question_answer

Analyse any three lessons learnt from the emergency of 1975.

Or

Analyse any three major factors which led the popularity of Indira Gandhi's Government in the early 1970s.

 

Answer:

The Lessons:

(i) Extremely difficult to do away with democracy in India. Defeat of Indira Gandhi in 1977 election supports the above fact.

(ii) Secondly it brought out many ambiguities regarding the emergency provision in Constitution that have been rectified. It could not have been misused if there had not been ambiguities.

(iii) Thirdly, the Emergency made everyone more aware of the value of civil liberties. The Courts too, have taken an active role after the Emergency in protecting the civil liberties of the individuals. This is a response to the inability of the judiciary.

Or

Indira Gandhiji had adopted a very bold strategy. She converted a simple power struggle into an ideological struggle. She launched a series of initiatives to give the government policy a Left orientation. She got the Congress Working Committee to adopt a Ten Point Programme in May 1967. This programme included social control of banks, nationalization of General Insurance, ceiling on urban property? and income, public distribution of food grains, land reforms and Provision of house sites to the rural poor. While the ?syndicate? leaders formally approved this Left-wing programme, they had serious reservations about the same.

Presidential Election, 1969: The factional rivalry between the Syndicate and Indira Gandhi came in the open in 1969. Following President Zakir Hussain?s death, the post of President of the India fell vacant that year. Despite Mrs. Gandhi?s reservations the ?syndicate? managed to nominate long time opponent and then speaker of the Lok Sabha, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, as the official Congress candidate for the ensuing Presidential elections. Indira Gandhi retaliated by encouraging the then Vice-President, V.V Giri, to file his nomination as an independent candidate. She also announced several big and popular policy measures like the nationalization of fourteen leading private banks and the abolition of the ?privy purse? or the special privileges given to former princes. Morarji Desai was the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. She put forward a positive programme captured in the famous slogan: Garibi Hatao (Remove Poverty). She focused on the growth of the public sector imposition of ceiling on rural land holdings and urban property, removal of disparities in income and opportunity, and abolition of princely privileges. Through garibi hatao Indira Gandhi tried generate a support base among the dis advantaged, especially among the landless labourers, Dalits and Adivasis, minorities, women and the unemployed youth. The slogan of garibi hatao and the programme that followed it were part of Indira Gandhi?s political strategy of building an independent nationwide political support base. The defeat of the official Congress candidate formalised panic in the party. The Congress President expelled the Prime Minister from the party; she claimed that her group was the real Congress.