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The Crisis of Democratic Order
How did Janata Party make the 1977 elections into a referendum on the Emergency imposed in 1975 ? Explain.
Janta party had sucessfuly turned the 1977 elections into referendum-
i. As all the opposition parties joined hands against Congress and urged the people to choose any one out of two.
ii. Janta party advocated the cause of democracy and called the period of emergency as the absence of democracy.
iii. JP Narayan became the icon of the opposition and also a symbol for democracy.
iv. Janta party has asked the voters to choose between democracy and dictatorship that was experienced during emergency.
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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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