“This is not a movement for power. It is a movement for the transformation of society, for the creation of a new human being, a new politics, a new economics.” — Jayaprakash Narayan, 1974
By the mid-1970s, the triumphant victor of 1971 faced mounting crises. This chapter examines the Jayaprakash Narayan movement, the railway strike of 1974, and the growing authoritarianism that would culminate in the Emergency.
Indira’s 1971 victory brought a massive electoral mandate in 1972. But within two years, the euphoria had dissipated. Inflation soared, corruption scandals emerged, and unemployment remained high. The promise of “Garibi Hatao” (abolish poverty) seemed hollow.
The 1973 oil crisis hit India hard. Prices rose sharply. Drought affected food production. The poor, whose votes had swept Indira to power, saw their conditions deteriorate. Discontent spread.
Jayaprakash Narayan—JP—was a legendary freedom fighter who had renounced politics for social work. In 1974, he re-entered public life to lead a movement against corruption and misgovernance in Bihar.
JP had unimpeachable credentials—a socialist who fought the British, then devoted himself to rural development. His entry into the anti-Congress movement gave it moral authority. He called for “Total Revolution”—a transformation of society, politics, and individual behavior.
In May 1974, George Fernandes led the railway workers in a nationwide strike demanding better wages. The railways were India’s largest employer; a strike would paralyze the country.
Indira’s government responded with unprecedented force. Strike leaders were arrested under emergency laws. The army was called to maintain essential services. Workers were dismissed and evicted from railway housing. The strike was crushed within twenty days.
The railway strike showed both the government’s vulnerability and its willingness to use repression. The constitutional niceties that had constrained earlier governments were being eroded.
In Gujarat, a student movement against corruption escalated into demands for dissolution of the state assembly. Violence erupted. The Nav Nirman (reconstruction) movement forced the central government to dissolve the Gujarat assembly and call fresh elections.
The success in Gujarat encouraged the Bihar movement. If street protests could bring down a state government, why not the central government? The opposition saw opportunity; the government saw existential threat.
From Bihar, JP’s movement spread to other states. He called for legislatures to be dissolved, for the army and police to disobey “illegal” orders, and for a “Total Revolution” to cleanse Indian politics. The movement drew students, opposition parties, and the RSS.
The government saw JP’s movement as seditious; JP saw the government as corrupt and authoritarian. Neither would compromise. The confrontation escalated toward a climax that would come in June 1975.
On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices in the 1971 election. The judgment unseated her from Parliament and barred her from holding office for six years.
Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha’s judgment was based on relatively minor charges—misuse of government machinery during the campaign. But its effect was devastating. The opposition demanded Indira’s resignation. JP called for the army and police to disobey her orders.
Faced with demands for resignation and possible prosecution, Indira chose confrontation over compromise. On June 25, 1975, she advised the President to proclaim Emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution. Democracy was suspended.
“The decision to impose Emergency was not made in panic or under pressure. It was made over weeks, carefully planned, with the objective of crushing all opposition to Indira Gandhi’s rule.” — Ramachandra Guha