The Reforms of 1909 & Controversy of Indian Electoral System

In 1909, the government introduced some constitutional reforms in Indian, to please the moderate leaders and strengthen their position in the congress. These reforms are named after Morley, the secretary of the state for India, who piloted the bill through the British Parliament. Though it was the first true attempt at introducing a representative and popular element, it was not free from flaws. The real aim of the reforms was to divide the nationalist ranks and to check the growth of unity among Indians. 

The reforms introduced the system of separate electorate, under which all the muslims were gathered in separate constituencies from which only muslim candidates could be elected. It was claimed to have been done to protect the muslim minority. But in reality the reforms was an attempt to divide the Hindus and Muslims, to strengthen British supremacy in India by checking the growth of national unity in India. 

However, it may be said that the reforms set the stage for the adoption of parliamentary system in India. In this Act the number of members in the Central legislative Council was fixed to 60, and the members were provided a very weak right to question the budget. But this Act provided separate electorates, and religion became the base in the Indian politics. 

This Act led further the communal politics and ultimately the way shown leading to the division of India. Thus the provision of excessive weightage, separate electorate and preferential voting rights for the muslims introduced a cardinal problem and ground of controversy at every revision of the Indian electoral system which ultimately resulted in the partition of the country.