma Gandhi had contested in that region, he would have been defeated - such was the power of the caste factor there. So, it was decided that the Ministry should seek a vote of confidence in the Assembly,” Subramaniam recollected.

On June 30, the Assembly took up the trust motion, moved by the Finance Minister, who was the Leader of House. “The visitors’ galleries were fully packed,” The Hindu reported on July 1. Speaker J. Sivashanmugam Pillai said this was the “first time” that a motion of this sort is brought before the legislature. The Speaker added that there were not any special rules and so he was following the rules adopted in England, where no amendments would be allowed when motions of this sort were made. The Review of the First Assembly (1952-57) mentioned that “this was the first time such a motion had been brought before any Legislature in India.”

In fact, the debate on the motion preceded the budget discussion. Making his statement, CR referred to the Aruppukottai result and acknowledged that the outcome “has disturbed my mind.” He went on, saying that “I made a straight appeal, and whatever may be the reason and the circumstances, the result of the polling there is that the voters of that constituency gave an answer adverse to me.”

Even though there was a view that he did not have “enough grounds” to doubt his position and “this test was unnecessary,” CR felt that “the nature of the tasks and policies I have initiated and the nature of the tasks I have yet to undertake call for a clear, decisive and firm indication of the confidence of the House,” this daily stated on July 1.

Subramaniam described the speech of CPI’s leader P. Ramamurti as the best from the side of the Opposition. Ramamurti questioned the need for undertaking the exercise as he did not think that “a vote of confidence obtained in this House was in any way going to alter the verdict of the people of the Aruppukottai constituency,” The Hindu stated. At that time, the Opposition was represented by the United Democratic Front, consisting of the CPI, Kisan-Mazdoor Praja Party, Socialists and the FB (MG).

The discussion on the motion went on till July 3 and 71 members took part in the debate. Wrapping up the debate, Subramaniam admitted that the Congress Party was in the minority, though it was the single largest party in the Assembly. That was the very reason why the party went before the House, seeking its support for continuing to hold the reigns of office.

“It was 7 p.m. when the debate closed and the voting commenced. The voting shewed that the K.L.P. [Krishikar Lok Party] and the Muslim League Party voted solidly with the Congress party, as also some Independents,” this newspaper reported on July 4. In all, the Assembly, by 200 votes to 151, “expressed confidence” in the Council of Ministers headed by CR. This was how the first such motion in the country was adopted.

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