ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the selection of Congress candidates for the 1951—1952 elections in Bombay, and places this process within a longer history of the gradual transition to democracy in India. It reveals how politicians Congress members and the wider Indian public saw the nomination of Congress candidates as an opportunity to construct, engage with and apply different ideas about suitable democratic conduct and forms of representative government to India's nascent democracy. The chapter argues that demands for the selection of particular Congress candidates was at times justified on the basis of their majority caste or linguistic identity within that particular electoral ward. It explores how non-Brahman politics were still being accommodated within the Congress Party as late as 1951, particularly as concerns about Maratha dominance characterised discussions regarding the candidate selection process in western India.
