<h5 id="challenge-of-political-succession">Challenge Of Political Succession</h5> <ul> <li>Jawaharlal Nehru’s death in 1964 led to the question of political succession in India, with concerns about whether the country’s democratic experiment would continue.</li> <li>Lal Bahadur Shastri, a non-controversial leader, was chosen as the new Prime Minister, facing challenges such as economic implications of the war with China, failed monsoons, drought, food crisis, and a war with Pakistan.</li> <li>Shastri’s sudden death in 1966 led to another succession challenge, with Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi competing for the position. Indira Gandhi, with senior leaders’ support, won the contest and became Prime Minister.</li> <li>Indira Gandhi, despite her political inexperience, led the party in a Lok Sabha election and worked to establish her leadership, facing economic difficulties and setting out to gain control over the party.</li> <li>Indira Gandhi’s time as Prime Minister (1966-1977 and 1980-1984) was marked by policy initiatives like abolition of the Privy Purse, nationalization of banks, and environmental protection. She was known for her slogan ‘garibi hatao’ and her victory in the 1971 war.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="fourth-general-elections-1967">Fourth General Elections, 1967</h5> <ul> <li>The fourth general elections in India, held in 1967, were significant due to the major changes in the country’s political and economic landscape.</li> <li>The economic situation was dire due to consecutive failures of monsoons, drought, decline in agricultural production, food shortage, depletion of foreign exchange reserves, and a sharp rise in military expenditure. The Indira Gandhi government’s decision to devalue the Indian rupee further exacerbated the economic crisis.</li> <li>The election results marked a ‘political earthquake’ with the Congress managing a majority in the Lok Sabha but with its lowest tally of seats and share of votes since 1952. The Congress lost power in nine states across the country, with regional parties like the DMK coming to power in Madras (Tamil Nadu).</li> <li>The elections also brought into picture the phenomenon of coalitions, with various non-Congress parties coming together to form joint legislative parties that supported non-Congress governments. These governments were described as SVD governments.</li> <li>Another important feature of the politics after the 1967 election was the role played by defections in the making and unmaking of governments in the States. The practice of frequent floor crossing by legislators led to the expression ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’. The Constitution was later amended to prevent defections.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="split-in-the-congress">Split In The Congress</h5> <ul> <li>The 1967 elections resulted in the Congress retaining power at the center with a reduced majority, while losing power in many states. Most non-Congress coalition governments in the states did not survive for long.</li> <li>The ‘Syndicate’ was an informal group of Congress leaders, including K. Kamraj, S. K. Patil, S. Nijalingappa, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, and Atulya Ghosh, who had a decisive say in policy formulation and implementation. Indira Gandhi, who owed her position to the Syndicate’s support, attempted to assert her position within the government and the party, sidelining the Syndicate.</li> <li>Indira Gandhi faced two challenges: building her independence from the Syndicate and working towards regaining the ground that the Congress had lost in the 1967 elections. She adopted a bold strategy, converting the power struggle into an ideological struggle by launching a series of Left-oriented initiatives.</li> <li>The factional rivalry between the Syndicate and Indira Gandhi came to a head in the 1969 Presidential elections, following President Zakir Hussain’s death. Indira Gandhi supported V.V. Giri, who won the election, while the Syndicate backed N. Sanjeeva Reddy.</li> <li>The defeat of the official Congress candidate, Sanjeeva Reddy, formalized the split in the party. Indira Gandhi’s group came to be known as the Congress (Requisitionists), while the ‘syndicate’ group was referred to as the Congress (Organisation). This led to a perception of an ideological divide between socialists and conservatives within the party.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="the-1971-election-and-restoration-of-congress">The 1971 Election and Restoration of Congress</h5> <ul> <li>The 1971 election was held in the backdrop of a split in the Congress, with Indira Gandhi’s government continuing in office with the support of a few other parties.</li> <li>The election was recommended by Indira Gandhi’s government to end its dependence on other political parties, strengthen its position in the Parliament, and seek a popular mandate for its programs.</li> <li>The Grand Alliance, an electoral alliance of major non-communist, non-Congress opposition parties, was formed to contest the election against Indira Gandhi’s Congress(R)-CPI alliance.</li> <li>Indira Gandhi’s Congress(R) won the election with a landslide majority, securing 44% of the popular votes and winning 352 seats in Lok Sabha. The Grand Alliance was a grand failure, with their combined tally of seats being less than 40.</li> <li>The election established the Congress party led by Indira Gandhi as the ‘real’ Congress and restored its dominant position in Indian politics.</li> </ul> <p>======</p>