CRITIQUE OF THE PROPOSALS........ 525
and other parties at a disadvantage. If the Indian National Army trial had not been staged at the time of the election the Congress would have lost completely, so low was its stock.
Apart from these two reasons why the election results should not have been as a test, there is a special reason why it should not have been taken to determine whether the Congress did or did not represent the Scheduled Castes. That reason is that the final elevation for the Scheduled Castes seats is by a system of joint electorate in which the Hindus also vote. The Hindus vote being preponderent it is easy for the Congress to elect a candidate belonging to the Scheduled Castes standing for the Scheduled Caste seats entirely by Hindu votes. That the Scheduled Castes representatives in the Provincial Legislatures who stood on the Congress ticket were elected solely by Hindu votes and not by the votes of the Scheduled Castes is a fact which even the Cabinet Mission will not be able to deny.
The real test by which to determine whether the Congress represents the Scheduled Castes is to examine the results of the Primary Elections which preceded the Final Elections, for in the Primary Election the Scheduled Castes have a separate electorate in which the Hindus have no right to vote. The Primary Election therefore reflects the real sentiments of the Scheduled Castes. What does the result of the Primary Election show ? Does it show that the Scheduled Castes are with the Congress ?
The Scheduled Castes have been allotted 151 seats in the Provincial Legislatures. They are distributed among the different Provinces except Sindh and the North-west Frontier Province.
Primary Election is not obligatory. It becomes obligatory only if there are more than four candidates contesting for a seat.
In the last Primary Election which preceded the Final Election, Primary Election became obligatory in 40 constituencies out of
- They were distributed as follows :—
Madras … … 10
Bombay … … 3
Bengal … … 12
United Provinces … 3
Central Provinces … 5
Punjab … … 7