1946 Indian provincial elections

1946 Indian provincial elections

1946

1585 provincial seats contested
  First party Second party
 
Leader Abul Kalam Azad Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Party INC AIML
Leader's seat Did not contest Byculla
Seats won 923 425

Provincial elections were held in British India in January 1946 to elect members of the legislative councils of the Indian provinces. The Congress, in a repeat of the 1937 elections, won 90% of the general non-Muslim seats, while the Muslim League won the 87% of the Muslim seats in the provinces. Voting in this election was restricted on property-owning qualifications. The franchise under Government of India Act 1935 was quite limited compared to universal suffrage and less than 10% of the population in provinces under direct British control were eligible to vote based on their property and income.

The All India Muslim League verified its claim to be the sole representative of Muslim India. The election laid the path to Pakistan.