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DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
candidates and how many in favour of Non-Congress Untouchable candidates :
| Col1 | Table 10 | Col3 | Col4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Province | Voting by Untouchable Voters | ||
| In favour of Congress | Against Congress | Total of Un- touchable Votes cast in the Election | |
| United Provinces ... ... Madras ... ... ... ... Bengal ... ... ... ... Central Provinces ... ... Bombay ... ... ... ... Bihar ... ... ... ... Punjab ... ... ... ... Assam ... ... ... ... Orissa ... ... ... Total ... ... ... | 52,909 126,152 59,646 19,507 12,971 8,654 Nil 5,320 5,878 | 79,571 195,464 624,797 115,354 158,076 22,187 69,126 22,437 8,707 | 132,180 321,616 684,443 134,861 171,047 30,841 69,126 27,757 14,585 |
| 290,737 | 1,295,719 | 1,586,456 |
It is well-known that the number of seats captured by a party is not always in proportion to the number of votes cast in favour of the party and often a party carries a majority of seats with a minority of votes. This is particularly true where the single member constituency system prevails as it does in India. The real strength is measured by the number of votes secured by the party. Applying this test, it is clear that out of 1,586,456 votes only 290,737 i.e., eighteen per cent have been cast in favour of the Congress. Eighty-two per cent have been against the Congress. Can there be any evidence more conclusive against the Congress claim to represent the Untouchables ? Congressmen may not accept voting strength as a measuring rod. They may continue to base the claim of the Congress to represent the Untouchables on the ground of seats captured. No sane man will look upon 78 out of
151 or majority of five as a victory worth talking about. As a matter of fact the Congress claim even on the basis of seats is futile. For, a further analysis of the Election Returns shows that the Congress far from capturing a majority of seats got only a minority of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes.
If the credit side of the Congress is to be real and not bogus, then the following deductions must be made from the total of 78 which the Congress has won: