1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum
The North-West Frontier Province referendum (Pashto: د شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ایالت ټولپوښتنه) was held in July 1947 to decide whether the North-West Frontier Province {Now Called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa} of British India would join the Dominion of India or Pakistan upon the Partition of India. The polling began on 6 July and the results were made public on 20 July. Out of the total population of 4 million in the NWFP, only 572,798 were eligible to vote, of whom only 51.00% voted in the referendum. 289,244 (99.02%) of the votes were cast in favor of Pakistan and only 2,874 (0.98%) in favor of India.
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Should the North-West Frontier Province join India or Pakistan? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by district. All 6 Districts voted for Pakistan by over whelming margin of 99% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
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| History of Pakistan |
The NWFP Chief Minister Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (Dr. Khan Sahib), his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and the Khudai Khidmatgars boycotted the referendum, citing that it did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan. Their appeal for boycott had an effect, as according to an estimate, the total turnout for the referendum was 15% lower than the total turnout in the 1946 elections.