Politics in India since Independence 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 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 months. Fresh Lok Sabha elections were held in January in which the Janata Party suffered a comprehensive defeat, especially in north India where it had swept the polls in . Congress party led by Indira Gandhi nearly repeated its great victory in .
It won seats and came back to power. The experience of – taught another lesson in democratic politics: governments that are seen to be unstable and quarrelsome are severely punished by the voters. Legacy But was it only a case of return of Indira Gandhi? Between the elections of and the party system had changed dramatically.
Since , the Congress party had starting shedding its character as an umbrella party which accommodated leaders and workers of different ideological dispensations and view points. The Congress party now identified itself with a particular ideology, claiming to be the only socialist and pro-poor party. Thus with the early nineteen seventies, the Congress’s political success depended on attracting people on the basis of sharp social and ideological divisions and the appeal of one leader, Indira Gandhi. With the change in the nature of the Congress party, other opposition parties relied more and more on what is known in Indian politics as ‘non-Congressism’.
They also realised the need to avoid a division of non-Congress votes in the election. This factor played a major role in the elections of . In an indirect manner the issue of welfare of the backward castes also began to dominate politics since . As we saw above, the results of elections were at least partly due to a shift among the backward castes of north India.
Following the Lok Sabha elections, many states also held Assembly elections in . Again, the northern States elected non-Congress governments in which the leaders of the backward castes played an important role. The issue of reservations for ‘other backward classes’ became very controversial in Bihar and following this, the Mandal Commission was appointed by the Janata party Jagjivan Ram ( – ): Freedom fighter and Congress leader from Bihar; Deputy Prime Minister of India ( - ); member of Constituent Assembly; also a Member of Parliament since till his death; Labour Minister in the first ministry of free India; held various other ministries from to ; a scholar and astute administrator.