Question

When was Universal Adult Franchise granted in India?
A.1948
B.1950
C.1952
D.1954

Answer 1

Hint: Universal Adult Franchise or Universal Suffrage is meant to provide all citizens, who have attained the age of 18 (previously 21), the right to vote regardless of their gender, religion, caste, class, ethnicity, wealth, income, place of birth, etc. This feature forms the very basis of democracy. The Preamble declares that the source of sovereign authority is the people of India The universal adult franchise ensures that in a democratic setup, the government is of the people, by the people and for the people. It was adopted in the Indian Constitution as a basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.

Complete Step by Step answer: Let’s look at the options one by one :
Option A: 1948 is incorrect.
Option B: 1950 is correct. The universal adult franchise was granted on Jan 26, 1950, when the Constitution of India formally came into effect. It replaced the Government of India Act of 1935 as the governing document of India.
Option C: 1952 is incorrect. This is essentially when the citizens of India exercised their right to vote during the Lok Sabha general elections of 1951-52.
Option D: 1954 is incorrect.

Hence, Option b is correct

Note: : Under the 1935 Government of India Act, the franchise was extended to over 30 million people, which was only about one- fifth of the total population of the subcontinent. Post-Independence, the Universal suffrage provided in the Constitution set the age of voting at 21 years. The 61st Amendment to the Constitution in 1988 lowered the age of voting in elections from 21 to 18 years.