Challenges to & Restoration of the Congress System Test - 2

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru passed away in May 1964. He had been unwell for more than a year.

In conclusion, while Mrs. Indira Gandhi's government implemented several significant policy initiatives such as the abolition of privy purse and nationalisation of banks, the ban on nuclear tests was not included in her government's agenda.

Originally the election symbol of the Congress was a pair of bullocks. This famous cartoon depicts the changes within the Congress leading to a head-on confrontation in the 22nd year after Independence.

All the major non-communist and non-Congress opposition parties formed an electoral alliance known as the Grand Alliance. The SSP, the PSP, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the Swatantra Party, and the Bharatiya Kranti Dal came together under this umbrella to counter Mrs. Gandhi. They gave the slogan for Indira hatao, desh bachao owing to the growing political and economic crisis that the country encountered.

“The Left Hook” was published after the victory of V.V. Giri, (the boxer with the garland)  over the nominee of the Syndicate, represented here by Nijalingappa (on his knees).

The expression ‘aya ram, gaya ram’ became popular in the political vocabulary in India to describe the practice of frequent floor crossing by legislators.

The fifth general election to Lok Sabha were held in February 1971.

The 1967 elections were a big jolt for the Congress. Although the party won the Lok Sabha and formed government at the centre, it lost in as many as nine states. This marked the end of the one-party dominant system. This was the first time that any non-Congress party had secured a majority of its own in the state of Tamil Nadu. In the other eight states, coalition governments consisting of different non-Congress parties were formed.

Lal Bahadur Shastri coined the famous slogan ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan’.

Lal Bahadur Shastri  (1904-1966):  Prime Minister of India; participated in the freedom movement since 1930; Minister in UP cabinet; General Secretary of Congress; Minister in Union Cabinet from  1951 to 1956 when he resigned taking responsibility for the railway accident and later from 1957 to 1964; coined the famous slogan ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan’.