NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5: Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

These Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5 solutions cover Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System from the NCERT textbook Politics in India Since Independence, updated for the 2026–27 session. The chapter traces how the Congress dominance was first challenged in the 1960s — the political succession after Nehru, the rise of non-Congressism, the ‘political earthquake’ of the 1967 elections, the era of coalitions and defections, the Congress split of 1969, and finally how Indira Gandhi restored the Congress system through the Garibi Hatao campaign and the sweeping victory of 1971. Below you will find every end-of-chapter NCERT exercise question reproduced verbatim and answered in exam-ready style, plus extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason questions and FAQs.

Class: 12 Subject: Political Science Book: Politics in India Since Independence Chapter: 5 Chapter Name: Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System Session: 2026–27
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Class 12 Political Science Chapter 5 – Overview

Chapter 5 picks up the story of the Congress system from where Chapter 2 left it and shows how it was challenged and then rebuilt during the 1960s and early 1970s. After Jawaharlal Nehru died in May 1964, the smooth succession of Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964–66) and then Indira Gandhi (1966) proved India’s democracy mature, despite fears about the ‘dangerous decade’. A grave economic crisis — failed monsoons, drought, food shortage, devaluation of the rupee and price rise — produced widespread discontent. Opposition parties adopted non-Congressism (a strategy named by Ram Manohar Lohia) and formed anti-Congress fronts. The fourth general election of 1967 was a ‘political earthquake’: the Congress kept a slim Lok Sabha majority but lost power in nine states, giving rise to coalition (SVD) governments, large-scale defections (‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’) and President’s rule. The factional struggle between Indira Gandhi and the Syndicate burst into the open in the 1969 Presidential election, when she backed V.V. Giri against the official candidate N. Sanjeeva Reddy, leading to the formal Congress split into Congress (O) and Congress (R). Armed with bold measures — bank nationalisation, abolition of the privy purse and the slogan Garibi Hatao — she won a landslide in the 1971 election, and the 1971 Bangladesh war added to her prestige, thereby restoring the dominance of a re-invented Congress.

Key Concepts & Terms

Political succession: the question of who would lead the country after Nehru (“after Nehru, who?”) and whether Indian democracy could survive the change (“after Nehru, what?”). It was settled peacefully twice — Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966.

Syndicate: the informal name for a group of powerful, organisationally strong Congress leaders led by K. Kamaraj, including S.K. Patil, S. Nijalingappa, N. Sanjeeva Reddy and Atulya Ghosh, who controlled the party machine and helped install both Shastri and Indira Gandhi.

Non-Congressism: a strategy named by socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia under which ideologically different opposition parties came together to defeat the Congress; he argued that Congress rule was undemocratic and that their unity was necessary to reclaim democracy for the people.

Defection: when an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he/she was elected and joins another party. After 1967, defections made and unmade governments, giving rise to the phrase ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’.

SVD (Samyukt Vidhayak Dal) governments: the ideologically mixed non-Congress coalition (United Legislature Party) governments formed in several states after 1967, e.g. in Bihar the SSP, PSP, CPI and Jana Sangh sat together.

Congress split (1969): the formal division of the Congress after the 1969 Presidential election into Congress (O) — the Old Congress led by the Syndicate — and Congress (R) — the New Congress (Requisitionists) led by Indira Gandhi.

Garibi Hatao: Indira Gandhi’s positive 1971 election slogan (‘Remove Poverty’), countering the opposition Grand Alliance’s only common programme of Indira Hatao; it built her an independent, nationwide support base among the poor, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities and women.

Privy purse: the hereditary grant/allowance promised to former rulers of princely states at the time of integration; its abolition (championed by Indira Gandhi) became a major issue and was finally achieved through a constitutional amendment after the 1971 victory.

Restoration of the Congress system: not a revival of the old factional Congress but a re-invented party that relied on the popularity of a supreme leader (Indira Gandhi), had a weaker organisation and depended on specific social groups — the poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.

NCERT Exercises — Full Solutions

All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter Exercises section. Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.

1. Which of these statements about the 1967 elections is/are correct? (a) Congress won the Lok Sabha elections but lost the Assembly elections in many states. (b) Congress lost both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. (c) Congress lost majority in the Lok Sabha but formed a coalition government with the support of some other parties. (d) Congress retained power at the Centre with an increased majority.

ANSWER (a) is correct. In the 1967 elections the Congress managed to retain a majority in the Lok Sabha, though with its lowest tally of seats and share of votes since 1952. At the same time it lost power in the Assembly elections of as many as nine states (Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala). So the Congress won at the Centre but lost in many state assemblies.

2. Match the following: (a) Syndicate — i. An elected representative leaving the party on whose ticket s/he has been elected (b) Defection — ii. A catchy phrase that attracts public attention (c) Slogan — iii. parties with different ideological position coming together to oppose Congress and its policies (d) Anti-Congressism — iv. A group of powerful and influential leaders within the Congress

ANSWER
TermCorrect match
(a) Syndicateiv. A group of powerful and influential leaders within the Congress
(b) Defectioni. An elected representative leaving the party on whose ticket s/he has been elected
(c) Sloganii. A catchy phrase that attracts public attention
(d) Anti-Congressismiii. parties with different ideological position coming together to oppose Congress and its policies
So the matching is: (a)–iv, (b)–i, (c)–ii, (d)–iii.

3. Whom would you identify with the following slogans/phrases? (a) Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan (b) Indira Hatao! (c) Garibi Hatao!

ANSWER (a) Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan — Lal Bahadur Shastri. He coined this slogan during his Prime Ministership to symbolise the country’s resolve to face both the war with Pakistan (1965) and the food crisis. (b) Indira Hatao! — the opposition Grand Alliance (non-Communist, non-Congress parties) in the 1971 election. According to Indira Gandhi, this ‘Remove Indira’ cry was their only common programme. (c) Garibi Hatao! — Indira Gandhi and her Congress (R). This positive slogan (‘Remove Poverty’) was central to her 1971 campaign and political strategy.

4. Which of the following statement about the Grand Alliance of 1971 is correct? The Grand Alliance ….. (a) was formed by non-Communist, non-Congress parties. (b) had a clear political and ideological programme. (c) was formed by all non-Congress parties.

ANSWER (a) is correct. The Grand Alliance of 1971 was formed by the major non-Communist, non-Congress opposition parties — the SSP, PSP, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Swatantra Party and Bharatiya Kranti Dal. It was not formed by all non-Congress parties (the CPI allied with Congress(R)), and it did not have a clear, coherent political and ideological programme — its only common plank was ‘Indira Hatao’. Hence (b) and (c) are incorrect.

5. How should a political party resolve its internal differences? Here are some suggestions. Think of each and list out their advantages and shortcomings. (a) Follow the footsteps of the party president (b) Listen to the majority group (c) Secret ballot voting on every issue (d) Consult the senior and experienced leaders of the party

ANSWER There is no single perfect method; each suggestion has advantages and shortcomings. A balanced approach usually works best.
MethodAdvantagesShortcomings
(a) Follow the footsteps of the party presidentQuick, decisive and keeps the party united behind one clear leadership.Encourages one-person dominance and sycophancy; ignores the views of members and can become undemocratic.
(b) Listen to the majority groupDemocratic; respects the will of the larger number and gives decisions wide acceptance.The genuine concerns of the minority view may be suppressed; can split the party into permanent majority–minority blocs.
(c) Secret ballot voting on every issueFair and free of pressure; members vote by conscience, as in the secret ballot that chose Indira Gandhi in 1966.Voting on every issue is slow and impractical, weakens collective responsibility and can keep the party permanently divided.
(d) Consult senior and experienced leadersBrings wisdom and experience; mature advice can build consensus and avoid hasty decisions.May allow a few senior leaders (like the Syndicate) to dominate and block change and younger leadership.
Conclusion: a party should ideally combine democratic discussion, respect for the majority, free voting on key issues and the guidance of experienced leaders, rather than relying on any one method alone.

6. State which of these were reasons for the defeat of the Congress in 1967. Give reasons for your answer. (a) The absence of a charismatic leader in the Congress party (b) Split within the Congress party (c) Increased mobilisation of regional, ethnic and communal groups (d) Increasing unity among non-Congress parties (e) Internal differences within the Congress party

ANSWER The reasons that genuinely contributed to the Congress reverses in 1967 were (c), (d) and (e). (c) Increased mobilisation of regional, ethnic and communal groups — correct. The period saw the rise of regional parties such as the DMK and strong agitations (e.g. the anti-Hindi movement), which mobilised people against the Congress. (d) Increasing unity among non-Congress parties — correct. Following the strategy of non-Congressism, ideologically different parties formed anti-Congress fronts and made electoral seat-sharing adjustments so that the anti-Congress vote was not divided. (e) Internal differences within the Congress party — correct. Internal factionalism weakened the party and led to defections, helping the opposition. (a) is not correct — even though Nehru was gone, the party still had popular and capable leaders. (b) is not correct as a cause, because the formal split in the Congress took place only in 1969, after the 1967 elections, so it could not have caused the 1967 defeat.

7. What were the factors which led to the popularity of Indira Gandhi’s Government in the early 1970s?

ANSWER Several factors made Indira Gandhi’s government extremely popular in the early 1970s: 1. Pro-poor, socialist image: she gave the government a Left orientation through the Ten Point Programme, the nationalisation of fourteen private banks and the move to abolish the privy purse, projecting herself as a protector of the poor. 2. The positive slogan Garibi Hatao (1971): against the opposition’s negative ‘Indira Hatao’, she offered a clear agenda of removing poverty, winning huge support among the landless, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women and the unemployed youth. 3. The massive 1971 election victory: the Congress(R)–CPI alliance won 375 seats and 48.4% of the votes, establishing Indira Gandhi’s party as the ‘real’ Congress. 4. Victory in the 1971 war and the creation of Bangladesh: India’s decisive win over Pakistan and the liberation of Bangladesh added enormously to her prestige; even opponents admired her statesmanship, and she was seen as a strong nationalist leader. 5. The 1972 state assembly sweep: her party swept the state elections held in 1972, so that opposition to her, inside or outside the party, simply did not matter. Together these built her image as both protector of the poor and a strong national leader.

8. What does the term ‘syndicate’ mean in the context of the Congress party of the sixties? What role did the Syndicate play in the Congress party?

ANSWER Meaning: ‘Syndicate’ was the informal name given to a group of powerful and influential Congress leaders who controlled the party’s organisation in the 1960s. It was led by K. Kamaraj (then Congress President) and included strong state leaders like S.K. Patil of Bombay, S. Nijalingappa of Mysore (Karnataka), N. Sanjeeva Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and Atulya Ghosh of West Bengal. Role played by the Syndicate: 1. It used its grip on the organisation to install Prime Ministers — both Lal Bahadur Shastri and later Indira Gandhi owed their positions to the Syndicate’s support. 2. It had a decisive say in policy and ministry formation, influencing Indira Gandhi’s first Council of Ministers and the framing and implementation of policies. 3. It expected Indira Gandhi to follow its advice; when she instead asserted herself, chose her own advisers and gave policy a Left turn, the Syndicate came into open conflict with her. 4. After the 1969 split, the Syndicate leaders stayed with the Congress (O); when Indira Gandhi’s Congress (R) won the 1971 popularity test, these powerful men lost their power and prestige.

9. Discuss the major issue which led to the formal split of the Congress Party in 1969.

ANSWER The factional rivalry between the Syndicate and Indira Gandhi came into the open during the 1969 Presidential election, which became the immediate issue that caused the formal split. After President Zakir Hussain’s death, the post fell vacant. Despite Indira Gandhi’s reservations, the Syndicate managed to nominate her long-time opponent, the then Speaker N. Sanjeeva Reddy, as the official Congress candidate. Indira Gandhi retaliated by encouraging the then Vice-President V.V. Giri to file his nomination as an independent candidate, and by announcing popular measures like the nationalisation of fourteen banks and the abolition of the privy purse. The Congress President S. Nijalingappa issued a ‘whip’ asking all Congress MPs and MLAs to vote for the official candidate, Reddy. But Indira Gandhi openly called for a ‘conscience vote’, urging members to vote as they wished. The election resulted in the victory of V.V. Giri and the defeat of the official candidate Sanjeeva Reddy. This defeat of the official Congress candidate formalised the split. The Congress President expelled Indira Gandhi from the party; she claimed her group was the real Congress. By November 1969 the party led by the Syndicate came to be called Congress (Organisation) — the Old Congress — and the group led by Indira Gandhi became Congress (Requisitionists) — the New Congress. Indira Gandhi projected the split as an ideological divide between socialists and conservatives, between the pro-poor and the pro-rich.

10. Read the passage and answer the questions below: …Indira Gandhi changed the Congress into highly cerntalised and undemocratic party organisation, from the earlier federal, democratic and ideological formation that Nehru had led…..But this… could not have happened had not Indira Gandhi changed the entire nature of politics. This new, populist politics turned political ideology ……. into a mere electoral discourse, use of various slogans not meant to be translated into government policies…… During its great electoral victories in early 1970s, amidst the celebration, the Congress party as a political organisation died….. — Sudipta Kaviraj (a) What according to the author is the difference between the strategies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi? (b) Why does the author say that the Congress party ‘died’ in the seventies? (c) In what way, did the change in the Congress party affect other political parties also?

ANSWER (a) Difference between Nehru’s and Indira Gandhi’s strategies: According to the author, Nehru led the Congress as a federal, democratic and ideological formation that accommodated different opinions and worked through a strong organisation. Indira Gandhi, by contrast, turned it into a highly centralised and undemocratic organisation built around her own personality and a new, populist style of politics. (b) Why the Congress ‘died’: The author says the party died as an organisation because under Indira Gandhi’s populist politics, ideology was reduced to mere electoral discourse — slogans (like Garibi Hatao) were used to win votes but were not seriously meant to be translated into government policies. The party now relied entirely on the leader’s personal popularity rather than a living organisational and ideological structure, so even at the height of its electoral victories its organisation had withered away. (c) Effect on other political parties: This populist, personality-centred politics changed the entire nature of politics for everyone. Other parties too were forced to depend more on leaders, slogans and electoral mobilisation than on ideology and organisation; opposition parties found it hard to confront a leader-centred Congress and often combined merely to remove the leader (as in ‘Indira Hatao’), themselves becoming reactive and slogan-driven.

Extra Practice Questions

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What were the two questions raised by the issue of succession after Nehru’s death?

ANSWERNehru’s death in May 1964 raised the usual question of succession, “after Nehru, who?”, and a more serious question for a newly independent democracy, “after Nehru, what?” — that is, whether India’s democratic experiment would survive and whether the new leadership could handle the many crises facing the country.

Q2. What is meant by ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’?

ANSWER‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’ (“Ram came and Ram went”) was a phrase describing the frequent floor-crossing or defection by legislators after the 1967 elections. It originated from Gaya Lal, a Haryana MLA, who changed his party thrice in a fortnight in 1967, highlighting the era of shifting political loyalties.

Q3. Why is the year 1967 considered a landmark in India’s electoral history?

ANSWER1967 is a landmark because the Congress, for the first time without Nehru, suffered a ‘political earthquake’ — it won the Lok Sabha with its lowest-ever tally and lost power in nine states. It marked the rise of coalitions (SVD governments), defections and the first non-Congress state government with its own majority (DMK in Madras).

Q4. What was the ‘Kamaraj Plan’?

ANSWERThe Kamaraj Plan was K. Kamaraj’s 1963 proposal that all senior Congressmen should resign from their government offices to devote themselves to party work and make way for younger party workers. It was meant to strengthen the Congress organisation.

Q5. What were the results of the 1971 Lok Sabha election?

ANSWERIn 1971 the Congress(R)–CPI alliance won a dramatic victory, securing 375 seats and 48.4% of the votes; Indira Gandhi’s Congress(R) alone won 352 seats with about 44% of the votes. The Congress(O) won merely 16 seats, and the opposition Grand Alliance won less than 60 seats, establishing Indira Gandhi’s party as the ‘real’ Congress.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Explain the strategy of ‘non-Congressism’ and the role it played in the 1967 elections.

ANSWERNon-Congressism was a strategy named by socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia under which opposition parties that were entirely different and disparate in their programmes and ideology came together to defeat the Congress. They realised that the division of their votes was keeping the Congress in power, so they formed anti-Congress fronts in some states and made electoral seat-sharing adjustments in others. Lohia also gave a theoretical defence: he argued that Congress rule was undemocratic and opposed to the interests of ordinary poor people, so the coming together of non-Congress parties was necessary for reclaiming democracy. In the 1967 elections, this strategy proved highly effective. By preventing the splitting of the anti-Congress vote and by exploiting the grave economic crisis, Indira Gandhi’s perceived inexperience and the internal factionalism of the Congress, the opposition reduced the Congress to its lowest-ever Lok Sabha tally and ousted it from power in nine states, where SVD coalition governments were formed.

Q2. Describe the phenomenon of coalitions and defections that emerged after the 1967 elections.

ANSWERThe 1967 elections brought into picture the phenomenon of coalitions. Since no single party won a majority in many states, various non-Congress parties came together to form joint legislative parties — called Samyukt Vidhayak Dal in Hindi — that supported non-Congress governments, which is why they were called SVD governments. In most cases the coalition partners were ideologically incongruent: the Bihar SVD included the socialist SSP and PSP along with the CPI on the left and the Jana Sangh on the right; in Punjab the ‘Popular United Front’ combined the two rival Akali groups, both communist parties, the SSP, the Republican Party and the Jana Sangh. The other major feature was defection — an elected representative leaving the party on whose symbol he was elected to join another. Breakaway Congress legislators helped install non-Congress governments in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Constant realignments and shifting loyalties gave rise to the expression ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’, drawn from the Haryana MLA Gaya Lal who changed his party thrice in a fortnight. Such defections made governments unstable, and many coalitions soon lost their majority, leading to fresh combinations or President’s rule; later the Constitution was amended to prevent defections.

Q3. “Indira Gandhi restored the Congress system by changing the nature of the Congress system itself.” Explain.

ANSWERAfter the 1969 split, Indira Gandhi’s Congress(R) was reduced to a minority, yet she boldly recommended the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and faced a fresh election in 1971. Against the opposition Grand Alliance’s negative cry of ‘Indira Hatao’, she offered the positive slogan Garibi Hatao and a pro-poor programme — growth of the public sector, land ceilings, removal of income disparities and abolition of princely privileges — building an independent support base among the poor, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities and women. The massive 1971 victory (375 seats with the CPI), followed by the triumph in the 1971 Bangladesh war and the 1972 state-election sweep, restored the dominance of the Congress. But this was not a revival of the old party. Indira Gandhi had re-invented it: the new Congress relied entirely on the popularity of the supreme leader, had a weak organisational structure, no longer accommodated many factions and depended on specific social groups. Thus she restored the Congress system by changing its very nature — though, as the next chapter shows, the new Congress lacked the old system’s capacity to absorb tensions, and democratic spaces actually began to shrink.

MCQs & Assertion–Reason

1. Who became the Prime Minister of India after Jawaharlal Nehru’s death in 1964?

(a) Indira Gandhi    (b) Morarji Desai    (c) Lal Bahadur Shastri    (d) K. Kamaraj

2. The slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ was coined by:

(a) Jawaharlal Nehru    (b) Lal Bahadur Shastri    (c) Indira Gandhi    (d) Ram Manohar Lohia

3. In the 1966 leadership contest, Indira Gandhi defeated which rival through a secret ballot?

(a) Morarji Desai    (b) S. Nijalingappa    (c) N. Sanjeeva Reddy    (d) K. Kamaraj

4. The strategy of ‘non-Congressism’ was given by:

(a) C. Natarajan Annadurai    (b) Ram Manohar Lohia    (c) Jayaprakash Narayan    (d) Charan Singh

5. Which regional party came to power on its own after the 1967 elections in Madras (Tamil Nadu)?

(a) Swatantra Party    (b) Jana Sangh    (c) DMK    (d) Akali Dal

6. The expression ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’ is associated with:

(a) coalition formation    (b) defection / floor-crossing    (c) bank nationalisation    (d) the privy purse

7. In the 1969 Presidential election, the official Congress candidate was:

(a) V.V. Giri    (b) Zakir Hussain    (c) N. Sanjeeva Reddy    (d) S. Nijalingappa

8. After the 1969 split, the group led by Indira Gandhi came to be known as:

(a) Congress (Organisation)    (b) Congress (Requisitionists)    (c) Old Congress    (d) Syndicate

9. Indira Gandhi’s positive slogan in the 1971 election was:

(a) Indira Hatao    (b) Jai Jawan Jai Kisan    (c) Garibi Hatao    (d) Total Revolution

10. In the 1971 Lok Sabha election, the Congress(R)–CPI combine won about:

(a) 283 seats    (b) 352 seats    (c) 375 seats    (d) 414 seats

Answer key: 1-(c), 2-(b), 3-(a), 4-(b), 5-(c), 6-(b), 7-(c), 8-(b), 9-(c), 10-(c).

For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.

A-R 1. Assertion: The smooth succession after Nehru proved India’s critics wrong.

Reason: Lal Bahadur Shastri was unanimously chosen as leader of the Congress parliamentary party after a consensus built by K. Kamaraj.

A-R 2. Assertion: The 1967 elections were described as a ‘political earthquake’.

Reason: The Congress lost its majority in the Lok Sabha and could not form the central government.

A-R 3. Assertion: Opposition parties adopted the strategy of non-Congressism.

Reason: They realised that the division of their votes was keeping the Congress in power.

A-R 4. Assertion: The 1969 Presidential election formalised the split in the Congress.

Reason: The official Congress candidate N. Sanjeeva Reddy was defeated by the independent candidate V.V. Giri whom Indira Gandhi supported.

A-R 5. Assertion: Indira Gandhi’s restoration of the Congress was simply a revival of the old Congress party.

Reason: The new Congress relied on the popularity of the supreme leader, had a weak organisation and depended on specific social groups.

Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(C), 3-(A), 4-(A), 5-(D).

Exam Tips & Common Mistakes

How to score full marks in this chapter

Fix the timeline in your memory: Nehru’s death (1964) → Shastri (1964–66) → Indira Gandhi (1966) → 1967 elections → coalitions and defections → 1969 Congress split → 1971 election and restoration. Learn the key names — Syndicate (Kamaraj, Patil, Nijalingappa, Sanjeeva Reddy, Atulya Ghosh), Lohia (non-Congressism), Gaya Lal (‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’) — and the difference between Congress (O) and Congress (R). For slogan questions, link Jai Jawan Jai Kisan → Shastri, Garibi Hatao → Indira Gandhi, Indira Hatao → Grand Alliance. Use exact figures (375 seats / 48.4% in 1971; nine states lost in 1967) to lift the quality of long answers.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Saying the Congress lost the Lok Sabha in 1967 — it kept a slim majority at the Centre but lost many states.
  • Treating the 1969 split as a cause of the 1967 defeat — the split came later, in 1969.
  • Confusing Congress (O) ‘Organisation/Old’ (Syndicate) with Congress (R) ‘Requisitionists/New’ (Indira Gandhi).
  • Mixing up the candidates of the 1969 Presidential election — official: N. Sanjeeva Reddy; winner (independent, backed by Indira): V.V. Giri.
  • Calling the Grand Alliance of 1971 a coherent, all-party front — it was a non-Communist, non-Congress group with only ‘Indira Hatao’ in common.
  • Forgetting that the ‘restoration’ was of a re-invented Congress, not the old factional party.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Chapter 5 of Class 12 Political Science (Politics in India Since Independence) about?

Chapter 5, Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System, explains how the Congress dominance was challenged in the 1960s — the succession after Nehru, non-Congressism, the 1967 ‘political earthquake’, coalitions and defections, and the 1969 split — and how Indira Gandhi restored a re-invented Congress through bank nationalisation, the privy-purse issue, the Garibi Hatao slogan and the 1971 election victory.

Why did the Congress split in 1969?

The Congress split formally over the 1969 Presidential election. The Syndicate nominated N. Sanjeeva Reddy as the official candidate, but Indira Gandhi backed the independent V.V. Giri and called for a ‘conscience vote’. Giri’s victory over the official candidate formalised the split into Congress (O), led by the Syndicate, and Congress (R), led by Indira Gandhi.

How did Indira Gandhi restore the Congress system?

She restored it by re-inventing the party rather than reviving the old one. Using pro-poor measures (bank nationalisation, abolition of the privy purse) and the positive Garibi Hatao slogan, she won a landslide in 1971; the 1971 Bangladesh war and the 1972 state-election sweep cemented her dominance. The new Congress relied on the leader’s popularity, had a weaker organisation and depended on the poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.

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