Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System
1. Chapter Overview
2. The Challenge of Political Succession
🔄 Nehru → Shastri (1964)
- Congress President K. Kamaraj consulted party leaders and MPs and found consensus for Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was unanimously chosen — proving the doubters wrong with a smooth transition.
- Shastri, a non-controversial UP leader, had earlier resigned as Railway Minister accepting moral responsibility for a rail accident.
- As PM (1964–66), he faced drought and food crisis (after the China war’s economic strain) and the 1965 war with Pakistan — his slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ symbolised resolve on both fronts.
- Shastri died suddenly in Tashkent on 11 January 1966, hours after signing the Tashkent Agreement with Ayub Khan.
🔄 Shastri → Indira Gandhi (1966)
- Congress faced succession for the second time in two years — this time with real contest, between Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi (Nehru’s daughter, former Congress President, and Information Minister under Shastri).
- Senior party leaders backed Indira Gandhi, though not unanimously; the contest was resolved by secret ballot among Congress MPs — she won with the support of more than two-thirds.
- This peaceful transition, despite intense competition, was seen as a sign of the maturity of India’s democracy.
- Senior leaders may have backed her expecting her administrative/political inexperience to keep her dependent on them — but within a year she had to lead the party into a Lok Sabha election, amid a worsening economy.
3. The Fourth General Elections, 1967
📉 Context — A Perfect Storm
- Two PMs had died in quick succession; the new PM was seen as a political novice with under a year in office.
- Grave economic crisis: failed monsoons, drought, decline in agricultural production, food shortage, depleted foreign exchange reserves, falling industrial output/exports, and rising military expenditure diverting resources from planning.
- Indira Gandhi’s government devalued the rupee (from under Rs 5/dollar to over Rs 7/dollar) under perceived US pressure — this triggered a sharp price rise.
- Frequent bandhs and hartals followed; the government treated these protests as a law-and-order issue rather than genuine grievances, deepening public bitterness.
- Communist and socialist parties launched equality struggles; this period also saw some of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots since Independence.
📊 The Electoral Verdict
- Congress kept its Lok Sabha majority, but with its lowest-ever seat/vote share since 1952 — described as a ‘political earthquake.’
- Half of Indira Gandhi’s cabinet ministers lost their own seats, including stalwarts Kamaraj (Tamil Nadu), S.K. Patil (Maharashtra), Atulya Ghosh (West Bengal), K.B. Sahay (Bihar).
- Congress lost its majority in 7 States outright, and defections blocked it from forming government in 2 more — 9 States in all, spread across the country.
- In Madras State, the DMK (after leading anti-Hindi agitations) won a clear majority on its own — the first time a non-Congress party achieved this in any State.
- In the remaining 8 States, coalition governments of various non-Congress parties took charge.
4. Coalitions and Defections
🏛️ SVD Governments
- Non-Congress parties formed joint legislative parties — Samyukt Vidhayak Dal (SVD) — to support non-Congress governments; partners were often ideologically incongruent.
- E.g., Bihar’s SVD combined socialist SSP & PSP with the CPI (left) and Jana Sangh (right). Punjab’s ‘Popular United Front’ combined rival Akali groups with the CPI, CPI(M), SSP, Republican Party, and Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
🔀 Defection — “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram”
- Defection: an elected representative leaves the party they were elected on and joins another.
- Breakaway Congress legislators played a key role in installing non-Congress governments in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
- The phrase ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’ (literally, ‘Ram came, Ram went’) originated from Haryana MLA Gaya Lal, who switched parties three times in a fortnight in 1967.
- Most non-Congress coalitions did not survive long; either new combinations formed or President’s Rule was imposed. The Constitution was later amended to curb defections.
5. Split in the Congress (1969)
- Indira Gandhi gradually asserted independence, choosing trusted advisers from outside the party and sidelining the Syndicate.
- To build support and give her government a distinct identity, she pushed a Left-oriented Ten Point Programme (May 1967): social control of banks, nationalisation of General Insurance, ceilings on urban property/income, public distribution of foodgrains, land reforms, house sites for the rural poor. The Syndicate approved it formally but had reservations.
🗳️ Presidential Election, 1969 — The Showdown
- After President Zakir Hussain’s death, the Syndicate nominated N. Sanjeeva Reddy as the official Congress candidate.
- Indira Gandhi encouraged Vice-President V.V. Giri to contest as an independent, and simultaneously announced two big populist moves: nationalisation of 14 major banks and abolition of the Privy Purse.
- Deputy PM & Finance Minister Morarji Desai clashed with her over these issues and left the government.
- Congress President Nijalingappa issued a ‘whip’ for Sanjeeva Reddy; Indira Gandhi’s supporters (called ‘requisitionists’) sought an AICC meeting, which was refused. She then called for a ‘conscience vote’ — letting MPs/MLAs vote freely.
- V.V. Giri won — a stinging defeat for the official Congress candidate.
- The party formally split: the Congress President expelled Indira Gandhi; the Syndicate’s faction became Congress (Organisation), hers became Congress (Requisitionists) — also called Old vs New Congress. She framed the split as socialists vs conservatives, pro-poor vs pro-rich.
6. The 1971 Election and Restoration of Congress
⚔️ The Contest — Congress(R) vs the Grand Alliance
- The odds looked stacked against Congress(R) — widely seen as just one weak faction, with the ‘real’ organisational strength believed to lie with Congress(O).
- Major non-communist, non-Congress opposition parties — SSP, PSP, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), Swatantra Party (SWA), Bharatiya Kranti Dal (BKD) — united as the Grand Alliance. Congress(R) allied with the CPI.
- Indira Gandhi said the Grand Alliance’s only real programme was “Indira Hatao” (Remove Indira); she countered with a positive, unifying slogan: “Garibi Hatao” (Remove Poverty).
- Garibi Hatao’s programme: growth of the public sector, land/urban property ceilings, removing income disparities, abolishing princely privileges — targeted at landless labourers, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women, and unemployed youth, building an independent nationwide support base.
- Soon after, the Bangladesh crisis and the 1971 war (Chapter 4) further boosted Indira Gandhi’s popularity — seen as both protector of the poor and a strong nationalist leader.
- Congress swept the 1972 State Assembly elections too — with victories at both Centre and States, Congress dominance was restored within just four years of the 1967 setback.
7. Restoration — But a Different Congress
- The new Congress relied heavily on the popularity of the supreme leader rather than a strong internal organisation — it had a weaker organisational structure.
- With fewer internal factions, it could no longer accommodate the wide range of opinions and interests the old ‘Congress system’ once absorbed.
- It depended more directly on specific social groups: the poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis, and minorities.
- Even as Congress consolidated power and Indira Gandhi gained unprecedented authority, the spaces for democratic expression actually shrank — popular unrest over development and economic deprivation kept growing, setting the stage for the political crisis covered in the next chapter.
8. Key Personalities
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Non-controversial UP leader; General Secretary of Congress; coined ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’; led India through the 1965 war; died in Tashkent after signing the peace agreement.
Indira Gandhi
Nehru’s daughter; former Congress President; led Congress to victory in 1967, 1971, 1980; gave the ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan; abolished Privy Purse, nationalised banks; assassinated 31 October 1984.
K. Kamaraj
Freedom fighter; Congress President; former CM of Madras; leader of the ‘Syndicate’; proposed the 1963 ‘Kamaraj Plan’ asking senior Congressmen to resign for younger workers.
Ram Manohar Lohia
Socialist leader and thinker; coined the strategy of ‘non-Congressism’; known for sharp attacks on Nehru, advocacy of caste-based reservation, and opposition to English.
S. Nijalingappa
Senior Congress leader; former CM of Mysore (Karnataka); Congress President (1968–71); issued the ‘whip’ during the 1969 Presidential poll; formally expelled Indira Gandhi from the party.
V.V. Giri
Congress worker and labour leader; Vice-President (1967–69); resigned to contest the 1969 Presidential election as an independent with Indira Gandhi’s backing — and won.
C.N. Annadurai
CM of Madras (Tamil Nadu) from 1967; led the DMK to a historic majority — the first non-Congress party to win a State on its own; led anti-Hindi agitations.
Karpoori Thakur
CM of Bihar (1970–71, 1977–79); socialist leader and follower of Lohia; introduced reservations for backward classes in Bihar; opposed the use of English.
9. Mind Map — Chapter 5 at a Glance
1964–1966
Lowest-ever seat share
SVD coalitions
Gaya Lal, 1967
1969 Presidential poll
Privy Purse abolished
Grand Alliance defeated
Weaker organisation
10. Summary — Quick Revision
Nehru’s death (May 1964) raised fears about India’s democratic survival. Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded him smoothly, coining ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ while facing drought and the 1965 war — but died suddenly in Tashkent, January 1966.
Indira Gandhi defeated Morarji Desai in a secret Congress MP ballot to become PM in 1966 — a peaceful transition despite real competition, seen as a sign of democratic maturity.
The 1967 elections were a ‘political earthquake’: Congress hit its lowest-ever seat/vote share, lost power in 9 States, and the DMK became the first non-Congress party to win a State outright. This followed Lohia’s ‘non-Congressism’ strategy and severe economic distress (devaluation, price rise, protests).
Non-Congress SVD coalition governments formed in many States, often ideologically incongruent and unstable. Defections became common, giving rise to the phrase ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’ (from Haryana’s Gaya Lal).
Indira Gandhi’s real challenge came from the Congress ‘Syndicate’ of senior leaders. She sidelined them via a Left-leaning Ten Point Programme, then triumphed in the 1969 Presidential election by backing V.V. Giri over the official candidate — leading to a formal Congress split into Congress(O) and Congress(R).
She backed her position with bold populist moves: nationalisation of 14 banks and abolition of the Privy Purse (finally achieved via constitutional amendment after the 1971 win).
In the 1971 election, Congress(R) with the CPI defeated the opposition’s ‘Grand Alliance’ in a landslide, powered by the ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan against the Alliance’s negative ‘Indira Hatao’. Congress(O) was reduced to just 16 seats.
The 1971 war and creation of Bangladesh further boosted Indira Gandhi’s popularity, and Congress swept the 1972 State elections, restoring Congress dominance — but as a new, leader-centric party with a weaker organisational structure than the old ‘Congress system.’
11. Important Terms to Remember
- Non-Congressism: Strategy coined by Ram Manohar Lohia, uniting ideologically disparate non-Congress parties purely to defeat Congress in elections.
- SVD (Samyukt Vidhayak Dal): Joint legislative parties formed by non-Congress parties after the 1967 elections to support coalition governments in several States.
- Defection: An elected representative leaving the party on whose ticket they were elected to join another party.
- Aya Ram, Gaya Ram: Popular phrase describing frequent floor-crossing by legislators, originating from Haryana MLA Gaya Lal’s triple party-switch in a fortnight (1967).
- Syndicate: Informal group of powerful, senior Congress leaders (led by K. Kamaraj) who controlled the party organisation in the 1960s.
- Requisitionists: Name given to Indira Gandhi’s supporters within Congress who requisitioned a special AICC meeting during the 1969 split.
- Privy Purse: Hereditary allowance given to former princely rulers at the time of integration into India; abolished after a constitutional amendment in 1971.
- Garibi Hatao (Remove Poverty): Indira Gandhi’s positive election slogan and programme for the 1971 elections, targeting the poor, landless, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women, and unemployed youth.
- Grand Alliance: Electoral alliance of major non-communist, non-Congress opposition parties (SSP, PSP, BJS, Swatantra, BKD) formed to fight Congress(R) in the 1971 election.