COMMUNAL DEADLOCK AND A WAY TO SOLVE IT 363
to know the communal distribution of the membership of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies. The following table sums up the position :
Distribution of Seats by Communities in the Provincial Legislative Assemblies*
Communities General Women University Trade Com- Land Unions merce lords [Total]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Hindus .. 651 26 7 33 31 22 770
Muslims .. 482 10 1 5 6 13 517
Scheduled Castes. 151 .. .. .. .. .. 151
Indian Christians. 20 1 .. .. .. .. 21
Anglo-Indians .. 11 1 .. .. .. .. 12
Sikhs .. 34 1 .. .. .. 1 36
Europeans .. 26 .. .. .. 19 1 46
Aboriginals .. 24 .. .. .. .. .. 24 Total .. 1,399 39 8 38 56 37 1,577
Has the communal reservation made by the Sapru proposal, and which is not to be found in the Cripps proposal, any value ? That depends upon how far one community will be able to influence the election of the members of the other communities ? What are the prospects in this regard ? Let me give another table :
Voting strength in relation to seats
(+)Excess of voters over (–)Deficiency of voters below requirement
Number of votes required for electing the quota
Communities Voters for Constituent Assembly
Quota of seats in the Constituent Assembly
Hindus .. 778 51 561 + 217
Muslims .. 561 51 517 + 44
Scheduled Castes .. 151 20 220 – 69
Indian Christians .. 21 7 77 – 56
Sikhs .. 36 8 88 – 52
Europeans .. 46 1 11 + 35
From this table the following conclusions emerge :
(i) Taking the total votes to be 1577 and the total number to be elected
160, the quota under the proportional system of representation would roughly come to 10 + 1 = 11.
*The distribution of seats for (1) Universities; (2) Trade Unions, (3) Commerce and (4) Landlords among the communities does not stand for an exact figure. It is based on guess as to how they may be divided among the communities having regard to the relative position.