ABSTRACT
With the integration of about 30 princely states of this hilly region, Himachal Pradesh came into existence on 15 April 1948 as a chief commissioner’s province. When the Indian Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, the chief commissioner’s provinces (except the Andaman and Nicobar islands) became Part ‘C’ states. With this, Himachal also became a Part ‘C’ state of the Indian Union which constituted an important landmark in establishing the democratic process in the state (Verma 1995: 146–59). The former princely states had entirely undemocratic political structures; society was highly feudal and the economy extremely primitive. After the integration of these princely states into Himachal Pradesh and the first general elections in 1952, the people of Himachal Pradesh got their first representative government.
