While preparing modern Indian history for UPSC, I keep seeing the Poona Pact summarised as replacing separate electorates with reserved seats in joint electorates. I understand the labels, but not exactly how a candidate would have been selected and elected.
Where I am getting stuck
Accounts of the pact also mention a primary election involving voters from the Depressed Classes—the historical term used in the agreement. If those voters first selected a panel of candidates, how was that arrangement different from the separate electorates proposed in the Communal Award?
Could someone explain who voted at each stage under the original 1932 agreement, using one hypothetical provincial seat? I would also like to know how far that procedure can be compared with reserved constituencies in modern India, without treating the two systems as identical.
