Does Congress Represent All? - Page 176

WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE TO THE UNTOUCHABLES : A FALSE CLAIM 147

in New Delhi on March 19, and 20, 1987. In that connection, the Congress issued a bulletin in which their names are given. Taking that information as accurate, the following appears to be the strength of the Congress in each Provincial Legislature :—

Table 6

Congress Strength in Provincial Assemblies

Province Total Strength of the Assembly Congress Strength in the Assembly
Assam ... ... ... Bengal ... ... ... Bihar ... ... ... Bombay ... ... ... C. P. and Berar ... ... Madras ... ... ... Orissa ... ... ... ... Punjab ... ... ... Sind ... ... ... U.P ... ... ... ... N.W.F.P. ... ... ... Total ... ... ... 108 250 152 175 112 215 60 175 60 228 50 35 60 95 85 70 159 36 18 8 134 19
1,585 719

Table 7

Congress Strength in Provincial Councils

Province Total Strength of the Council Congress Strength in the Council
Assam ... ... ... ... Bengal ... ... ... ... Bihar ... ... ... ... Bombay ... ... ... ... Madras ... ... ... ... Total ... ... ... 18 57 26 26 46 Nil 10 8 14 26
173 58

These tables show that taking the two Houses together the Congress secured 777 seats out of a total of 1,758. The Congress obviously is not a majority party. It did not secure even half the number of seats.

This is the position of the Congress in terms of the number of seats. What is the position of the Congress in terms of voting strength ? The following figures will show that even in point of voting strength the Congress came out as a minority.