Janata Party (1974–77): Creation of an All-India Opposition

Abstract

This article focuses on the interactions among four parties during 1974-77 that led to their combining to form the Janata Party, which represented a united opposition to the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi and her Congress government in January 1977. These inter-party exchanges remain an overlooked episode in the works on the Janata Party, when compared to its much written about the failure in government (1977-79). Forty years on, Janata Party's formation continues to be understood as a natural and inevitable response to the imposition of emergency by Mrs Gandhi in June 1975. This article, instead, focuses on the engagements among the leaders of the Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD), Congress (O), Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) and the Socialist Party (SP) before, during and after the emergency and contends that Janata's creation was neither a foregone conclusion nor a straightforward process. Second, this coming together of disparate individuals owed more to the possibility of gaining power and personal inclinations than any political principles or policy impulses. Third, while Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) is rightly celebrated as the rival protagonist in oppositional politics to Mrs Gandhi, this article argues that there were limits to his leadership in forging the new party and there was no automatic evolution of the latter from the former. This article is based on the papers of JP and his secretary Brahmanand and, supplemented by other relevant material, shows an unheralded facet of an attempt, which might have come to power on hyperbole but its formation was hard work.

Challenges and Hurdles Regarding Free and Fair Elections in India: A Study of Voters' Opinion

“…There should also be a responsible government in which the executive is accountable to the legislature, the legislature to the people, and the judiciary is independent. (Ankit, 2017). Political institutions, such as political parties, pressure groups, and interest groups, such as non-governmental organizations and associations, must be functioning to articulate the populace's wants, needs, and frustrations.…”

Rethinking powers of political: The national emergency and the J. P. movement in Rahi Masoom Raza’s Katra Bi Arzoo

“…Rakesh Ankit (2017) has argued that the oppositional politics and unity of the Janata Party in the face of Indira Gandhi's Emergency were not an inevitable construct. Instead, these oppositional parties were riven by their vested interests, which should be engaged with: Jayaprakash Narayan gave the clarion call of "Total Revolution" and it was up to these groups of varying ideologies and interests to harness J. P.'s call with their organisational strength.…”

“…The fact that Gauri Shankar Pandey conveniently leaves the Congress, after the Emergency, to join the Janata Party so that he remains in power, reveals the distortions of the system which even J. P.’s revolution could not alter. Rakesh Ankit (2017) has argued that the oppositional politics and unity of the Janata Party in the face of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency were not an inevitable construct. Instead, these oppositional parties were riven by their vested interests, which should be engaged with:Jayaprakash Narayan gave the clarion call of “Total Revolution” and it was up to these groups of varying ideologies and interests to harness J. P.’s call with their organisational strength.…”

“…Instead of new image, ideals and ethos for tomorrow, the leaders had been trying to bring about an arrangement, a compromise. (Ankit, 2017: 41, 52)…”

‘Wave Elections’, Charisma and Transformational Governance in India

“…Internal contradictions surfaced within three years, leading to acrimonious splits and ultimate collapse of the multi-party coalition government. As the Janata constituents lacked effective leadership, compelling ideas and broad-based organisation, resultant squabbles and rivalries, once in power, robbed them of any chance at that moment of marking a long-term watershed in Indian politics (Ankit, 2017). Congress seized the opportunity and contested the snap national polls in 1980 on the plank of providing political stability under the time-tested leadership of Indira Gandhi.…”