Politics After An Emergency

Politics after an emergency

In January 1977, after eighteen months of emergency, the government decided to hold elections. Accordingly, all the leaders and activists were released from jail. Elections were held in March 1977.

The major opposition parties had already been coming closer in the pre-Emergency period. Now they came together on the eve of the elections and formed a new party, known as the Janata Party. The new party accepted the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan. Some leaders of Congress who were opposed to the Emergency also joined this new party.

Some other Congress leaders also came out and formed a separate party under the leadership of Jagjivan Ram. This party named Congress for Democracy, later merged with the Janata Party.

The Janata Party made this election into a referendum on the Emergency. Its campaign was focused on the non-democratic character of the rule and on the various excesses that took place during this period.

For the first time since Independence, the Congress party was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress could win only 154 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Janata Party and its allies won 330 out of the 542 seats in the Lok Sabha.

The opposition fought the election on the slogan of ‘save democracy’. The people’s verdict was decisively against the Emergency. The lesson was clear and has been reiterated in many state-level elections thereafter – governments that are perceived to be anti-democratic are severely punished by the voters.

The opposition to Emergency could keep the Janata Party together only for a while. Its critics felt that the Janata Party lacked direction, leadership, and a common programme. The Janata Party government could not bring about a fundamental change in policies from those pursued by the Congress.

The Janata Party split and the government, which was led by Morarji Desai, lost its majority in less than 18 months. Another government headed by Charan Singh was formed on the assurance of the support of the Congress party. But the Congress party later decided to withdraw its support with the result that the Charan Singh government could remain in power for just about four months.

Fresh Lok Sabha elections were held in January 1980 in which the Janata Party suffered a comprehensive defeat, especially in north India where it had swept the polls in 1977. Congress party led by Indira Gandhi nearly repeated its great victory in 1971.

The experience of 1977-79 taught another lesson in democratic politics: governments that are seen to be unstable and quarrelsome are severely punished by the voters.