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Era of One-party Dominance
Explain any three causes of the split in the Congress Party in 1969.
OR
Explain the circumstances that led to the mid-term elections in 1980. Cause of split in the Congress Party in 1969
The causes:
(i) Differences between Indira and the Syndicate
(ii) Nomination of N. Sanjeev Reddy as official candidate for the post of President of India in 1969, which was against the wishes of Indira Gandhi.
(iii) Revolutionary steps taken by Indira Gandhi were not welcomed by the old Congress leaders .
(iv) Indira Gandhi supported V.V.Giri as an independent Candidate for the post of President of India.
(v) The defeat of N. Sanjeev Reddy led to the split of the Congress Party Circumstances that led to the mid-term election in 1980
Or
(i) The opposition to an emergency could not keep the Janta Party together for a long time . The Janta Party lacked direction,leadership and a common programme.
(ii) Janta party government could not bring about a fundamental change in policies from those pursued by the Congress earlier.
(iii) The Janta Party split and the government which was led by Morarji Desai lost its majority in less than 18 months.
(iv) Another government headed by Charan Singh was formed on the assurance of the support of the Congress Party. But the Congress Party later decided to withdraw its support with the result that Charan Singh Government could remain in powerfor just four months.
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“Patel, the organisational man of the Congress; wanted to purge the Congress of other political groups and sought to make of it a cohesive and disciplined political party. He ...sought to take the Congress away from its all–embracing character and turn it into a close-knit party of disciplined cadres. Being a ‘realist’ he looked more for discipline than for comprehension. While Gandhi took too romantic a view of “carrying on the movement”, Patel’s idea of transforming the Congress into strictly political party with a single ideology and tight discipline showed an equal lack of understanding of the eclectic role that the Congress, as a government, was to he called upon to perform in the decades to follow.” — Rajni Kothari
(a) Why does the author think that Congress should not have been a cohesive and disciplined party?
(b) Give some examples of the eclectic role of the Congress party in the early years.
(c) Why does the author say that Gandhi’s view about Congress future was romantic ?
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