1952 Coorg State Legislative Assembly election

1952 Coorg Legislative Assembly election
24 seats in the Coorg Legislative Assembly; 13 seats needed for a majority
Registered	138,440
Turnout	63.53%
	Elected CM ; C. M. Poonacha; INC

The 1952 Coorg Legislative Assembly election was held to constitute the Coorg Legislative Assembly, electing members of legislature for 18 constituencies of the erstwhile Indian State of Coorg. It took place on 27 March 1952 and a total of 87,947 people voted 24 out of 60 candidates to power. This was the only election to the assembly before the State was merged into Mysore (later renamed as Karnataka) as per the States Reorganisation Act in 1956.^[1]^[2]

Constituencies

A total of 24 seats were up for election from 18 constituencies; six two-member constituencies and twelve single-member constituencies. No seats were reserved for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.^[3]

Contestants

Sixty candidates contested the election. The Indian National Congress presented candidates in all 24 constituencies. There were also 34 independent candidates.^[3] The Takkadi Party, which campaigned against merger into Mysore State, contested as independents.^[1] The Takkadi Party was led by Pandyanda Belliappa, a veteran Gandhian.^[1] A third force in the election was the Communist Party of India, that only presented two candidates (C.B. Monniah in Hudikeri and B.N. Kuttappa in Siddapur).^[3] No female candidates were in the fray.^[3]

Results

The Indian National Congress (INC) emerged victorious, winning 15 out of the 24 seats. The INC leader C. M. Poonacha won his seat from the Berriathnad constituency, with 1,969 votes (71.37 per cent of the votes polled in the constituency). Nine independent candidates won the remaining seats. Belliappa won his seat Ammathi Nad with 1,667 votes (57.25 per cent of votes polled). INC candidates got 55.54 per cent of the votes polled statewide, independents 42.88 per cent and the two communist candidates 1.58 per cent.^[3] The candidate with the highest percentage of votes polled in his favour was G. Lingarajayya, the INC candidate in Fraserpet, who polled 2,375 votes (71.64 per cent).^[3]

Summary of results of the 1952 Coorg Legislative Assembly election^[3]

	Political party	Flag	Candidates	Won	% of Seats	Votes	Vote %
	Indian National Congress		24	15	62.50	48,845	55.54
	Independent		34	9	37.50	37,716	42.88
	Communist Party of India		2	0		1,386	1.58
Total				24	Voters: 138,440 Turnout 87,947 (63.53%)

Members of the Coorg Legislative Assembly, 1952

Keys: Indian National Congress (15) Independent (9)

No.	Constituency	Name of elected MLA	Party affiliation
1	Sanivarasanthe	P. K. Chennayya	Indian National Congress
1	Sanivarasanthe	K. Mallappa	Indian National Congress
2	Somwarpet North	C. K. Kalappa	Indian National Congress
3	Somwarpet South	H. T. Muthanna	Independent
4	Fraserpet	G. Lingarajayya	Indian National Congress
5	Sunticoppa	Gundugutti Manjanathaya	Indian National Congress
5	Sunticoppa	P. Lakha	Indian National Congress
6	Mercara Town	B. S. Kushalappa	Indian National Congress
7	Murnad	C. A. Mandanna	Indian National Congress
8	Mercara Nad	P. D. Subbaiah	Indian National Congress
9	Srimangala Nad	K. P. Karumbayya	Independent
9	Srimangala Nad	G. Subbaiah	Independent
10	Hudikeri	K. K. Ganapathy	Independent
11	Berriath Nad	C. M. Poonacha	Indian National Congress
12	Ponnampet Nad	Yeravara Belli	Indian National Congress
12	Ponnampet Nad	P. Nanamaya	Indian National Congress
13	Virajpet Town	N. G. Ahamed	Independent
14	Virajpet Nad	Harijan Nanja	Independent
14	Virajpet Nad	P. C. Uthayya	Independent
15	Ammathi Nad	Pandyanda Belliappa	Independent
16	Siddapur	Bettakurubara Kala	Indian National Congress
16	Siddapur	Muruvanda Machaiah	Indian National Congress
17	Napoklu Nad	A. C. Thimmaiah	Independent
18	Bhagamandala Nad	Konana Devaiah	Indian National Congress

After the election, Poonacha formed a two-member cabinet, consisting of himself as Chief Minister and Kuttur Mallapa (elected to the assembly from the Sanivarsanthe constituency) as Home Minister.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Coorg and the reorganisation of States". C.M. Ramachandra. The Hindu. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
^ "Reorganisation of States, 1955" (PDF). The Economic Weekly. 15 October 1955. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 : To the Legislative Assembly of Coorg" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2020.

[TheHindu-1] "Coorg and the reorganisation of States". C.M. Ramachandra. The Hindu. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.

[1955ReorgStates-2] "Reorganisation of States, 1955" (PDF). The Economic Weekly. 15 October 1955. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[CoorgECI1951-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 : To the Legislative Assembly of Coorg" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2020.

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