ERA of ONE-PARTY DOMINANCE

I India’s first General elections of 1952 – landmark in history of democracy :

a) Elections were Competitive:
Elections were competitive. there were on an average more than four candidates for each seat.
b) The level of participation was encouraging:
More than half the eligible voters turned out to vote on the day of elections.
c ) Results declared in a free manner:
When the results were declared these were accepted as fair even by the losers.
d) Critics proved wrong:
The Indian experiment had proved the critics wrong. The Times of India held that the polls have
“confounded all those skeptics who thought the introduction of adult franchise too risky an experiment in
this country”. The Hindustan Times claimed that “there is universal agreement that the
Indian people have conducted themselves admirably in the largest experiment in democratic elections in
the history of the world”. Observers outside India were equally impressed.
e) Proved democracy could be practiced even in poor and illiterate country like India:
India’s general election of 1952 became a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world. It was
no longer possible to argue that democratic elections could not be held in conditions of poverty or lack of
education. It proved that democracy could be practiced anywhere in the world.

II. Nature of Congress Dominance during the first General elections: ( factors contributing to
victory of Congress)
1) Congress was Inheritor of the national movement:
Congress Party was formed in 1885 Many leaders who were in the forefront of that struggle were now
contesting elections as Congress candidates. It enjoyed appeal amongst the masses.

2) Presence of Charismatic & Popular leaders:

In Jawaharlal Nehru, the party had the most popular and charismatic leader in Indian politics. He led the
Congress campaign and toured through the country.

3 ) Well organized Party :

a) It was the only party then to have an organisation spread all over the country. By the time of
Independence, the party had not only spread across the length and breadth of the country but also had
an organisational network down to the local level.

b) The Congress was already a very well-organised party and by the time the other parties could even
think of a strategy, the Congress had already started its campaign.
c) Enjoyed first off, the block advantage: In fact, many parties were formed only around Independence
or after that. Thus, the Congress had the ‘first off the blocks’ advantage. Whatever the opposition
wanted to say already found a mention in Congress programmes & policies.

4) The state elections were held with the Lok Sabha elections.
When the results were declared, the extent of the victory of the Congress did surprise many. The party
won 364 of the 489 seats in the first Lok Sabha and finished way ahead of any other.

1
challenger. The Communist Party of India that came next in terms of seats won only 16 seats. The
Congress scored big victory in those elections as well. It won a majority of seats in all the states
except Travancore-Cochin (part of today’s Kerala), Madras and Orissa. Finally, even in these states
the Congress formed the government. So, the party ruled all over the country at the national and the
state level.

5) Electoral victory of Congress artificially boosted by FPTP system:

a) In this system of election, that has been adopted in our country, the party that gets more votes than
others tend to get much more than its proportional share.
b) That is exactly what worked in favour of the Congress. If we add up the votes of all the non-
Congress candidates, it was more than the votes of the Congress. But the non-Congress votes were
divided between different rival parties and candidates. So, the Congress was still way ahead of the
opposition and managed to win.
c) The Congress won three out of every four seats, but it did not get even half of the votes.

6) Inclusive nature of Congress as a Party:

a) Congress began as a party dominated by the English speaking, upper caste, upper middle-class
and urban elite. But with every civil disobedience movement it launched, its social base widened.

b) By the time of Independence, the Congress was transformed into a rainbow-like social coalition
broadly representing India’s diversity in terms of classes and castes, religions and languages and
various interests.

III. Congress as a Social and Ideological Coalition:

SOCIAL Coalition:
a) Evolution from a pressure group to a mass party:
Congress evolved from its origins in 1885 as a pressure group for the newly educated, professional,
and commercial classes to a mass movement in the twentieth century. This laid the basis for its
eventual transformation into a mass political party and its subsequent domination of the political system.
b) Gradual widening of its social base:
Congress began as a party dominated by the English speaking, upper caste, upper middle-class and urban
elite. But with every civil disobedience movement it launched, its social base widened. It brought
together diverse groups, whose interests were often contradictory.
c) Representative of India’s diversity:
Peasants and industrialists, urban dwellers and villagers, workers and owners, middle, lower and
upper classes, and castes, all found space in the Congress. Gradually, its leadership also expanded
beyond the upper caste and upper-class professionals to agriculture-based leaders with a rural
orientation.
d) Rainbow like social coalition:
By the time of Independence, the Congress was transformed into a rainbow-like social coalition.
broadly representing India’s diversity in terms of classes and castes, religions and languages and
various interests.

Ideological Coalition:
1) Groups within Congress holding different beliefs:

2
Many of the groups merged their identity within the Congress. Very often they did not and continued to
exist within the Congress as groups and individuals holding different beliefs. In this sense the
Congress was an ideological coalition as well.
2) Accommodation of all shades:
Congress accommodated the revolutionary and pacifist, conservative and radical, extremist and
moderate and the right, left and all shades of the centre.
3) Congress as platform to various groups:
The Congress was a ‘platform’ for numerous groups, interests, and even political parties to take part
in the national movement. In pre-Independence days, many organisations and parties with their own
constitution and organisational structure were allowed to exist within the Congress.
4) Help build consensus:
Some of these, like the Congress Socialist Party, later separated from the Congress and became
opposition parties. Despite differences regarding the methods, specific programmes, and policies the
party managed to contain if not resolve differences and build a consensus.

IV Congress as a grand Centrist Party: ( HOTS question can be Period of 1952 is described as the
Congress system of Indian politics’. Analyse the factors contributing to the Congress dominance.)

1) Coalition like Character – a strength of the Congress

This coalition-like character of the Congress gave it an unusual strength.

2) Compromise and Inclusiveness’ hallmark of a coalition

Firstly, a coalition accommodates all those who join it. Therefore, it has to avoid any extreme position
and strike a balance on almost all issues. Compromise and inclusiveness are the hallmarks of a
coalition. This strategy put the opposition in a difficulty. Anything that the opposition wanted to
say, would also find a place in the programme and ideology of the Congress.

3) Greater Tolerance of Internal differences and ambitions of various groups and leaders & their
accommodation:
In a party that has the nature of a coalition, there is a greater tolerance of internal differences and
ambitions of various groups and leaders are accommodated. The Congress did both these things during
the freedom struggle and continued doing this even after Independence. That is why, even if a group
was not happy with the position of the party or with its share of power, it would remain inside the
party and fight the other groups rather than leaving the party and becoming an ‘opposition.

4) Internal factionalism – a strength of the Congress:

These groups inside the party are called factions. The coalitional nature of the Congress party tolerated
and in fact encouraged various factions. Some of these factions were based on ideological
considerations but very often these factions were rooted in personal ambitions and rivalries. Instead
of being a weakness, internal factionalism became a strength of the Congress. Since there was room
within the party for various factions to fight with each other, it meant that leaders representing
different interests and ideologies remained within the Congress rather than go out and form a new
party.

5) Factions made Congress appear more like a grand centrist party:

a) Most of the state units of the Congress were made up of numerous factions. The factions took
different ideological positions making the Congress appear as a grand centrist party.
b) The other parties primarily attempted to influence these factions and thereby indirectly
influenced policy and decision making from the “margins”. They were far removed from the actual
exercise of authority.

3
6) Congress as a balancing Mechanism:
They were not alternatives to the ruling party; instead, they constantly pressurised and criticised, censured
and influenced the Congress. The system of factions functioned as balancing mechanism within the
ruling party. Political competition therefore took place within the Congress. In that sense, in the
first decade of electoral competition the Congress acted both as the ruling party as well as the
opposition. That is why this period of Indian politics has been described as the ‘Congress system.’

V. Role of Opposition Parties (during the period of 1950s)

1) Presence of large number of vibrant opposition parties:

a) It is not that India did not have opposition parties during this period. Example of such parties may
include as CPI, Bhartiya Jana Sangh, Prajatantra Socialist party etc
b ) Even then India had a larger number of diverse and vibrant opposition parties than many other
multi-party democracies. Some of these had come into being even before the first general election of
1952. Some of these parties played an important part in the politics of the country in the ’sixties and
’seventies. The roots of almost all the non-Congress parties of today can be traced to one or the
other of the opposition parties of the 1950s.
2) Help in keeping the democratic character alive:
All these opposition parties succeeded in gaining only a token representation in the Lok Sabha and state
assemblies during this period. Yet their presence played a crucial role in maintaining the democratic
character of the system.
3) Serve as keeping a check on the Ruling Party:
These parties offered a sustained and often principled criticism of the policies and practices of the
Congress party. This kept the ruling party under check and often changed the balance of power
within the Congress. By keeping democratic political alternative alive, these parties prevented the
resentment with the system from turning anti-democratic.
4) Help in Grooming of the future leaders:
These parties also groomed the leaders who were to play a crucial role in the shaping of our country.
In the early years there was a lot of mutual respect between the leaders of the Congress and those of
the opposition. The interim government that ruled the country after the declaration of Independence and
the first general election included opposition leaders like Dr. Ambedkar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in
the cabinet. Jawaharlal Nehru often referred to his fondness for the Socialist Party and invited socialist
leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan to join his government. This kind of personal relationship with and
respect for political adversaries declined after the party competition grew more intense.

VI Difference between One Party Dominance and One Party System: (difference between India’s
and other nations)

One Party dominance means that a single party enjoys monopoly of power over a long period of time
and exclusion of other parties to reach power. Example Congress in India continue to dominate the Indian
Politics during the first three general elections (1952, 1957 & 1962) .

One Party system is a form of arrangement where the country is ruled by a single political party,
meaning only one party exists and the other political parties are not constitutionally allowed to participate
in an open electoral competition, or their formation is forbidden. Example China, Cuba.

In the rest of the cases the dominance of one party was ensured by compromising democracy. In
some countries like China, Cuba and Syria the constitution permits only a single party to rule the country.
Some others like Myanmar, Belarus, Egypt, and Eritrea are effectively one-party states due to legal and
military measures. Until a few years ago, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan were also effectively one-
party dominant states.

4
What distinguished the dominance of the Congress party in India from all these cases was it
happened under democratic conditions. Many parties contested elections in conditions of free and
fair elections and yet the Congress managed to win election after election. This was similar to the
dominance the African National Congress has enjoyed in South Africa after the end of apartheid.

VII . Difficulties faced by the Election Commission in conduct of First General Election in India :

1) India’s Size:
Election Commission discovered that it was not going to be easy to hold a free and fair election in a
country of India’s size – big in size an having a large population of diverse groups.
2) Fixing of Electoral Constituencies an uphill task:
Holding an election required delimitation or drawing the boundaries of the electoral constituencies.
3) Preparation of Electoral Rolls:
It also required preparing the electoral rolls, or the list of all the citizens eligible to vote. Both these tasks
took a lot of time. When the first draft of the rolls was published, it was discovered that the names of
nearly 40 lakh women were not recorded in the list. They were simply listed as “wife of …” or
“daughter of …”. The Election Commission refused to accept these entries and ordered a revision if
possible and deletion if necessary. Preparing for the first general election was a mammoth exercise.
4) Scale of Elections required a special method of Voting:
No election on this scale had ever been conducted in the world before.
a) At that time there were 17 crore eligible voters, who had to elect about 3,200 MLAs and 489
Members of Lok Sabha.
b) Only 15 per cent of these eligible voters were literate.
Therefore, the Election Commission had to think of some special method of voting. The Election
Commission trained over 3 lakh officers and polling staff to conduct the elections.
5) First General Election was the first big test of democracy in a poor & illiterate country:
It was not just the size of the country and the electorate that made this election unusual. The first general
election was also the first big test of democracy in a poor and illiterate country. Till then democracy had
existed only in the prosperous countries, mainly in Europe and North America, where nearly
everyone was literate. By that time many countries in Europe had not given voting rights to all
women. In this context India’s experiment with universal adult franchise appeared very bold and
risky.

VIII. SWTANTRA PARTY:

FORMED IN:
Swatantra Party was formed in August 1959 after the Nagpur resolution of the Congress which called
for land ceilings, take-over of food grain trade by the state and adoption of cooperative farming.

Leaders:
C. Rajagopalachari, K.M.Munshi, N.G.Ranga and Minoo Masani.

KEY AREAS:
a) The Swatantra Party wanted the government to be less and less involved in controlling the
economy.
b) It believed that prosperity could come only through individual freedom.
c) It was critical of the development strategy of state intervention in the economy, centralised
planning, nationalisation and the public sector.
d) It instead favoured expansion of a free private sector.

5
 e) The Swatantra Party was against land ceilings in agriculture, and opposed cooperative farming
and state trading.
f) It was also opposed to the progressive tax regime and demanded dismantling of the licensing
regime.
g) It was critical of the policy of non-alignment and maintaining friendly relations with the Soviet
Union and advocated closer ties with the United States.
SUPPORT BASE:
The Swatantra Party gained strength in different parts of the Country by way of merger with numerous
regional parties and interests. It attracted the landlords and princes who wanted to protect their land
and status that was being threatened by the land reforms legislation. The industrialists and business
class who were against nationalisation and the licensing policies also supported the party.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:
Its narrow social base and the lack of a dedicated cadre of party members did not allow it to build a
strong organisational network.

IDEOLOGY: CENTRE RIGHT.

SYMBOL: White star on a blue backdrop.

IX: BHARATIYA JANA SANGH:

FORMED IN:
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951 with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as its founder-President.
Its lineage however can be traced back to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu
Mahasabha before Independence.

LEADERS:
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Deen Dayal Updahyay Balraj Madhok.

KEY PROGRAMMES:
a) emphasised the idea of one country, one culture and one nation and believed that the country
could become modern, progressive and strong on the basis of Indian culture and traditions.
b) b) The party called for a reunion of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat.
c) The party was in forefront of the agitation to replace English with Hindi as the official language
of India and was also opposed to the granting of concessions to religious and cultural minorities.
d) The party was a consistent advocate of India developing nuclear weapons especially after China
carried out its atomic tests in 1964

SUPPORT BASE:

In the early years its support came mainly from the urban areas in the Hindi speaking states like
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

ELECTORAL PROSPECTS:
In the 1950s Jana Sangh remained on the margins of the electoral politics and was able to secure only 3
Lok Sabha seats in 1952 elections and 4 seats in 1957 general elections to Lok Sabha.

6
IDEOLOGY: Rightist.

SYMBOL: Lamp(Diya)

X. COMMUNIST PARTY
FORMED IN
In the early 1920s communist groups emerged in different parts of India taking inspiration from the
Bolshevik revolution in Russia and advocating socialism as the solution to problems affecting the
country. From 1935, the Communists worked mainly from within the fold of the Indian National
Congress. A parting of ways took place in December 1941, when the Communists decided to support
the British in their war against Nazi Germany.

LEADERS:
A. K. Gopalan, S.A. Dange, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, P.C. Joshi, Ajay Ghosh and P. Sundarraya were among

SUPPORT BASE: Soon after Independence, the party thought that the transfer of power in 1947 was not
true independence and encouraged violent uprisings in Telangana. The Communists failed to generate
popular support for their position and were crushed by the armed forces. This forced them to rethink
their position. In 1951 the Communist Party abandoned the path of violent revolution and decided to
participate in the approaching general elections. In the first general election, CPI won 16 seats and
emerged as the largest opposition party. The party’s support was more concentrated in Andhra
Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Kerala.

IDEOLOGY: leftists.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE:
Unlike other non-Congress parties the CPI had a well-oiled party machinery and dedicated cadre at the
time of Independence.

XI: CONGRESS SOCIALIST PARTY:

FORMED IN:
The origins of the Socialist Party can be traced back to the mass movement stage of the Indian
National Congress in the pre-independence era. The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was formed within
the Congress in 1934 by a group of young leaders who wanted a more radical and egalitarian
Congress. In 1948, the Congress amended its constitution to prevent its members from having a dual-
party membership. This forced the Socialists to form a separate Socialist Party in 1948.

LEADERS:
Jayaprakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta, Acharya Narendra Dev, Rammanohar Lohia
and S.M. Joshi.

The socialists believed in the ideology of democratic socialism which distinguished them both from the
Congress as well as from the Communists. They criticised the Congress for favouring capitalists and
landlords and for ignoring the workers and the peasants.
But the socialists faced a dilemma when in 1955 the Congress declared its goal to be the socialist
pattern of society. Thus it became difficult for the socialists to present themselves as an effective

7
alternative to the Congress. Some of them, led by Rammanohar Lohia, increased their distance from
and criticism of the Congress party. Some others like Asoka Mehta advocated a limited cooperation
with the Congress.

The Socialist Party went through many splits and reunions leading to the formation of many socialist
parties. These included the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, the Praja Socialist Party and Samyukta Socialist
Party.

Many parties in contemporary India, like the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal
(United) and the Janata Dal (Secular) trace their origins to the Socialist Party.
----------------------------------------------------xxxxx--------------------------------------------------------------------
CHALLENGES & RESTORATION of CONGRESS SYSTEM

I. SYNDIACATE & Role Played by the Syndicate in the Congress Party (during 1960s)

Syndicate was the informal name given to a group of Congress leaders who were in control of the
party’s organisation.
It was led by
K. Kamraj, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and then the president of the Congress party. It
included powerful State leaders like
S. K. Patil of Bombay city (later named as Mumbai),
S. Nijalingappa of Mysore (later Karnataka),
N. Sanjeeva Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and
Atulya Ghosh of West Bengal.
K.B.Sahay of Bihar.

a) Both Lal Bahadur Shastri and later Indira Gandhi owed their position to the support received
from the Syndicate.
(Details mentioned below to be written only when the question on the role of Syndicate is asked for a
direct 4 marker)

When Nehru passed away, K. Kamraj, the president of the Congress party consulted party leaders
and Congress members of Parliament and found that there was a consensus in favour of Lal Bahadur
Shastri. He was unanimously chosen as the leader of the Congress parliamentary party and thus
became the country’s next Prime Minister.

Death of Nehru and Shastri ji - This time there was an intense competition between Morarji Desai
and Indira Gandhi. Morarji Desai had earlier served as Chief Minister of Bombay state (today’s
Maharashtra and Gujarat) and also as a Minister at the centre. Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal
Nehru, had been Congress President in the past and had also been Union Minister for Information in the
Shastri cabinet. This time the senior leaders in the party decided to back Indira Gandhi, but the
decision was not unanimous. The contest was resolved through a secret ballot among Congress
MPs. Indira Gandhi defeated Morarji Desai by securing the support of more than two-thirds of the
party’s MPs
b ) This group had a decisive say in Indira Gandhi’s first Council of Ministers and also in policy
formulation and implementation.
c) After the Congress split the leaders of the syndicate and those owing allegiance to them stayed
with the Congress (O). Since it was Indira Gandhi’s Congress (R) that won the test of popularity, all
these big and powerful men of Indian politics lost their power and prestige after 1971.

8
II. Challenges faced by Indira Gandhi from the Syndicate:
Indira Gandhi faced twin challenges from the Syndicate.

1) Build & Assert her own Independence from the Syndicate:

a) While Indira Gandhi had been politically active for very long, she had served as a minister under Lal
Bahadur Shastri only for a short period. The senior Congress leaders may have supported Indira
Gandhi in the belief that her administrative and political inexperience would compel her to be
dependent on them for support and guidance.
b) The real challenge to Indira Gandhi came not from the opposition but from within her own party.
She had to deal with the ‘syndicate’, a group of powerful and influential leaders from within the
Congress. The Syndicate had played a role in the installation of Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister by
ensuring her election as the leader of the parliamentary party. Syndicate leaders expected Indira
Gandhi to follow their advice.
c) Within a year of becoming Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi had to lead the party in a Lok Sabha
election. Around this time, the economic situation in the country had further deteriorated, adding
to her problems. Faced with these difficulties, she set out to gain control over the party and to
demonstrate her leadership skills.
d) Gradually, however, Indira Gandhi attempted to assert her position within the government and
the party. She chose her trusted group of advisers from outside the party. Slowly and carefully, she
sidelined the Syndicate. (example nominating V.V. Giri as a candidate for the Presidential post of
India against official candidate Sanjeeva Reddy, In order to end her dependence on other political
parties, strengthen her party’s position in the Parliament, and seek a popular mandate for her programmes,
Indira Gandhi’s government recommended the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in December 1970. This was
another surprising and bold move.)
2) Indira adopted a bold strategy & changed party orientation to socialist credentials:
She also needed to work towards regaining the ground that the Congress had lost in the 1967
elections. Indira Gandhi adopted a very bold strategy. She converted a simple power struggle into an
ideological struggle. She launched a series of initiatives to give the government policy a Left
orientation. She got the Congress Working Committee to adopt a Ten Point Programme in May
1967. This programme included social control of banks, nationalisation of General Insurance, ceiling
on urban property and income, public distribution of food grains, land reforms and provision of
house sites to the rural poor. While the ‘syndicate’ leaders formally approved this Left-wing
programme, they had serious reservations about the same.

III. Reasons for the Popularity of Indira Gandhi & Role played by her in Restoration of the
Congress: ( in the early period of 1970s)

1) Positive Agenda and a positive slogan:

The new Congress had something that its big opponents lacked – it had an issue, an agenda and a
positive slogan. The Grand Alliance did not have a coherent political programme.
a) Indira Gandhi said that the opposition alliance had only one common programme: Indira Hatao
(Remove Indira). In contrast to this, she put forward a positive programme captured in the famous
slogan: Garibi Hatao (Remove Poverty).
b) She focused on the growth of the public sector, imposition of ceiling on rural land holdings and
urban property, removal of disparities in income and opportunity, and abolition of princely
privileges.
c ) Through garibi hatao Indira Gandhi tried to generate a support base among the disadvantaged,
especially among the landless labourers, Dalits and Adivasis, minorities, women and the

9
unemployed youth. The slogan of garibi hatao and the programmes that followed it were part of Indira
Gandhi’s political strategy of building an independent nationwide political support base.

2) Victory in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971:

a) In order to end her dependence on other political parties, strengthen her party’s position in the
Parliament, and seek a popular mandate for her programmes, Indira Gandhi’s government
recommended the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in December 1970. This was another surprising and
bold move. The fifth general election to Lok Sabha were held in February 1971.

These points are also answer to a Question on Outcomes of the Fifth General Elections)

b) 1) The Congress(R)-CPI alliance won more seats and votes than the Congress had ever won in
the first four general elections.
2) The combine won 375 seats in Lok Sabha and secured 48.4 per cent votes.
3) Indira Gandhi’s Congress(R) won 352 seats with about 44 per cent of the popular votes on its
own.
4)Contrast this with the performance of the Congress(O): the party with so many stalwarts could get less
than one-fourth of the votes secured by Indira Gandhi’s party and win merely 16 seats.
5) With this the Congress party led by Indira Gandhi established its claim to being the ‘real’ Congress
and restored to it the dominant position in Indian politics.
6) The Grand Alliance of the opposition proved a grand failure. Their combined tally of seats was
less than 40.

3) Tied over the public sentiment to her advantage (victory in Indo Pak war of 1971) :
a) Soon after the 1971 Lok Sabha elections, a major political and military crisis broke out in East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
b) The 1971 elections were followed by the crisis in East Pakistan and the IndoPak war leading to the
establishment of Bangladesh. These events added to the popularity of Indira Gandhi. Even the
opposition leaders admired her statesmanship.
4) Proved her own statesmanship: Her party swept through all the State Assembly elections held in
1972. She was seen not only as the protector of the poor and the underprivileged, but also a strong
nationalist leader. The opposition to her, either within the party or outside of it, simply did not matter.
With two successive election victories, one at the centre and other at the State level, the dominance
of the Congress was restored. The Congress was now in power in almost all the States. It was also
popular across different social sections. Within a span of four years, Indira Gandhi had warded off
the challenge to her leadership and to the dominant position of the Congress party.

IV. Restoration of Congress:

1) Indira Reinvented the Party :

What Indira Gandhi had done was not a revival of the old Congress party. In many ways she had re-
invented the party.
2. Party enjoyed similar Popularity as it did in the past :
The party occupied a similar position in terms of its popularity as in the past.
3. Relied on Supremacy of the leader:
It was a different kind of a party. It relied entirely on the popularity of the supreme leader.
4. Had Weak Organisational structure/ Relied on some social groups :
It had a somewhat weak organisational structure. This Congress party now did not have many factions, thus
it could not accommodate all kinds of opinions and interests. While it won elections, it depended more

10
on some social groups: the poor, the women, Dalits, Adivasis and the minorities. This was a new
Congress that had emerged.
5. Did not absorb all shades of opinion and interests:
Indira Gandhi restored the Congress system by changing the nature of the Congress system itself. Despite
being more popular, the new Congress did not have the kind of capacity to absorb all tensions and
conflicts that the Congress system was known for.
6. New Congress of Indira was no longer an Umbrella like Organization or a Grand Centrist Party:
While the Congress consolidated its position and Indira Gandhi assumed a position of unprecedented
political authority, the spaces for democratic expression of people’s aspirations shrank. The popular
unrest and mobilisation around issues of development and economic deprivation continued to grow.

V. 1967 Elections - 4 th General Elections A Political Earthquake ( Reasons of Congress Loss/ Outcome
of Elections

The results jolted the Congress at both the national and state levels. Many contemporary political
observers described the election results as a ‘political earthquake’.

1. Congress with lowest tally of votes and share of seats:

The Congress did manage to get a majority in the Lok Sabha, but with its lowest tally of seats and share
of votes since 1952.

2. Syndicate members lost in their constituencies :

Half the ministers in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet were defeated. The political stalwarts who lost in their
constituencies included Kamaraj in Tamil Nadu, S.K. Patil in Maharashtra, Atulya Ghosh in West
Bengal and K. B. Sahay in Bihar.

3. Congress lost in several states:

a)The dramatic nature of the political change would be more apparent to you at the State level. The
Congress lost majority in as many as seven States.
b) In two other States defections prevented it from forming a government. These nine States where
the Congress lost power were spread across the country .
Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala.
4. First time Non-Congress party secures a majority of its own in any state:
In Madras State (now called Tamil Nadu), a regional party — the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) came to power by securing clear majority. The DMK won power after having led a massive
anti-Hindi agitation by students against the centre on the issue of imposition of Hindi as the official
language. This was the first time any non-Congress party had secured a majority of its own in any
State.
5. Coalition governments of several non Congress Parties came to power :
In the other eight States, coalition governments consisting of different non-Congress parties were formed.
A popular saying was that one could take a train from Delhi to Howrah and not pass through a single
Congress ruled State.

VI . What is Defection? In which states did Congress rule?

An 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.

11
6. Defection means an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he/she was elected
and joins another party.
After the 1967 general election, the breakaway Congress legislators played an important role in installing
non-Congress governments in three States - Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The
constant realignments and shifting political loyalties in this period gave rise to the expression ‘Aya Ram,
Gaya Ram’.

VII. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION (1969) Consequences on the Party:

1. Death of Zakhir Hussain :

Following President Zakir Hussain’s death, the post of President of the India fell vacant that year.

2 . Syndicate nominated Sanjeeva Reddy as the Official Congress Candidate:

a) Despite Mrs Gandhi’s reservations the ‘syndicate’ managed to nominate her long-time opponent
and then speaker of the Lok Sabha, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, as the official Congress candidate for the
ensuing Presidential elections.
b) Indira Gandhi retaliated by encouraging the then Vice-President, V.V. Giri, to file his
nomination as independent candidate.

3. Party President issued a whip :

The then Congress President S. Nijalingappa issued a ‘whip’ asking all the Congress MPs and MLAs
to vote in favour of Sanjeeva Reddy, the official candidate of the party.

4. Indira’s Supporters:
Supporters of Indira Gandhi requisitioned a special meeting of the AICC (that is why this faction
came to be known as ‘requisitionists’) but this was refused.
5. Appeal for Conscience Vote by Indira:
After silently supporting V.V. Giri, the Prime Minister openly called for a ‘conscience vote’ which meant
that the MPs and MLAs from the Congress should be free to vote the way they
want.
6. Defeat of Sanjeeva Reddy:
The election ultimately resulted in the victory of V.V. Giri, the independent candidate, and the defeat of
Sanjeeva Reddy, the official Congress candidate.

Consequences:

a) The defeat of the official Congress candidate formalised the split in the party.
b) The Congress President expelled the Prime Minister from the party; she claimed that her group
was the real Congress.
c)
By November 1969, the Congress group led by the ‘syndicate’ came to be referred to as the
Congress (Organisation) and the group led by Indira Gandhi came to be called the Congress
(Requisitionists).

These two parties were also described as Old Congress and New Congress. Indira
Gandhi projected the split as an ideological divide between socialists.
and conservatives, between the pro-poor and the pro-rich.

12
Q: What were SVD Governments? Explain with examples why were SVD governments
ideologically incongruent?

ANS: Since no single party had got majority, various nonCongress parties came together to form joint
legislative parties (called Samyukt Vidhayak Dal in Hindi) that supported non-Congress governments.
That is why these governments came to be described as SVD governments.
In most of these cases the coalition partners were ideologically incongruent.
The SVD government in Bihar, for instance, included the two socialist parties – SSP and the PSP –
along with the CPI on the left and Jana Sangh on the right.

In Punjab it was called the ‘Popular United Front’ and comprised the two rival Akali parties at that
time – Sant group and the Master group – with both the communist parties – the CPI and the CPI(M),
the SSP, the Republican Party and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Please remember to do the readings of the chapter(s) &

1. All box information from the chapter.
2. Picture Based Questions.
3. CBSE related material (Ram Manohar Lohia, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Jay Prakash Narain, Democratic
Upsurge)
4. Technical terms: Minority government, SVD government, Grand Alliance, Non Congressism,
Syndicate

Best Wishes
Maneesha Joshi

13