General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the fifth Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections since independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518 constituencies, each with a single seat. Under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, the Indian National Congress (R) led a campaign which focused on reducing poverty and won a landslide victory, overcoming a split in the party and regaining many of the seats lost in the previous election.
Background.
Congress party split.
During Indira Gandhi's previous term, there had been internal divisions in the Indian National Congress caused by various initiatives of her administration like nationalisation of banks, coal and steel, abolition of the privy purse and increasing closeness with the Soviet Union, steps that were considered to be too left-wing by the Congress high command consisting of centre-right leaders like Morarji Desai, K. Kamaraj, Atulya Ghosh, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, S. K. Patil and others. In 1969 she was expelled from the party by party president S. Nijalingappa, causing a split. Most of the Congress MPs and grassroots support joined Gandhi's Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) faction, which was recognised by the Election Commission as being the successor to the previous party. 31 MPs who opposed Gandhi formed Indian National Congress (Organisation) party.
Minority government.
The Second Indira Gandhi government, formed in November 1969 and dissolved in March 1971, was the first minority government in independent India. After the split, the INC(R) held 221 seats in the 523-seat parliament, 41 seats short of a majority. However, Gandhi and her cabinet remained in power by relying on outside support from left-wing parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (26 seats), the Communist Party of India and its recently formed breakaway faction, the CPI(Marxist) (who together had 42 seats), giving the government a total of 289 seats, a comfortable majority and far more than the minimum of 262 seats required for a majority. Knowing that her minority government would eventually fall, on 27 December 1970, President V.V. Giri dissolved the Lok Sabha at the recommendation of Gandhi.
Opposition alliance.
INC(O) formed a pre-poll alliance with Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP), Praja Socialist Party (PSP), the Swatantra Party and Bharatiya Jana Sangh BJS and several other regional parties opposed to the INC(R). They agreed to field one candidate against the INC(R) candidate in every constituency in order to defeat Gandhi's party.
Results.
Despite the split, the ruling faction gained votes and seats to win a strong majority, while the Grand Alliance was badly trounced and lost more than half of their seats.
Aftermath.
On 12 June 1975 the Allahabad High Court invalidated the result in Gandhi's constituency on the grounds of electoral malpractices. Instead of resigning, Indira Gandhi called a state of emergency, suspending democracy and outlawed political opposition. After democracy was restored in 1977, the opposition Congress faction formed a coalition of parties called the Janata Party, which inflicted the Congress's first electoral defeat.
References.
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