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The Crisis of Democratic Order
It brought the opposition together to form a new party i.e.. the Janata Party under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan. The formation ofb Janata Party also ensured that non-Congress votes would not be divided. This had also ignited the idea of non-Congressism. This factor played a major role in the elections of 1977 as the Congress could win only 154 seats in the Lok Sabha. Its share of popular votes too fell to less than 35 per cent. The Janata Party itself won 295 seats and thus enjoyed a clear mojority.
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• Effects on civil liberties for citizens.
• Impact on relationship between the Executive and Judiciary.
• Functioning of Mass Media.
• Working of the Police and Bureaucracy.
Indian democracy was never so close to a two-party system as it was during the 1977 elections. However, the next few years saw a complete change. Soon after its defeat, the Indian National Congress split into two groups ................ The Janata Party also went through major convulsions ........ David Butler, Ashok Lahiri and Prannoy Roy. –Partha Chatterjee
(a) What made the party system in India look like a two-party system in 1977 ?
(b) Many more than two parties existed in 1977. Why then are the authors describing this period as close to a two-party system ?
(c) What caused splits in Congress and the Janata parties ?
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