Fourth General Elections, The year is considered a landmark year in India’s political and electoral history. In Chapter Two you read about how the Congress party was the dominant political force throughout the country from onwards. This trend was to undergo significant changes with the elections. Context of the elections In the years leading up to the fourth general elections, the country witnessed major changes.
Two Prime Ministers had died in quick succession, and the new Prime Minister, who was being seen as a political novice, had been in office for less than a year. You will recall from the discussion in Chapter Three and in the previous section of this chapter that the period was fraught with grave economic crisis resulting from successive failure of monsoons, widespread drought, It must have been difficult for her – one woman in a world dominated by men. Why don’t we have more women in positions like that? Credit: Raghu Rai