What were the reasons which led to the mid-term elections in 1980?

The Congress’ 1969 split was prompted by the following events:

a) THE CONFLICT WITH THE SYNDICATE: The syndicate was a group of powerful men in the Congress like K.Kamraj, S.K. Patil, N. Sanjeeva Reddy and Atulya Ghosh. They wanted Indira Gandhi to serve as per their directives and follow their instruction. But Indira had been jolted by 1967 election results and decided it was time to demonstrate her leadership. So, she turned the fight for Congress leadership into an ideological conflict, by forcing the party to take a left turn and adopt the Ten Point Program- which included nationalization of banks, land reforms, distribution of food grains etc.

b) MORARJI DESAI’s RESIGNATION: The Finance Minister, Morarji Desai, was not willing to launch the policies initiated by Indira Gandhi. She had called for the abolition of the privy purse, but Desai was sceptical of the move. So he resigned from the government.

c) VV GIRI’s PRESIDENTIAL WIN: Despite Indira’s opposition, the syndicate fielded N. Sanjeeva Reddy as their Presidential candidate in 1969. However, Indira influenced VV Giri into running for President as an independent. Despite the party whip, she asked her supporting MLAs and MPs to vote for their ‘conscience’. Eventually, VV Giri won the elections, enraging the syndicate.

This formalized the split within the Congress. Indira and her supporters were expelled from the party, and she founded the Congress (Requisitionists), separated from Congress (Organisation).

OR

Several events eventually culminated in the imposition of emergency in 1975.

TENSIONS WITH THE JUDICIARY

a) The Supreme Court had delivered an unfavourable judgment for the government in the Keshvanand Bharti case. It had curtailed the powers of the government to alter the Fundamental rights of the citizens.

b) When the vacancy for the Chief Justice of India emerged, Indira overrode seniority of three judges and appointed Justice AN Ray to the chair.

c) The high court of Allahabad passed a judgment declaring the election of Indira Gandhi invalid.

STRIKES AND MOVEMENTS

a) The students of Gujarat and Bihar led a movement against rising prices of grains in March 1974.

b) These students invited Jayaprakash Narayana to lead the movement, and he gave the movement a national character.

c) The movement turned into a March to Parliament, and there was a show of great strength. JP Narayana had turned the movement into a political force.

d) This was followed by Railway Strike, which crippled the entire workings of the government.

ECONOMIC TURMOIL

a) Despite the Garibi Hatao platform of Indira Gandhi, inflation was incredibly high, and poverty was rampant.

b) The Bangladesh crisis aggravated the situation, as 8 million people crossed the border into India. At the same time,the USA decided to stop supplies to India because of India’s war with Pakistan.

c) The government froze the salaries of its employees, leading to disappointment.

d) The government was unable to control unemployment and inflationary practices like grain hoarding.

e) Economic turmoil led to the rise of Naxalites and political unrest around the country.