Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the preparation of the electoral roll for the first general elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage in India along the unfolding consequences of partition. It analyses the implications of this process for the institutionalisation of India’s democratic nationhood

Paper long abstract:

This study explores the preparation of the electoral roll for the first general elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage in India as a key processes in the forging of India's nationhood at a moment of myriad ruptures that threatened the integrity of the new nation state. While the partition of the subcontinent was taking place, more than 560 princely states were being integrated into the union and in anticipation of a constitution, enrolling an electorate of more than 173 million people became, the paper shows, a way of building nationhood. The preparation of the roll dealt in the most practical ways with the question of membership in the new nation. National elections became a central ritual in reproducing India's democratic nationhood since independence. The foundation of this ritual was laid during the making of universal franchise. Contrary to the perception that democratic nationhood in India was simply endowed from above, the paper demonstrates that there was extensive agency from below in this process. It draws on newly accessed and original primary source materials from Indian government archives.