1937 Madras Presidency Legislative Assembly election

1937 Madras Presidency legislative assembly election
← 1934 February 1937[1] 1946 →
All 215 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Madras Presidency
  First party Second party
 
Leader C. Rajagopalachari Raja of Bobbili
Party INC Justice Party
Leader's seat Madras University Constituency Bobbili
(lost)
Seats won 159 18
Percentage 73.95% 8.37%
Prime Minister before election

Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu
Justice Party

Elected Prime Minister

C. Rajagopalachari
INC

The first legislative assembly election for the Madras Presidency was held in February 1937, as part of the nationwide provincial elections in British India. The Indian National Congress obtained a majority by winning 159 of 215 seats in the Legislative Assembly. This was the first electoral victory for the Congress in the presidency since elections were first conducted for Madras Legislative Council in 1920. The Justice Party which had ruled the presidency for most of the previous 17 years was voted out of power. The assembly was constituted in July 1937 and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) became the first Congress Prime Minister of Madras.[2][3]

The Congress also won the election held simultaneously for the Legislative Council. The victory in Madras was the Congress' most impressive electoral performance in all the provinces of British India. The Congress Government that was formed after the elections lasted till October 1939, when it resigned protesting India's involvement in the Second World War. The next election was held in 1946.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference rajaraman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Christopher Baker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gov was invoked but never defined (see the help page).