6.1 Why This Chapter Matters — The Crisis of 1975

In the previous chapter you read how the Congress recovered after 1971, but became a different kind of party in the process. Between 1973 and 1975 a chain of events challenged India's democratic politics and the institutional balance designed by the Constitution. These developments led to the imposition of an Emergency^? in June 1975. We usually associate the word emergency with war or natural calamity. But this Emergency was imposed on the ground of a perceived threat of internal disturbance. It ended as suddenly as it began — leading to the defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections of 1977.

This chapter focuses on that twenty-one-month phase in the history of Indian democracy and asks four questions that have remained controversial:

• Why was the Emergency imposed? Was it really necessary?
• What did the imposition of the Emergency mean in practice for ordinary citizens?
• What were the consequences of the Emergency for party politics?
• What are the lessons of the Emergency for Indian democracy?

6.2 Background — A Party in Power and a Country Under Strain

The political changes that began in 1967 had continued. Indira Gandhi had emerged as a towering and tremendously popular leader — but party competition had also become bitter and polarised. Tensions developed between the government and the judiciary. The Supreme Court had found several government initiatives in violation of the Constitution. The Congress took the position that the Court's stand was against the principles of democracy and parliamentary supremacy. The Congress also alleged that the Court was a conservative institution and was becoming an obstacle in the way of pro-poor welfare programmes. Opposition parties, on the other hand, argued that politics was becoming too personalised — that governmental authority was being converted into personal authority. The 1969 split in the Congress^? had sharpened the divisions between Indira Gandhi and her opponents.

6.2.1 The Economic Context — When "Garibi Hatao" Met Reality

The 1971 elections had been fought on Indira Gandhi's emotive slogan garibi hatao^? ("remove poverty"). However, the social and economic condition of the country did not improve much after 1971–72. The Bangladesh crisis had put a heavy strain on India's economy. About eight million people had crossed over from East Pakistan into India, followed by the 1971 war. After the war, the U.S. government stopped all aid. Internationally, oil prices increased manifold after the 1973 oil shock. This led to an all-round increase in commodity prices. Prices rose by 23 per cent in 1973 and 30 per cent in 1974. Such high inflation caused severe hardship.

Industrial growth was low and unemployment in the rural areas was particularly high. To reduce expenditure, the government froze the salaries of its employees, sparking deep dissatisfaction among them. The monsoons failed in 1972–1973 and food-grain output declined by 8 per cent. A general atmosphere of dissatisfaction with the prevailing economic situation enveloped the country. In such a context, non-Congress opposition parties were able to organise popular protests with growing effectiveness.

This was also a period when activities of Marxist-Leninist (now Maoist) groups — the Naxalites — increased. They did not believe in parliamentary politics and had taken up arms and insurgent techniques to overthrow the capitalist order. They were particularly strong in West Bengal, where the State government took stringent measures to suppress them. Students' unrest, which had persisted from the late 1960s, also became more pronounced.

6.3 The Gujarat and Bihar Movements (1973–74)

Two students' movements — in Gujarat and Bihar, both Congress-ruled states — had a far-reaching impact on the politics of these two states and on national politics. They are often together called the Navnirman Movement and the Bihar Movement.

6.3.1 The Gujarat Navnirman Movement (January 1974)

In January 1974, students in Gujarat started an agitation against the rising prices of food grains, cooking oil and other essential commodities, and against corruption in high places. The protest was joined by major opposition parties and became widespread, leading to the imposition of President's Rule in the state — the Chimanbhai Patel-led Congress government had already been forced to resign. Opposition parties demanded fresh elections to the state legislature. Morarji Desai, a prominent leader of Congress(O) and Indira Gandhi's main rival when he had been in the Congress, announced an indefinite fast if fresh elections were not held. Under intense pressure from students supported by the opposition parties, assembly elections were held in Gujarat in June 1975. The Congress was defeated.

6.3.2 The Bihar Movement and the Call for "Total Revolution" (March 1974)

In March 1974, students came together in Bihar to protest against rising prices, food scarcity, unemployment and corruption. After a point, they invited Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) — who had given up active politics and was involved in social work — to lead the student movement. He accepted on the condition that the movement would remain non-violent and not limit itself to Bihar. Thus the students' movement assumed a political character with national appeal. People from all walks of life entered it.

JP demanded the dismissal of the Congress government in Bihar and gave a call for total revolution^? — Sampoorna Kranti — in the social, economic and political spheres in order to establish what he considered to be true democracy. A series of bandhs, gheraos and strikes were organised in protest against the Bihar government, which, however, refused to resign. JP wanted to extend the Bihar Movement to other parts of the country. In 1975, he led a peoples' march to Parliament — one of the largest political rallies ever held in the capital. He was now backed by non-Congress opposition parties — the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the Congress(O), the Bharatiya Lok Dal, the Socialist Party and others — who began projecting JP as an alternative to Indira Gandhi.

Both the Gujarat and Bihar agitations were perceived as anti-Congress, and rather than opposing only the State governments, they were seen as protests against the leadership of Indira Gandhi. She believed the movement was driven by personal opposition to her.

6.3.3 The Railway Strike of May 1974

What would happen if the railways stopped running — not for one or two days but for more than a week? Many people would be inconvenienced; more seriously, the economy would come to a halt because goods are transported across the country by trains. Such a thing actually happened in 1974. The National Coordination Committee for Railwaymen's Struggle, led by George Fernandes, called for a nationwide strike by all employees of the Railways for demands related to bonus and service conditions. The government opposed these demands, and so the employees of India's largest public-sector undertaking went on strike in May 1974.

The strike added to the atmosphere of labour unrest. It also raised the question of the rights of the workers and whether employees of essential services should adopt measures like strikes. The government declared the strike illegal. As it refused to concede the demands, arrested many of the leaders, and deployed the territorial army to protect railway tracks, the strike had to be called off after twenty days without any settlement.

6.4 Conflict with the Judiciary

This was also the period when the government and the ruling party had many differences with the judiciary. Three constitutional issues had emerged. First, can Parliament abridge Fundamental Rights? The Supreme Court said it cannot. Second, can Parliament curtail the right to property by amendment? Again, the Court said Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in such a manner that rights are curtailed. Third, Parliament had said it could abridge Fundamental Rights for giving effect to Directive Principles — and the Supreme Court had rejected that provision too.

This crisis culminated in the famous Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), in which the Court ruled that there are some basic features of the Constitution that Parliament cannot amend. Two further developments added to the tension. Immediately after the Kesavananda Bharati decision in 1973, a vacancy arose for the post of Chief Justice of India. By practice, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court was appointed Chief Justice. But in 1973, the government set aside the seniority of three judges and appointed Justice A. N. Ray as Chief Justice. The appointment was politically controversial because the three superseded judges had given rulings against the government's stand. People close to the Prime Minister began to talk of the need for a 'committed' judiciary and bureaucracy. The climax of this confrontation was the High Court ruling on Indira Gandhi's election.

6.5 The Allahabad Verdict — 12 June 1975

On 12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court passed a judgment declaring Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha invalid. The order came on an election petition filed by Raj Narain — a socialist leader who had contested against her from Rae Bareli in 1971. The petition challenged her election on the ground that she had used the services of government servants in her election campaign. The judgment meant that, legally, she was no longer an MP, and therefore could not remain Prime Minister unless she was re-elected as an MP within six months.

On 24 June 1975, the Supreme Court granted her a partial stay on the High Court order — until her appeal was decided, she could remain an MP but could not take part in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha or vote in it.

6.6 The Crisis Response — Ramlila Maidan, 25 June 1975

The stage was now set for a political confrontation. The opposition political parties led by Jayaprakash Narayan pressed for Indira Gandhi's resignation and organised a massive demonstration at Delhi's Ramlila grounds on 25 June 1975. JP announced a nationwide satyagraha for her resignation and asked the army, the police and government employees not to obey "illegal and immoral orders". This call too threatened to bring the activities of the government to a standstill. The political mood of the country had turned against the Congress more sharply than ever before.

6.6.1 The Midnight Proclamation — 25/26 June 1975

The response of the government was to declare a state of Emergency. On the night of 25 June 1975, the Prime Minister recommended the imposition of Emergency to President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who issued the proclamation immediately. The constitutional ground invoked was Article 352 — citing a threat of internal disturbance. Under Article 352, an emergency can be declared on grounds of external threat or threat of internal disturbance. The government decided that a grave crisis had arisen.

Once an Emergency is proclaimed, the federal distribution of powers remains practically suspended and all powers are concentrated in the hands of the Union government. The government also gets the power to curtail or restrict all or any of the Fundamental Rights during the Emergency. After midnight, the electricity to all major newspaper offices was disconnected. In the early morning, a large number of leaders and workers of the opposition parties were arrested. The Cabinet was informed about the proclamation only at a special meeting at 6 a.m. on 26 June 1975 — after all this had taken place.

6.7 Memorise These Names & Dates