Emerging political trends from 1977 to 2000 - class-VIII

In a major turn of events, the ruling Congress lost control of India for the first time in independent India in the Indian general election, 1977. The hastily formed, Janata alliance of parties opposed to the ruling Congress party, won 298 seats.

The elections in the largest state Uttar Pradesh, historically a Congress stronghold, turned against Mrs. Gandhi. Dhanagare says the structural reasons included the emergence of a strong and united opposition, disunity and weariness within the Congress, an effective opposition and the failure of Mrs. Gandhi in controlling the mass media, which was under censorship during the Emergency.

In practice president's rule has been imposed under different circumstances such as these: State Legislature is unable to elect a leader as Chief Minister breakdown of a coalition loss of majority in the assembly elections postponed for unavoidable reasons

In the event that a State government is not able to function as per the Constitution, the State comes under the direct control of the central government.

The Janata alliance reminded voters of the excesses and human rights violations during the Emergency, like compulsory sterilisation and imprisonment of political leaders. The Janata campaign said the elections would decide whether India would have "democracy or dictatorship."

Agriculture and Irrigation Minister of Congress party  Babu Jagjivan Ram quit the party in the first week of February.

Congress hit an all-time low in West Bengal, according to the Gangulys, because of poor discipline and factionalism among Congress activists as well as numerous defections that weakened the party.

It is "under President's rule". Subsequently, executive authority is exercised through the centrally appointed Governor, who has the authority to appoint retired civil servants or other administrators to assist him.

In the Republic of India, the phrase "President's rule" refers to the imposition of Article 356 of the Constitution of India on a State whose constitutional machinery has failed.

The Assam Movement was a popular movement against illegal immigrants in Assam from 1979 to 1985. The movement, led by All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the 'All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad' (AAGSP).

The agitation program ended in August 1985 following the Assam Accord, which was signed by leaders of AASU-AAGSP and the Government of India.

If approved by both houses, President's Rule can continue for 6 months. It can be extended for maximum 3 years with approval of Parliament in every 6 months.

Indira Gandhi regime and post-emergency Janata Party were noted for this practice. Indira Gandhi's government between 1966 and 1977 is known to have imposed President' rule in 39 times in different states.

Similarly like Congress,  Janta Party which came to power after the emergency had issued President's rule in 9 states which were ruled by Congress.

The agitation leaders formed a political party, Asom Gana Parishad. It came to power in the state of Assam in the Assembly elections of 1985 and later in 1996.

The Assam Movement was a popular movement against illegal immigrants in Assam. The movement, led by All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the 'All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad' (AAGSP), developed a program of protests and demonstration to compel the government to identify and expel illegal immigrants.

On 27 November 1979, AASU-AAGSP combine called for the closure of all educational institutes and picketing in state and central government offices. Mass picketing was arranged in front of all polling offices where candidate nominations could be filed, in the first week of December 1979.

Politics in West Bengal is dominated by the following major political parties: the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Indian National Congress (also known as Congress(I)), and the Trinamool Congress. All three are leading a regional bloc of parties; the CPI(M) heads the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress has emerged as the main component of the UPA in the state, while the Congress(I) generally head informal alliances of various minor parties that align ahead of elections.

The Shriomani Akali Dal continued to protest against the ban as an attack on the civic rights of the people. It gave an ultimatum that, if the ban was not withdrawn by May 10, 1955, it would launch a mass agitation.

On 21 June 1977 the Left Front formed a government with Jyoti Basu as its Chief Minister. The first cabinet meeting of the Left Front government orders the release of political prisoners.

In the 1977 Lok Sabha election the Left Front contested 26 out of the 42 West Bengal Lok Sabha constituencies; CPI(M) fielded candidates for 20 seats, RSP 3 seats and AIFB 3 seats. CPI(M) won 17 seats, AIFB 3 seats and RSP 3 seats. The combined Left Front vote in West Bengal reached 5,049,077 votes (33.4% of the votes cast in the state).

The Socialist Party joined the Left Front after the 1977 elections. Prior to the arrival of the Left Front government, the political environment of West Bengal was chaotic, and the new cabinet struggled to establish order.

The Indian National Congress was defeated for the first time in the General Elections of Parliament in the year 1977. Elections were conducted immediately after emergency was called off. Opposition parties namely INCO (M. Desai), Bhartiya Lok Dal (Charan Singh) and Bhartiya Jan Sangh (Vajpayee) formed a grand alliance called Janata Party. Congress lost badly and Janata Party alliance won.

In 1999 the 'National Democratic Alliance' came to power under the flag of Bharatiya Janata Party and Atal Bihari Vajpayee become India's Prime Minister.

The Narasimha Rao Government started economic reforms from 1991. These economic reforms are called as economic liberalisation. The Indian economy flourished as a result of the implementation of this policy.

Any country which have nuclear weapons can declare them as nuclear power. India conducted a number of nuclear tests in 1998 and declared herself as an atomic power. 

In the Lok Sabha elections, held in 1977, Mrs. Gandhi and Sanjay both lost their Lok Sabha seats, as did all the Congress Candidates in Northern states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Many Congress Party loyalists deserted Mrs. Gandhi. The Congress was reduced to just 153 seats, 92 of which were from four of the southern states. The Janata Party's 298 seats and its allies' 47 seats (of a total 542) gave it a massive majority.