Explain any three factors responsible for the dramatic victory of Indira Gandhi in the elections of 1971.

Or

Explain any three reasons for the defeat of Congress Party in the 1977 elections. Reasons for the defeat of the Congress Party in 1977.

The factors responsible for Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s dramatic win in 1971 were:

(i) The grand alliance did not have a coherent political programme. Congress had something which its opponents lacked – it had an issue, an agenda and a positive
slogan.

(ii) Indira Gandhi said that the opposition alliance had only one common programme i.e. ‘Indira Hatao (Remove Indira)‟,’in contrast to this, she put forward a positive programme captured in the famous slogan: ‘Garibi Hatao’.

(iii) Through Garibi Hatao, she tried to generate a support base among the disadvantaged especially among landless labourers, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women and the unemployed youth. This was part of her political strategy of building an independent nationwide political support base.
                                                                     Or

(i) The excesses committed during the emergency i.e. misuse of police and administrative power, role of certain people who had no official position, denial of civil liberties, arrest of political workers and restrictions on the press.

(ii) The 1977 elections turned into a referendum on the experience of the Emergency. The opposition fought the election on the slogan of ‘Save Democracy’. People‟s verdict was decisively against the excesses of emergency.

(iii) The opposition parties came together and formed a new party, the Janta Party and accepted the leadership of Jayprakash Narayan. The public opinion was against the congress. Jayprakash Narayan became the symbol of restoration of democracy. Also, the formation of the Janata Party ensured that the non- Congress votes would not be divided and the going would be tough for the Congress.