First non-Congress govt formed under PM Morarji Desai

Jaipur: India’s sixth Lok Sabha elections were held in 1977 after enduring the bitter experience of 18 months of Emergency.

The delayed general elections saw Indira Gandhi decisively rejected, paving the way for India’s first non-Congress government. The results addressed grievances from the Emergency era, ushering in the Janata Party. Morarji Desai, a former Congress member, became the inaugural non-Congress PM, inaugurating his cabinet on March 24, 1977. However, within three years, political turmoil led to two Prime Ministers, culminating in mid-term elections in 1980. Chaudhary Charan Singh, the second PM, lasted only 23 days, marking shortest tenure in Indian history.

After the lifting of the ‘Emergency’, considered a dark chapter in Indian democracy, it marked a second freedom for the people. Opposition leaders were freed, and normalcy gradually returned. Janata Party emerged, comprising Jan Sangh, Congress (O), Bharatiya Lok Dal, and the Socialist Party, with Jaiprakash Narayan at its helm. Notable figures like Morarji Desai, Madhu Limaye, Rajnarayan, George Fernandes, and Madhu Dandavate were part of the party, alongside Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, and Nanaji Deshmukh from Jan Sangh. Charan Singh, Chandrashekhar, Mohan Dharia, Ramdhan, and Krishna Kant also joined, having rebelled against Indira during Emergency. Meanwhile, leaders like Babu Jagjivan Ram, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, and Nandini Satpathy left Congress to join Janata Party. Termed a ‘referendum against Emergency’, the election posed choice between ‘democracy or dictatorship’. Due to symbol issues, Janata Party contested under the ‘Bharatiya Lok Dal’ symbol, securing 295 seats.