NCERT Textbook - The Crisis of Democratic Order | Polity and Constitution (Prelims) by IAS Masters - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


In this chapter…
We have seen in the last chapter that the Congress recovered after 
1971, but was not the same kind of party. The difference became 
clear in a series of events between 1973 and 1975 that brought new 
challenges to India’s democratic politics and the institutional balance 
sought by the Constitution. These developments led to the imposition of 
‘emergency’ in June 1975. Normally, we would associate ‘emergency’ 
with war and aggression or with natural disaster. But this ‘emergency’ 
was imposed because of the perceived threat of internal disturbance. 
The Emergency ended as dramatically as it had begun, resulting in a 
defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections of 1977. 
In this chapter we focus on this crucial phase in the history of democracy 
in India and ask some questions that have remained controversial after 
all these years.
•	 Why 	was 	Emergency	imposed? 	Was	it	 necessary?
•	 What 	did	the	imposition	of	Emergency 	mean 	in 	practice?
•	 What 	were	 the	consequences 	of	Emergency 	on	 party 	 politics?
•	 What 	are	the	lessons	of	Emergency 	for 	Indian 	 democracy?
The editorial page of 
‘Nai Dunia’ of 27 June 
1975  was like any other 
day, except that the 
space for editorial was 
left blank. The editorial 
was “censored” using 
emergency powers. 
Many other newspapers 
also carried such blank 
spaces–sometimes 
to protest against 
emergency. Later, leaving 
blank space was also 
banned.
chap 6_PF.indd   92 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
Page 2


In this chapter…
We have seen in the last chapter that the Congress recovered after 
1971, but was not the same kind of party. The difference became 
clear in a series of events between 1973 and 1975 that brought new 
challenges to India’s democratic politics and the institutional balance 
sought by the Constitution. These developments led to the imposition of 
‘emergency’ in June 1975. Normally, we would associate ‘emergency’ 
with war and aggression or with natural disaster. But this ‘emergency’ 
was imposed because of the perceived threat of internal disturbance. 
The Emergency ended as dramatically as it had begun, resulting in a 
defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections of 1977. 
In this chapter we focus on this crucial phase in the history of democracy 
in India and ask some questions that have remained controversial after 
all these years.
•	 Why 	was 	Emergency	imposed? 	Was	it	 necessary?
•	 What 	did	the	imposition	of	Emergency 	mean 	in 	practice?
•	 What 	were	 the	consequences 	of	Emergency 	on	 party 	 politics?
•	 What 	are	the	lessons	of	Emergency 	for 	Indian 	 democracy?
The editorial page of 
‘Nai Dunia’ of 27 June 
1975  was like any other 
day, except that the 
space for editorial was 
left blank. The editorial 
was “censored” using 
emergency powers. 
Many other newspapers 
also carried such blank 
spaces–sometimes 
to protest against 
emergency. Later, leaving 
blank space was also 
banned.
chap 6_PF.indd   92 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
Background to Emergency
We have already studied the changes that were taking place in Indian 
politics since 1967. Indira Gandhi had emerged as a towering leader 
with tremendous popularity. This was also the period when party 
competition became bitter and polarised. This period also witnessed 
tensions in the relationship between the government and the judiciary. 
The Supreme Court found many initiatives of the government to be 
violative of the Constitution. The Congress party took the position 
that this stand of the Court was against principles of democracy 
and parliamentary supremacy. The Congress also alleged that the 
Court was a conservative institution and it was becoming an obstacle 
in the way of implementing pro-poor welfare programmes. The 
parties opposed to the Congress felt that politics was becoming too 
personalised and that governmental authority was being converted 
into personal authority. The split in the Congress had sharpened the 
divisions between Indira Gandhi and her opponents. 
Economic context
In the elections of 1971, Congress had given the slogan 
of garibi hatao (remove poverty). However, the social and 
economic condition in 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 crossed 
over the East Pakistan border into India. This was followed 
by war with Pakistan.  After the war the U.S government 
stopped all aid to India. In the international market, oil 
prices increased manifold during this period.  This led to 
an all-round increase in prices of commodities.  Prices 
increased by 23 per cent in 1973 and 30 per cent in 1974.  
Such a high level of inflation caused much hardship to  
the people. 
Industrial growth was low and unemployment was 
very high, particularly in the rural areas.  In order to 
reduce expenditure the government froze the salaries 
of its employees.  This caused further dissatisfaction 
among government employees. Monsoons failed in 1972-
1973. This resulted in a sharp decline in agricultural 
productivity.  Food grain output declined by 8 per cent. 
Credit: Abu
PM says
6
chapter
the crisis of 
Democratic orDer
chap 6_PF.indd   93 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
Page 3


In this chapter…
We have seen in the last chapter that the Congress recovered after 
1971, but was not the same kind of party. The difference became 
clear in a series of events between 1973 and 1975 that brought new 
challenges to India’s democratic politics and the institutional balance 
sought by the Constitution. These developments led to the imposition of 
‘emergency’ in June 1975. Normally, we would associate ‘emergency’ 
with war and aggression or with natural disaster. But this ‘emergency’ 
was imposed because of the perceived threat of internal disturbance. 
The Emergency ended as dramatically as it had begun, resulting in a 
defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections of 1977. 
In this chapter we focus on this crucial phase in the history of democracy 
in India and ask some questions that have remained controversial after 
all these years.
•	 Why 	was 	Emergency	imposed? 	Was	it	 necessary?
•	 What 	did	the	imposition	of	Emergency 	mean 	in 	practice?
•	 What 	were	 the	consequences 	of	Emergency 	on	 party 	 politics?
•	 What 	are	the	lessons	of	Emergency 	for 	Indian 	 democracy?
The editorial page of 
‘Nai Dunia’ of 27 June 
1975  was like any other 
day, except that the 
space for editorial was 
left blank. The editorial 
was “censored” using 
emergency powers. 
Many other newspapers 
also carried such blank 
spaces–sometimes 
to protest against 
emergency. Later, leaving 
blank space was also 
banned.
chap 6_PF.indd   92 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
Background to Emergency
We have already studied the changes that were taking place in Indian 
politics since 1967. Indira Gandhi had emerged as a towering leader 
with tremendous popularity. This was also the period when party 
competition became bitter and polarised. This period also witnessed 
tensions in the relationship between the government and the judiciary. 
The Supreme Court found many initiatives of the government to be 
violative of the Constitution. The Congress party took the position 
that this stand of the Court was against principles of democracy 
and parliamentary supremacy. The Congress also alleged that the 
Court was a conservative institution and it was becoming an obstacle 
in the way of implementing pro-poor welfare programmes. The 
parties opposed to the Congress felt that politics was becoming too 
personalised and that governmental authority was being converted 
into personal authority. The split in the Congress had sharpened the 
divisions between Indira Gandhi and her opponents. 
Economic context
In the elections of 1971, Congress had given the slogan 
of garibi hatao (remove poverty). However, the social and 
economic condition in 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 crossed 
over the East Pakistan border into India. This was followed 
by war with Pakistan.  After the war the U.S government 
stopped all aid to India. In the international market, oil 
prices increased manifold during this period.  This led to 
an all-round increase in prices of commodities.  Prices 
increased by 23 per cent in 1973 and 30 per cent in 1974.  
Such a high level of inflation caused much hardship to  
the people. 
Industrial growth was low and unemployment was 
very high, particularly in the rural areas.  In order to 
reduce expenditure the government froze the salaries 
of its employees.  This caused further dissatisfaction 
among government employees. Monsoons failed in 1972-
1973. This resulted in a sharp decline in agricultural 
productivity.  Food grain output declined by 8 per cent. 
Credit: Abu
PM says
6
chapter
the crisis of 
Democratic orDer
chap 6_PF.indd   93 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
94                                                                 Politics in India since Independence
There was a general atmosphere of dissatisfaction with the prevailing 
economic situation all over the country. In such a context non-
Congress opposition parties were able to organise popular protests 
effectively.  Instances of students’ unrests that had persisted from 
the late 1960s became more pronounced in this period. There was 
also an increase in the activities of Marxist groups who did not 
believe in parliamentary politics.  These groups had taken to arms 
and insurgent techniques for the overthrow of the capitalist order 
and the established political system. Known as the Marxist-Leninist 
(now Maoist) groups or Naxalites, they were particularly strong in 
West Bengal, where the State government took stringent measures to  
suppress them. 
Gujarat and Bihar movements
Students’ protests in Gujarat and Bihar, both of which were Congress 
ruled States, had far reaching impact on the politics of the two States 
and national politics.  In January 1974 students in Gujarat started 
an agitation against rising prices of food grains, cooking oil and 
other essential commodities, and against corruption in high places. 
The students’ protest was joined by major opposition parties and 
became widespread leading to the imposition of President’s rule in the 
state.  The opposition parties demanded fresh elections to the state 
legislature. Morarji Desai, a prominent leader of Congress (O), who 
was the main rival of Indira Gandhi when he was in the Congress,  
announced that he would go on an indefinite fast if fresh elections 
were not held in the State. Under intense pressure from students, 
supported by the opposition political parties, assembly elections 
were held in Gujarat in June 1975. The Congress was defeated in 
this election. 
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 it on the condition that the movement will 
remain non-violent and will not limit 
itself to Bihar. Thus the students’ 
movement assumed a political 
character and had national appeal. 
People from all walks of life now 
entered the movement.  Jayaprakash 
Narayan demanded the dismissal of 
the Congress government in Bihar 
and gave a call for total revolution 
in the social, economic and political 
spheres in order to establish what he 
considered to be true democracy. A 
series of bandhs, gehraos, and strikes 
                 Sampoorna Kranti 
ab nara hai, bhavi itihas 
hamara hai [With Total 
Revolution as our motto, the 
future belongs to us]
 
 
 
A slogan of the Bihar 
movement, 1974
“
“
                  Indira is India, 
India is Indira
A slogan given by  
D. K. Barooah, President of the 
Congress, 1974
“
“
Poor 
people must have 
had a tough time. What 
happened to the promise 
of garibi hatao?
chap 6_PF.indd   94 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
Page 4


In this chapter…
We have seen in the last chapter that the Congress recovered after 
1971, but was not the same kind of party. The difference became 
clear in a series of events between 1973 and 1975 that brought new 
challenges to India’s democratic politics and the institutional balance 
sought by the Constitution. These developments led to the imposition of 
‘emergency’ in June 1975. Normally, we would associate ‘emergency’ 
with war and aggression or with natural disaster. But this ‘emergency’ 
was imposed because of the perceived threat of internal disturbance. 
The Emergency ended as dramatically as it had begun, resulting in a 
defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections of 1977. 
In this chapter we focus on this crucial phase in the history of democracy 
in India and ask some questions that have remained controversial after 
all these years.
•	 Why 	was 	Emergency	imposed? 	Was	it	 necessary?
•	 What 	did	the	imposition	of	Emergency 	mean 	in 	practice?
•	 What 	were	 the	consequences 	of	Emergency 	on	 party 	 politics?
•	 What 	are	the	lessons	of	Emergency 	for 	Indian 	 democracy?
The editorial page of 
‘Nai Dunia’ of 27 June 
1975  was like any other 
day, except that the 
space for editorial was 
left blank. The editorial 
was “censored” using 
emergency powers. 
Many other newspapers 
also carried such blank 
spaces–sometimes 
to protest against 
emergency. Later, leaving 
blank space was also 
banned.
chap 6_PF.indd   92 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
Background to Emergency
We have already studied the changes that were taking place in Indian 
politics since 1967. Indira Gandhi had emerged as a towering leader 
with tremendous popularity. This was also the period when party 
competition became bitter and polarised. This period also witnessed 
tensions in the relationship between the government and the judiciary. 
The Supreme Court found many initiatives of the government to be 
violative of the Constitution. The Congress party took the position 
that this stand of the Court was against principles of democracy 
and parliamentary supremacy. The Congress also alleged that the 
Court was a conservative institution and it was becoming an obstacle 
in the way of implementing pro-poor welfare programmes. The 
parties opposed to the Congress felt that politics was becoming too 
personalised and that governmental authority was being converted 
into personal authority. The split in the Congress had sharpened the 
divisions between Indira Gandhi and her opponents. 
Economic context
In the elections of 1971, Congress had given the slogan 
of garibi hatao (remove poverty). However, the social and 
economic condition in 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 crossed 
over the East Pakistan border into India. This was followed 
by war with Pakistan.  After the war the U.S government 
stopped all aid to India. In the international market, oil 
prices increased manifold during this period.  This led to 
an all-round increase in prices of commodities.  Prices 
increased by 23 per cent in 1973 and 30 per cent in 1974.  
Such a high level of inflation caused much hardship to  
the people. 
Industrial growth was low and unemployment was 
very high, particularly in the rural areas.  In order to 
reduce expenditure the government froze the salaries 
of its employees.  This caused further dissatisfaction 
among government employees. Monsoons failed in 1972-
1973. This resulted in a sharp decline in agricultural 
productivity.  Food grain output declined by 8 per cent. 
Credit: Abu
PM says
6
chapter
the crisis of 
Democratic orDer
chap 6_PF.indd   93 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
94                                                                 Politics in India since Independence
There was a general atmosphere of dissatisfaction with the prevailing 
economic situation all over the country. In such a context non-
Congress opposition parties were able to organise popular protests 
effectively.  Instances of students’ unrests that had persisted from 
the late 1960s became more pronounced in this period. There was 
also an increase in the activities of Marxist groups who did not 
believe in parliamentary politics.  These groups had taken to arms 
and insurgent techniques for the overthrow of the capitalist order 
and the established political system. Known as the Marxist-Leninist 
(now Maoist) groups or Naxalites, they were particularly strong in 
West Bengal, where the State government took stringent measures to  
suppress them. 
Gujarat and Bihar movements
Students’ protests in Gujarat and Bihar, both of which were Congress 
ruled States, had far reaching impact on the politics of the two States 
and national politics.  In January 1974 students in Gujarat started 
an agitation against rising prices of food grains, cooking oil and 
other essential commodities, and against corruption in high places. 
The students’ protest was joined by major opposition parties and 
became widespread leading to the imposition of President’s rule in the 
state.  The opposition parties demanded fresh elections to the state 
legislature. Morarji Desai, a prominent leader of Congress (O), who 
was the main rival of Indira Gandhi when he was in the Congress,  
announced that he would go on an indefinite fast if fresh elections 
were not held in the State. Under intense pressure from students, 
supported by the opposition political parties, assembly elections 
were held in Gujarat in June 1975. The Congress was defeated in 
this election. 
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 it on the condition that the movement will 
remain non-violent and will not limit 
itself to Bihar. Thus the students’ 
movement assumed a political 
character and had national appeal. 
People from all walks of life now 
entered the movement.  Jayaprakash 
Narayan demanded the dismissal of 
the Congress government in Bihar 
and gave a call for total revolution 
in the social, economic and political 
spheres in order to establish what he 
considered to be true democracy. A 
series of bandhs, gehraos, and strikes 
                 Sampoorna Kranti 
ab nara hai, bhavi itihas 
hamara hai [With Total 
Revolution as our motto, the 
future belongs to us]
 
 
 
A slogan of the Bihar 
movement, 1974
“
“
                  Indira is India, 
India is Indira
A slogan given by  
D. K. Barooah, President of the 
Congress, 1974
“
“
Poor 
people must have 
had a tough time. What 
happened to the promise 
of garibi hatao?
chap 6_PF.indd   94 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
The Crisis of Democratic Order                                               95  
Credit: R. K. Laxman in The Times of India, 16 April 1974
were organised in protest against the 
Bihar government. The government, 
however, refused to resign. 
The movement was beginning to 
influence national politics. Jayaprakash 
Narayan wanted to spread the Bihar 
movement to other parts of the 
country. Alongside the agitation led by 
Jayaprakash Narayan, the employees of 
the Railways gave a call for a nationwide 
strike. This threatened to paralyse the 
country. In 1975, JP led a peoples’ 
march to the Parliament. This was one 
of the largest political rallies ever held 
in the capital. He was now supported 
by the non-Congress opposition parties 
like the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the 
Congress (O), the Bharatiya Lok Dal, 
the Socialist Party and others. These 
Loknayak 
Jayaprakash 
Narayan (JP)  
(1902-1979): 
A marxist in his 
youth; founder 
general secretary 
of the Congress 
Socialist Party 
and the Socialist Party; a hero of the 1942 Quit 
India movement; declined to join Nehru’s cabinet; 
after 1955 quit active politics; became a Gandhian 
and was involved in the Bhoodan movement, 
negotiations with the Naga rebels, peace initiative 
in Kashmir and ensured the surrender of decoits in 
Chambal; leader of Bihar movement, he became 
the symbol of opposition to Emergency and was the 
moving force behind the formation of Janata Party.
chap 6_PF.indd   95 8/5/2022   2:03:27 PM
2024-25
Page 5


In this chapter…
We have seen in the last chapter that the Congress recovered after 
1971, but was not the same kind of party. The difference became 
clear in a series of events between 1973 and 1975 that brought new 
challenges to India’s democratic politics and the institutional balance 
sought by the Constitution. These developments led to the imposition of 
‘emergency’ in June 1975. Normally, we would associate ‘emergency’ 
with war and aggression or with natural disaster. But this ‘emergency’ 
was imposed because of the perceived threat of internal disturbance. 
The Emergency ended as dramatically as it had begun, resulting in a 
defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections of 1977. 
In this chapter we focus on this crucial phase in the history of democracy 
in India and ask some questions that have remained controversial after 
all these years.
•	 Why 	was 	Emergency	imposed? 	Was	it	 necessary?
•	 What 	did	the	imposition	of	Emergency 	mean 	in 	practice?
•	 What 	were	 the	consequences 	of	Emergency 	on	 party 	 politics?
•	 What 	are	the	lessons	of	Emergency 	for 	Indian 	 democracy?
The editorial page of 
‘Nai Dunia’ of 27 June 
1975  was like any other 
day, except that the 
space for editorial was 
left blank. The editorial 
was “censored” using 
emergency powers. 
Many other newspapers 
also carried such blank 
spaces–sometimes 
to protest against 
emergency. Later, leaving 
blank space was also 
banned.
chap 6_PF.indd   92 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
Background to Emergency
We have already studied the changes that were taking place in Indian 
politics since 1967. Indira Gandhi had emerged as a towering leader 
with tremendous popularity. This was also the period when party 
competition became bitter and polarised. This period also witnessed 
tensions in the relationship between the government and the judiciary. 
The Supreme Court found many initiatives of the government to be 
violative of the Constitution. The Congress party took the position 
that this stand of the Court was against principles of democracy 
and parliamentary supremacy. The Congress also alleged that the 
Court was a conservative institution and it was becoming an obstacle 
in the way of implementing pro-poor welfare programmes. The 
parties opposed to the Congress felt that politics was becoming too 
personalised and that governmental authority was being converted 
into personal authority. The split in the Congress had sharpened the 
divisions between Indira Gandhi and her opponents. 
Economic context
In the elections of 1971, Congress had given the slogan 
of garibi hatao (remove poverty). However, the social and 
economic condition in 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 crossed 
over the East Pakistan border into India. This was followed 
by war with Pakistan.  After the war the U.S government 
stopped all aid to India. In the international market, oil 
prices increased manifold during this period.  This led to 
an all-round increase in prices of commodities.  Prices 
increased by 23 per cent in 1973 and 30 per cent in 1974.  
Such a high level of inflation caused much hardship to  
the people. 
Industrial growth was low and unemployment was 
very high, particularly in the rural areas.  In order to 
reduce expenditure the government froze the salaries 
of its employees.  This caused further dissatisfaction 
among government employees. Monsoons failed in 1972-
1973. This resulted in a sharp decline in agricultural 
productivity.  Food grain output declined by 8 per cent. 
Credit: Abu
PM says
6
chapter
the crisis of 
Democratic orDer
chap 6_PF.indd   93 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
94                                                                 Politics in India since Independence
There was a general atmosphere of dissatisfaction with the prevailing 
economic situation all over the country. In such a context non-
Congress opposition parties were able to organise popular protests 
effectively.  Instances of students’ unrests that had persisted from 
the late 1960s became more pronounced in this period. There was 
also an increase in the activities of Marxist groups who did not 
believe in parliamentary politics.  These groups had taken to arms 
and insurgent techniques for the overthrow of the capitalist order 
and the established political system. Known as the Marxist-Leninist 
(now Maoist) groups or Naxalites, they were particularly strong in 
West Bengal, where the State government took stringent measures to  
suppress them. 
Gujarat and Bihar movements
Students’ protests in Gujarat and Bihar, both of which were Congress 
ruled States, had far reaching impact on the politics of the two States 
and national politics.  In January 1974 students in Gujarat started 
an agitation against rising prices of food grains, cooking oil and 
other essential commodities, and against corruption in high places. 
The students’ protest was joined by major opposition parties and 
became widespread leading to the imposition of President’s rule in the 
state.  The opposition parties demanded fresh elections to the state 
legislature. Morarji Desai, a prominent leader of Congress (O), who 
was the main rival of Indira Gandhi when he was in the Congress,  
announced that he would go on an indefinite fast if fresh elections 
were not held in the State. Under intense pressure from students, 
supported by the opposition political parties, assembly elections 
were held in Gujarat in June 1975. The Congress was defeated in 
this election. 
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 it on the condition that the movement will 
remain non-violent and will not limit 
itself to Bihar. Thus the students’ 
movement assumed a political 
character and had national appeal. 
People from all walks of life now 
entered the movement.  Jayaprakash 
Narayan demanded the dismissal of 
the Congress government in Bihar 
and gave a call for total revolution 
in the social, economic and political 
spheres in order to establish what he 
considered to be true democracy. A 
series of bandhs, gehraos, and strikes 
                 Sampoorna Kranti 
ab nara hai, bhavi itihas 
hamara hai [With Total 
Revolution as our motto, the 
future belongs to us]
 
 
 
A slogan of the Bihar 
movement, 1974
“
“
                  Indira is India, 
India is Indira
A slogan given by  
D. K. Barooah, President of the 
Congress, 1974
“
“
Poor 
people must have 
had a tough time. What 
happened to the promise 
of garibi hatao?
chap 6_PF.indd   94 8/5/2022   2:03:26 PM
2024-25
The Crisis of Democratic Order                                               95  
Credit: R. K. Laxman in The Times of India, 16 April 1974
were organised in protest against the 
Bihar government. The government, 
however, refused to resign. 
The movement was beginning to 
influence national politics. Jayaprakash 
Narayan wanted to spread the Bihar 
movement to other parts of the 
country. Alongside the agitation led by 
Jayaprakash Narayan, the employees of 
the Railways gave a call for a nationwide 
strike. This threatened to paralyse the 
country. In 1975, JP led a peoples’ 
march to the Parliament. This was one 
of the largest political rallies ever held 
in the capital. He was now supported 
by the non-Congress opposition parties 
like the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the 
Congress (O), the Bharatiya Lok Dal, 
the Socialist Party and others. These 
Loknayak 
Jayaprakash 
Narayan (JP)  
(1902-1979): 
A marxist in his 
youth; founder 
general secretary 
of the Congress 
Socialist Party 
and the Socialist Party; a hero of the 1942 Quit 
India movement; declined to join Nehru’s cabinet; 
after 1955 quit active politics; became a Gandhian 
and was involved in the Bhoodan movement, 
negotiations with the Naga rebels, peace initiative 
in Kashmir and ensured the surrender of decoits in 
Chambal; leader of Bihar movement, he became 
the symbol of opposition to Emergency and was the 
moving force behind the formation of Janata Party.
chap 6_PF.indd   95 8/5/2022   2:03:27 PM
2024-25
96                                                                 Politics in India since Independence
parties were projecting JP as an alternative to Indira Gandhi. However, 
there were many criticisms about his ideas and about the politics of 
mass agitations that he was employing. Both the Gujarat and Bihar 
agitations were seen as anti-Congress and rather than opposing the 
State governments, they were seen as protests against the leadership 
of Indira Gandhi. She believed that the movement was motivated by 
personal opposition to her.
Do ‘committed 
judiciary’ and 
‘committed bureaucracy’ 
mean that the judges 
and government officials 
should be loyal to the 
ruling party?
Railway Strike of 1974
What	 would	 happen 	 when 	 the 	 railways	 stop 	 running? 	 Not	 for	 one	 or 	
two	 days, 	 but	 for	 more	 than	 a	 week?	 Of	 course, 	 many 	 people 	 would	 be	
inconvenienced; but more than that, the economy of the country would 
come to a halt because goods are transported from one part to another 
by trains. 
Do	 you	 know	 that	 such	 a	 thing	 actually	 happened 	 in	 1974? 	 The	 National	
Coordination Committee for Railwaymen’s Struggle led by George 
Fernandes gave a call for nationwide strike by all employees of the 
Railways for pressing their demands related to bonus and service 
conditions. The government was opposed to these demands. So, the 
employees of India’s largest public sector undertaking went on a strike in 
May 1974. The strike by the Railway employees added to the atmosphere 
of labour unrest. It also raised issues like rights of the workers and whether 
employees of essential services should adopt measures like strikes. 
The government declared the strike illegal. As the government refused 
to concede the demands of the striking workers, arrested many of their 
leaders and deployed the territorial army to protect railway tracks, the 
strike had to be called off after twenty days without any settlement.  
Conflict with Judiciary
This was also the period when the government and the ruling party 
had many differences with the judiciary. Do you remember the 
discussion about the long drawn conflict between the Parliament and 
the judiciary? You have studied this last year.  Three constitutional 
issues had emerged. Can the Parliament abridge Fundamental Rights? 
The Supreme Court said it cannot. Secondly, can the Parliament 
curtail the right to property by making an amendment? Again, the 
Court said that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in such 
a manner that rights are curtailed. Thirdly, the Parliament amended 
the Constitution saying that it can abridge Fundamental Rights for 
giving effect to Directive Principles. But the Supreme Court rejected 
this provision also. This led to a crisis as far as the relations between 
the government and the judiciary were concerned. You may remember 
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