Do you know that in the early years of independence, two MLAs were elected from many seats in Bihar together? In 1957, a provision of bilateral seats was made to increase social representation.
Patna: Today, elections of Bihar assemblies are held on the principle of one seat-one MLA, but do you know that in the early stages of independence, two MLAs were elected simultaneously from many assembly seats in Bihar. It seems strange to hear, but this is what Bihar’s politics had experienced in the early decade of independence. In the 1957 assembly elections, there were many seats in United Bihar (Bihar + Jharkhand), where voters had selected two representatives in one go and sent the assembly.
Why was there two MLA seats?
In 1957, there was a wave of change in the politics of the country. All innovations were adopted with the aim of strengthening democracy and giving better representation to social groups. Out of the total 264 assembly seats in United Bihar, 68 seats were reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Of these, 54 seats were ‘Dual’ i.e. two MLAs – from these seats, one candidate was selected from the general class and the other from the reserved category and sent to the assembly. The special thing is that there were different ballots for both the candidates.
Patna’s Fatuha and Strade became history
Two safe seats of the capital Patna, Fatuha and Drafdi, were discussed in the 1957 elections. Shiva Mahadev Prasad and Keshav Prasad from Fatuha, while Naval Kishore Singh and Saraswati Chaudhary won from the draft. That is, voters of the same seat were sending two different leaders to the assembly.
Which areas were this arrangement
This unique system was not limited to Patna only. Bagaha, Bettiah, Motihari, Bhore, Darauli, Chhapra, Mahua, Paru, Sakra, Shivhar, Jayanagar, Darbhanga Dakshin, Dalsinghsarai, Singhiya, Triveniganj, Sonbarsa, Farbisganj, Dhamdaha, Katihar, Pakur, Nalla, Deoghar, Dumka, Goda, Kotoria, Jhajha, Shekhapur, Jhajha, Shakhapur Khagaria, Begusarai, Fatuha, Rajgir, Drafdi, Bhabhua, Sasaram, Piro, Jehanabad, Tekari, Nabinagar, Warisleiganj, Gawan, Giridih, Ramgarh, Topchanchi, Nirsa, Ghatshila, Chakradharpur, Chandil, Ranchi, Mandar, Latehar, Bhavnathpur and Lasiganj. There was a provision to choose two MLAs each in a total of 54 assembly constituencies.
Women participation
The 1957 election also became a symbol of women empowerment. 46 women won and reached the assembly and became the voice of the hidden sections of the society. It is also noteworthy that the Congress party then captured most of the bipoly seats.
Changing system and democratic experiments
What was the reason that this system did not go further? Indeed, it was the intention of giving representation to every section of the society, but in later years, the system of bilateral seats was abolished after the new census, delimitation and systemic reforms. Now there is only one seat, the provision of an MLA.