Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

1. After Nehru: the succession question (1964-66)

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• The two questions: "after Nehru, who?" and the harder "after Nehru, what?". Observers feared that India would fail at political succession after Nehru and that the army might take over. They called the 1960s the "dangerous decade".
• Kamaraj Plan (August 1963): K. Kamaraj proposed that senior Congress leaders give up office to work for the party and make way for younger workers. Six Union ministers (including Morarji Desai, Shastri, Jagjivan Ram and S.K. Patil) and six chief ministers (including Kamaraj) resigned. This made the party bosses stronger.
• Nehru to Shastri: Nehru died on 27 May 1964. Gulzarilal Nanda was acting PM. Congress president Kamaraj found a consensus, and Lal Bahadur Shastri was elected leader unanimously. The Guardian (3 June 1964) praised how calmly the change happened.
• Shastri (1964-66): he faced food shortage, drought and the 1965 war. His slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan rallied the country behind soldiers and farmers. He died at Tashkent on 11 January 1966, the day after the Tashkent Declaration (pointer india-external-relations).
• Shastri to Indira Gandhi: Congress MPs chose between her and Morarji Desai by secret ballot. She won with more than two-thirds of the votes (355-169) and took office on 24 January 1966. The Syndicate expected her to depend on them. Lohia mocked her as a "goongi gudiya" (dumb doll).

2. The road to 1967: crisis, unrest and non-Congressism

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• Economic crisis: monsoons failed, food ran short, foreign-exchange reserves fell and military spending rose. Five-year planning was paused (the "plan holiday", 1966-69).
• Devaluation of the rupee (June 1966): the rupee's value was cut, and the move was widely seen as US pressure. The dollar rose from about Rs 4.76 to Rs 7.50 (NCERT: from under Rs 5 to over Rs 7). Prices went up.

• Bandhs and hartals followed. The government treated them as a law-and-order problem, and that made people more bitter.

• Naxalbari uprising (May 1967): a peasant revolt in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal. It led to the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) in 1969, which broke away from the CPI(M). The period also saw very bad Hindu-Muslim riots.

• Neville Maxwell (The Times, 1967) predicted that democracy would fail and the army would rule.
• Non-Congressism: Ram Manohar Lohia's strategy. Opposition parties with very different ideas formed fronts or shared seats so that anti-Congress votes were not split. He argued that Congress rule was undemocratic and against the poor. The same logic shaped the 1977 election.

3. The fourth general election (1967): a "political earthquake"

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• The 1967 general election (February 1967) was the Congress's first without Nehru. Observers called the result a "political earthquake".
• Lok Sabha: the Congress kept a majority, but its tally of 283 of 520 seats and about 41% of the vote was its lowest since 1952. Half the Cabinet lost their seats. So did leaders such as Kamaraj, S.K. Patil, Atulya Ghosh and K.B. Sahay.
• States: the Congress lost power in nine states: Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala. It lost its majority in seven, and defections kept it out in two more. A joke of the time said you could take a train from Delhi to Howrah without crossing a Congress-ruled state.
• Madras: after leading the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation, the DMK won a clear majority and C.N. Annadurai became CM. It was the first non-Congress party to win a majority on its own in any state. The other eight states got coalitions.
• Reasons for the defeat (NCERT exercise): no charismatic leader, quarrels inside the Congress, opposition unity, and the mobilisation of regional, ethnic and communal groups. The 1969 split came later, so it was not a cause.
• The Congress could now be defeated, but no party could yet replace it.

4. Coalitions and defections after 1967

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• Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD): joint legislative parties of non-Congress parties that formed state governments after 1967. The partners' ideas often clashed. Examples:
• Bihar: SSP, PSP, CPI and Jana Sangh.

• Punjab's "Popular United Front": both Akali groups, CPI, CPI(M), SSP, Republican Party and Jana Sangh.

• Most of these governments soon collapsed. They lost their majority, a new combination formed, or President's rule was imposed (Art. 356).

• Defection means an elected member leaving the party on whose symbol they won. Breakaway Congress MLAs installed non-Congress governments in Haryana, MP and UP.
• Aya Ram, Gaya Ram: in 1967 Haryana MLA Gaya Lal changed parties three times in a fortnight, once within nine hours. Rao Birendra Singh then told the press "Gaya Ram was now Aya Ram". Haryana came under President's rule in November 1967.
• Response: the Y.B. Chavan Committee on Defections (set up 1967, reported 1969). The Tenth Schedule came later, through the 52nd Amendment, 1985 (details in political-parties).
• 1967 made hung assemblies and floor-crossing normal and foreshadowed coalitions at the Centre after 1989.

5. Indira Gandhi versus the Syndicate

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• Syndicate: an informal group of powerful Congress organisation leaders. It was led by K. Kamaraj and included S.K. Patil, S. Nijalingappa (Congress president 1968-71), N. Sanjeeva Reddy and Atulya Ghosh. It put Shastri and then Indira Gandhi in office and shaped her first Cabinet. It later formed the Congress (O).
• Trap: Morarji Desai was her rival but is not listed as a Syndicate member.
• Her two tasks:
• Become independent of the Syndicate.

• Win back the ground the Congress lost in 1967.

• Strategy: she relied on trusted advisers from outside the party and sidelined the Syndicate slowly. She also turned a power struggle into an ideological one by giving policy a Left turn.

• Ten Point Programme (CWC, May 1967): a Left-leaning agenda. It included social control of banks, nationalisation of general insurance, ceilings on urban property and income, public distribution of food grains, land reforms and house sites for the rural poor.
• The Syndicate approved the programme formally but had serious doubts. "Social control" of banks (a 1968 change to banking law) was the moderates' alternative to nationalisation. Morarji Desai, Deputy PM and Finance Minister, was the main opponent inside the government.

6. The 1969 presidential election and the Congress split

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• Presidential election of 1969: President Zakir Hussain died in May 1969. Over her objections, the Syndicate made Lok Sabha Speaker N. Sanjeeva Reddy the official Congress candidate. She encouraged Vice-President V.V. Giri to resign and stand as an independent.
• At the same time she nationalised banks and moved against privy purses. Morarji Desai left the government.
• Congress president Nijalingappa issued a whip for Reddy. Her supporters asked for a special AICC meeting and were refused, which is why they were called "requisitionists".
• Conscience vote: she openly asked Congress MPs and MLAs to vote as they wished, against the whip. Giri won.
• This is the only presidential election decided by counting second-preference votes.

• The anti-defection law does not apply to presidential elections, so a party whip there has no legal force.

• Congress split of 1969: on 11 November 1969 Nijalingappa expelled her, writing of "political narcissism". By November 1969 there were two parties:

• the Congress (Organisation), or "Old Congress", led by the Syndicate;

• the Congress (Requisitionists), or "New Congress", led by her.

• She cast the split as socialists against conservatives. Her government became a minority and survived with support from the CPI and the DMK.

7. Bank nationalisation (1969)

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• Bank nationalisation: an ordinance of 19 July 1969 took over 14 big private banks, each with deposits above Rs 50 crore. Six more followed in April 1980.
• Why:
• Banks linked to big business houses lent mainly to large industry and trade.
• Nationalisation was meant to push credit to farming, small industry and weaker sections (priority sectors).

• It aimed to open rural branches and collect savings, which applies Art. 39(b)-(c) (Directive Principles).

• Politics: it announced the Left turn and isolated Morarji Desai, who lost the Finance portfolio.

• R.C. Cooper v. Union of India (1970): the Supreme Court struck down the 1969 Act for discrimination and unfair compensation (Arts. 14 and 31). It also held that a law should be judged by its effect on fundamental rights.
• Parliament re-enacted the takeover through the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.

• The 25th Amendment, 1971 replaced "compensation" with "amount" and added Art. 31C (details in amendment-basic-structure).

• Legacy: more branches, the lead-bank scheme and Regional Rural Banks (1975). Critics point to politically directed lending and bad loans. Mergers in 2019-20 cut public-sector banks to 12 (verify current).

8. Abolition of privy purses

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• Privy purse: an annual, tax-free grant promised to former rulers when their states joined India, fixed by each state's size and revenue. It was guaranteed by:
• Art. 291: privy purses paid from the Consolidated Fund;
• Art. 362: rulers' rights and privileges;

• Art. 366(22): definition of "Ruler".

• Hereditary privilege went against equality. Nehru was uneasy about it. After 1967 Indira Gandhi backed abolition, while Morarji Desai called it a "breach of faith with the princes".

• Legal sequence: 1. The 24th Amendment Bill, 1970 passed the Lok Sabha but fell short of the required two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha (September 1970). 2. The President then derecognised all rulers by an order under Art. 366(22). 3. In the Privy Purses case (Madhav Rao Jivaji Rao Scindia v. Union of India, December 1970), the Supreme Court struck the order down. (NCERT calls it an "ordinance"; it was a presidential order.) 4. Abolition became a 1971 election issue.

• 26th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971: omitted Arts. 291 and 362, inserted Art. 363A (ending recognition of rulers and abolishing privy purses) and amended Art. 366(22). It was upheld in Raghunathrao Ganpatrao v. Union of India (1993).

9. The 1971 election: "Garibi Hatao" versus "Indira Hatao"

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• Minority phase (1969-70): her government stressed socialist aims, pressed for land reforms and passed new land-ceiling laws.
• Early dissolution: she sought a fresh mandate, and the Lok Sabha was dissolved in December 1970, a year early. The 1971 general election was held 1-10 March 1971 (NCERT: February).

• This separated Lok Sabha polls from assembly polls. That is the root of today's "One Nation, One Election" debate (129th Amendment Bill, 2024, verify current).

• Grand Alliance (1971): the major non-communist, non-Congress parties came together: SSP, PSP, Jana Sangh, Swatantra and BKD, with the Congress (O) alongside. It had no shared programme, so she said its only plan was "Indira Hatao" (remove Indira). The Congress (R) allied with the CPI.

• Garibi Hatao ("remove poverty") was her positive programme. It promised:
• growth of the public sector;
• ceilings on rural land and urban property;
• fewer gaps in income and opportunity;

• an end to princely privileges.

• The slogan aimed at landless labourers, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women and jobless youth. It built a direct nationwide base that bypassed local party bosses.

• Result:
• Congress (R)-CPI alliance: 375 seats and 48.4% of the vote.
• Congress (R) alone: 352 seats and about 44%.
• Congress (O): 16 seats.
• Grand Alliance: fewer than 60 seats.

10. Restoration of the Congress system and what changed

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• Consolidation: the 1971 war and the birth of Bangladesh raised her standing (pointer india-external-relations). The Congress swept the 1972 assembly elections and ruled almost every state. She was seen as protector of the poor and a strong nationalist.
• Restoration of the Congress system: Congress dominance came back in a new form. She re-invented the party rather than reviving it.

Old Congress system	New Congress (after 1971)
Social and ideological coalition	Rested on one leader's popularity
Strong organisation, factions accepted inside the party	Weak organisation, few factions
Made room for all interests	Relied on the poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities
Absorbed conflict	Less able to absorb conflict

• NCERT's verdict: she "restored the Congress system by changing the nature of the Congress system itself". A student compares it to changing a table's top and legs but still calling it the old table.
• Sudipta Kaviraj (exercise Q10): a federal, democratic party became centralised. Populism turned ideology into slogans, and "the Congress party as a political organisation died".
• As her authority grew, the space for democratic protest shrank, and unrest grew. This led to the crisis of emergency-1975. The film Zanjeer (1973) and its "angry young man" capture that anger.

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Exam angles

Prelims — high-yield facts and traps

• Chronology: Kamaraj Plan (1963) → Nehru dies (May 1964) → Tashkent (January 1966) → Indira Gandhi becomes PM (January 1966) → devaluation (June 1966) → 4th general election (February 1967) → Naxalbari (May 1967) → Ten Point Programme (May 1967) → banks nationalised (19 July 1969) → Giri elected (August 1969) → Congress splits (November 1969) → R.C. Cooper and Madhav Rao Scindia rulings (1970) → Lok Sabha dissolved (December 1970) → 5th general election (March 1971) → 26th Amendment (1971) → state sweep (1972).
• Slogan and term matches: Shastri – Jai Jawan Jai Kisan; Indira Gandhi – Garibi Hatao; opposition – Indira Hatao; Lohia – non-Congressism; Gaya Lal – Aya Ram, Gaya Ram; Nijalingappa – the whip and the expulsion letter.
• Syndicate: Kamaraj, S.K. Patil, Nijalingappa, Sanjeeva Reddy and Atulya Ghosh. "Morarji Desai was a Syndicate member" – FALSE.
• "In 1967 the Congress lost its Lok Sabha majority and formed a coalition at the Centre" – FALSE. It kept its majority and lost nine states.
• The DMK (1967) was the first non-Congress party to win a majority on its own in a state.
• V.V. Giri stood as an independent and won on second preferences, the only such case. Sanjeeva Reddy later became President unopposed (1977).
• Privy purses: the 26th Amendment, 1971 omitted Arts. 291 and 362 and inserted Art. 363A. The 1970 step struck down was a presidential order, not an ordinance.
• Banks: 14 nationalised in 1969 (deposits above Rs 50 crore) and 6 in 1980. The 1969 Act was struck down in R.C. Cooper (1970).
• "The Grand Alliance included the CPI" – FALSE. It was non-communist, and the CPI was allied with the Congress (R).

Mains — GS-I and GS-II themes

1. Why the "dangerous decade" predictions failed: the peaceful successions of 1964 and 1966 compared with other post-colonial states.
2. 1967 as the end of one-party dominance in the states: coalitions, defections and instability, the case for an anti-defection law, and parallels with coalitions after 1989.
3. Populism and institutions: Garibi Hatao, bank nationalisation and privy-purse abolition as Directive Principle reforms that were also weapons in a factional fight. Did the Left turn deliver?
4. Intra-party democracy: the conscience vote against the whip, and the leader-centred party after 1971 (Kaviraj). Its legacy of high-command culture (link political-parties).
5. Parliament against the judiciary: the Cooper and Madhav Rao Scindia cases as the start of the conflict that led to Kesavananda and the Emergency.
6. How the instability of 1967 and the early dissolution of 1971 broke simultaneous elections, and what that means for One Nation, One Election.

Current-affairs hooks

• State governments changing through defections, Speakers delaying disqualification petitions, and calls to strengthen the Tenth Schedule.
• One Nation, One Election: the Kovind High Level Committee report (March 2024) and the 129th Amendment Bill before a Joint Parliamentary Committee (verify current).
• Cross-voting and appeals to "conscience" in presidential and Rajya Sabha elections.
• Opposition alliances against a dominant party (such as the INDIA bloc) as an echo of non-Congressism.
• Anniversaries of bank nationalisation (19 July) and the debate on privatising public-sector banks.
• Left-wing extremism, which traces back to Naxalbari, and the Union's March 2026 deadline to end it (verify current).