Short article on the Sixth General Elections (1977)

The Sixth General Elections brought about a revolution through the ballot. It proved to the whole world that India was politically still a democracy where the citizens freely choose their rulers. In a truly dramatic manner, the ruling Congress Party which held the reins of power for over thirty years, was swept off the ground by the newly-formed Janata Party and its allies.

In the normal course the Sixth General Elections should have been held in 1976. But the life of the Lok Sabha was first extended for a year under the emergency and again through the Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution which extended its duration from five to six years. Thus legally the House could continue until April 1978.

But to the astonishment of not only her countrymen but even the whole world, Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi suddenly announced in January that the postponed elections would be held in Mid-March of 1977.

Emergency regulations were relaxed and the process of parliamentary democracy was once again in full swing. A sudden political awareness electrified the 318 million voters of the country.

For the first time in the country’s history the Congress Party faced a strong opposition; united, determined and under a strong leadership. The newly formed Janata Party was the leader of the opposition. It consisted of the Old Congress, the Jana Sangh, the Bharatiya Lok Dal (B.L.D.) and the Socialist Party.

The merger of all these all-India parties to form a new party was an unprecedented event in India’s political life. Jayaprakash Narayan was the architect of the new political party and Morarji Desai its Chairman.

The Janata Party was supported by another new party the Congress for Democracy (C.F.D.) which was led by Jagjivan Ram who broke off from the ruling Congress immediately after the announcement of the election. The Marxist Party and some regional parties like the Akali Dal also gave their support to the Janata-C.F.D. combination.

The opposition parties took full advantage of the unpopular measures of the Emergency period and denounced the dictatorial tendencies which manifested themselves under Indira Gandhi’s leadership during the period.

They declared that the real issue in the election was “Dictatorship vs. Democracy” whether India wanted democracy or dictatorship. The ruling Congress Party countered it by focusing attention on stability and progress and declared that the real issue was “Democracy vs. Chaos”.

The Sixth General Election was gigantic in several respects. As many as 318 million voters were eligible to exercise their franchise. There were 2,439 candidates for the 542 seats. The Congress Party had put up 493 candidates leaving the rest for its allies.

The Janata Party and its allies contested 538 seats. The C.P.I had 91 and the C.P.M. 53 candidates. Regional or State Parties had 77 candidates while unrecognised parties had 80 candidates. There were also 1,222 independents. In all 373,684 polling stations were set up.

The election was free, fair and decisive. The electorate was alert and discriminating too. The illiteracy of the Indian masses did not affect the election. They used their franchise effectively. In the northern parts of the country where the excesses of the Emergency had their bitter effect, the voters supported the Opposition.

The result was dramatic. The Janata Party and its allies swept the poll and scored an overwhelming victory. Not only were the Congress Party as a whole, but its leader, Indira Gandhi, and most of her cabinet colleagues decisively defeated.

The only States where the ruling Congress Party was able to show its popularity were all in the south, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. In Andhra Pradesh the Congress won 41 out of 42, Karnataka 26 out of 28 and Kerala 20 out of 20. In Tamil Nadu the Congress was in alliance with the All India Anna DMK and it had its salutary effect.

Maharashtra, the traditional stronghold of the Congress Party has been able to return only 20 Congress candidates out of a total of 48 seats. In Gujarat it could manage to win only 10 out of 26 seats. In Assam, again a traditional citadel of the Congress, the party could capture only 10 out of 14 seats. The single seat in Sikkim went in favour of the Congress. In Kashmir the party was able to get a majority of seats.

But the most amazing feature of the result was the almost total rout of the party in the most populous States in the country, namely, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The party was not able to get even a single seat out of a combined total of 139 seats! The party’s position in the other northern States was no better. It won none in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. In Rajasthan it managed to win just 1 out of 25 seats.

The only State where the elections to the State Assembly took place along with the Parliamentary election was Kerala. There the Congress-led united front scored a stunning victory over the opposition including the Janata Party by capturing 111 out of a total of 140 seats in the State Assembly.

Viewing the election results as a whole, it is a fact that the Janata Party with its allies could score a decisive victory over the Congress by capturing over two-thirds of the total membership of the Lok Sabha. At the same time it was clear that this victory was confined largely to the northern part of the country. The four southern States with a total population of 155 million had given an equally near unanimous verdict in favour of the Congress and its allies.