Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System, Class 12

What Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System is about

Weightage: Politics in India since Independence: Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System carries 4 of the 80 theory marks.Source: CBSE Political Science (028) syllabus 2026-27, course structure

Key concepts

Challenge of political succession

NCERT section Challenge of Political Succession

After Nehru, who? After Nehru, what? Nehru died in May 1964. Outsiders doubted India could manage a democratic succession; failure might bring a political role for the army. The 1960s were called the 'dangerous decade': poverty, inequality, communal and regional divisions might cause failure of democracy or even disintegration.

From Nehru to Shastri (1964):

• Congress President K. Kamaraj consulted leaders and MPs, found a consensus for Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was chosen unanimously as leader of the Congress parliamentary party.
• Shastri: non-controversial leader from UP, long a minister, known for simplicity and principles; he had resigned as Railway Minister taking moral responsibility for an accident.
• PM 1964-1966; faced the after-effects of the China war, failed monsoons, drought and food crisis, and the 1965 war. Slogan 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan'.
• Died suddenly at Tashkent on 11 January 1966, where he had gone to sign an agreement with Pakistan's President Ayub Khan.
• *The Guardian* (London) noted India named its new PM with more speed and dignity than Britain had.

From Shastri to Indira Gandhi (1966):

• Intense contest between Morarji Desai (former CM of Bombay state, Union minister) and Indira Gandhi (Nehru's daughter, former Congress President, Information Minister under Shastri).
• Senior leaders backed Indira Gandhi, but not unanimously; a secret ballot among Congress MPs gave her over two-thirds support.
• A peaceful transition despite competition was seen as a sign of democratic maturity.
• Senior leaders may have expected her inexperience to make her dependent on them.

Worked example

How did the successions of 1964 and 1966 show the maturity of Indian democracy? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. In 1964, despite fears of failure or army rule, Kamaraj built a consensus and Shastri was chosen unanimously and smoothly.
2. In 1966, an intense contest between Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi was settled peacefully by a secret ballot of Congress MPs.

Answer: Both successions were peaceful and democratic, proving critics wrong.

Context of the 1967 election and non-Congressism

NCERT section Fourth General Elections, 1967: Context; Non-Congressism

1967 is a landmark in India's political history.

Context:

• Two PMs had died quickly; the new PM, seen as a political novice, had been in office less than a year.
• Grave economic crisis: failed monsoons, drought, fall in farm output, food shortage, depleted foreign exchange, falling industrial output and exports, rising military spending and diversion from planning.
• Devaluation of the rupee, seen as under US pressure: a dollar rose from under Rs 5 to over Rs 7.
• Price rise led to protests, bandhs and hartals; the government treated them as a law and order problem, increasing bitterness.
• Communist and socialist struggles for equality; the CPI(ML) led armed agrarian struggles; some of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots since Independence.

Non-Congressism:

• Opposition parties realised that division of their votes kept the Congress in power.
• Parties with very different programmes formed anti-Congress fronts in some states and seat-sharing adjustments in others, seeing an opportunity in Indira Gandhi's inexperience and Congress factionalism.
• Ram Manohar Lohia named the strategy 'non-Congressism' and argued that Congress rule was undemocratic and against the poor, so non-Congress parties had to unite to reclaim democracy for the people.

Worked example

What was 'non-Congressism'? Who gave it this name? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. A strategy by which opposition parties with different ideologies came together in anti-Congress fronts or seat adjustments, since divided votes had kept the Congress in power.
2. Socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia named it, arguing that Congress rule was undemocratic and anti-poor, so uniting was needed to reclaim democracy.

Answer: Opposition unity against the Congress, named and defended by Ram Manohar Lohia.

The 1967 electoral verdict: the 'political earthquake'

NCERT section Electoral Verdict

Voting for both Parliament and the state assemblies took place in February 1967, the first election the Congress fought without Nehru.

National level:

• Observers called it a 'political earthquake'. The Congress kept a Lok Sabha majority, but with its lowest seats and vote share since 1952.
• Half of Indira Gandhi's ministers lost; stalwarts like Kamaraj (Tamil Nadu), S. K. Patil (Maharashtra), Atulya Ghosh (West Bengal) and K. B. Sahay (Bihar) were defeated.
• A London Times article (Neville Maxwell) even predicted India's democratic experiment had failed.

State level:

• The Congress lost majority in seven states, and defections stopped it forming governments in two more: Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala.
• In Madras, the DMK won a clear majority after leading a student anti-Hindi agitation: the first time a non-Congress party won a majority on its own in any state. (Its leader C. N. Annadurai became CM.)
• In the other eight, coalition governments of non-Congress parties took office.
• Popular saying: you could take a train from Delhi to Howrah without passing through a single Congress-ruled state.

Worked example

Why were the 1967 election results called a 'political earthquake'? (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The Congress kept a Lok Sabha majority but with its lowest tally of seats and votes since 1952.
2. Half of Indira Gandhi's ministers lost, including stalwarts like Kamaraj, S. K. Patil, Atulya Ghosh and K. B. Sahay.
3. It lost power in nine states across the country (seven by losing majority, two through defections).
4. The DMK became the first non-Congress party to win a majority on its own (Madras), and non-Congress coalitions ruled eight states.

Answer: Because the dominant Congress suffered heavy losses at the Centre and lost power in nine states, showing it could be defeated.

Coalitions and defections

NCERT section Coalitions; Defection

Coalitions:

• No single party won a majority in several states, so non-Congress parties formed joint legislative parties called Samyukt Vidhayak Dal (SVD); hence SVD governments.
• Partners were often ideologically incongruent: in Bihar, the SVD included the socialist SSP and PSP, the CPI on the left and Jana Sangh on the right. In Punjab, the 'Popular United Front' included rival Akali groups (Sant and Master), the CPI and CPI(M), the SSP, the Republican Party and the Jana Sangh.

Defections:

• Defection means an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he or she was elected and joins another.
• After 1967, breakaway Congress legislators helped install non-Congress governments in Haryana, MP and UP.
• 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram': Gaya Lal, a Haryana MLA, changed party three times in a fortnight in 1967 (Congress to United Front, back to Congress, and within nine hours back to the United Front). Congress leader Rao Birendra Singh announced 'Gaya Ram was now Aya Ram'.
• Later, the Constitution was amended to prevent defections.

Short life: most non-Congress coalition governments did not last; new combinations formed or President's rule was imposed. The results showed the Congress could be defeated, but there was no substitute yet.

Worked example

What is defection? How did the phrase 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram' originate? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Defection is when an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he or she was elected and joins another party.
2. The phrase came from Gaya Lal, a Haryana MLA, who changed his party three times in a fortnight in 1967, prompting the remark 'Gaya Ram was now Aya Ram'.

Answer: Party-switching by legislators; named after Haryana MLA Gaya Lal's repeated floor-crossing in 1967.

Indira Gandhi vs the Syndicate

NCERT section Split in the Congress: Indira vs the 'Syndicate'

The real challenge came from within the party.

The Syndicate (box): an informal name for a group of Congress leaders who controlled the party organisation, led by K. Kamaraj (former CM of Tamil Nadu, then Congress President), including S. K. Patil (Bombay), S. Nijalingappa (Mysore), N. Sanjeeva Reddy (Andhra Pradesh) and Atulya Ghosh (West Bengal). Both Shastri and Indira Gandhi owed their position to it; it had a decisive say in her first Council of Ministers and in policy.

Indira Gandhi's two challenges:
1. Build independence from the Syndicate: she chose trusted advisers from outside the party and gradually sidelined the Syndicate.
2. Regain ground lost in 1967.

Strategy: power struggle turned into an ideological struggle.

• She gave government policy a Left orientation.
• The Congress Working Committee adopted a Ten Point Programme (May 1967): social control of banks, general insurance taken over by the state, limits on urban property and income, public distribution of food grains, land reforms, and house sites for the rural poor.
• The Syndicate formally approved it but had serious reservations.

K. Kamaraj also proposed the 'Kamaraj plan' (1963): senior Congressmen should resign office to make way for younger workers.

Worked example

What was the 'Syndicate'? What role did it play? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The Syndicate was an informal group of powerful Congress leaders controlling the party organisation, led by K. Kamaraj, with S. K. Patil, S. Nijalingappa, N. Sanjeeva Reddy and Atulya Ghosh.
2. It ensured the selection of Shastri and Indira Gandhi as PM, and had a decisive say in her first Council of Ministers and in policy.

Answer: A group of party bosses who controlled the Congress organisation and acted as kingmakers.

Presidential election of 1969 and the Congress split

NCERT section Presidential Election, 1969; Abolition of Privy Purse

The rivalry came into the open in 1969.

• After President Zakir Hussain's death, the Syndicate nominated N. Sanjeeva Reddy (Lok Sabha Speaker and Indira Gandhi's long-time opponent) as the official Congress candidate.
• Indira Gandhi encouraged Vice-President V. V. Giri to stand as an independent.
• She announced nationalisation of fourteen leading private banks and abolition of the 'privy purse'. Morarji Desai (Deputy PM and Finance Minister) differed on both and left the government.
• Congress President S. Nijalingappa issued a whip to vote for Reddy. Indira Gandhi's supporters sought a special AICC meeting (hence 'requisitionists'), which was refused.
• She called for a 'conscience vote', letting Congress MPs and MLAs vote freely.
• V. V. Giri won; the official candidate lost.

The split: the Congress President expelled the PM; she claimed hers was the real Congress. By November 1969: Congress (Organisation) led by the Syndicate (Old Congress) and Congress (Requisitionists) led by Indira Gandhi (New Congress). She presented the split as ideological: socialists vs conservatives, pro-poor vs pro-rich.

Privy purse (box): at integration, former rulers were allowed certain property and a hereditary government allowance (privy purse) based on their state's size, revenue and potential. Hereditary privileges conflicted with equality and justice; Nehru had expressed dissatisfaction. Indira Gandhi supported abolition after 1967; Morarji Desai called it a 'breach of faith with the princes'. A 1970 constitutional amendment failed in the Rajya Sabha; an ordinance was struck down by the Supreme Court. After the 1971 victory, the Constitution was amended to remove legal obstacles to abolition.

Worked example

Discuss the issue that led to the formal split of the Congress in 1969. (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The Syndicate nominated N. Sanjeeva Reddy as the official candidate for President in 1969, despite Indira Gandhi's reservations.
2. Indira Gandhi backed V. V. Giri as an independent and announced bank nationalisation and abolition of privy purses; Morarji Desai left the government.
3. Despite the Congress President's whip, she called for a 'conscience vote', and Giri defeated Reddy.
4. The Congress President expelled her, and the party split into Congress (O) and Congress (R) by November 1969.

Answer: The 1969 Presidential election, where Indira Gandhi's support for V. V. Giri against the official candidate led to the split.

The 1971 election and restoration

NCERT section The 1971 Election and Restoration of Congress

Before the election: the split left Indira Gandhi's government in a minority, surviving on issue-based support of the CPI and DMK. It projected socialist credentials, pushed land reform laws and land ceilings. To end dependence and seek a mandate, it recommended dissolution of the Lok Sabha (December 1970); elections were held in February 1971.

The contest: it seemed loaded against Congress (R), since Congress (O) was thought to control the organisation. All major non-communist, non-Congress parties formed the Grand Alliance: SSP, PSP, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Swatantra Party and Bharatiya Kranti Dal. Congress (R) allied with the CPI.

Agenda vs no agenda:

• The Grand Alliance lacked a coherent programme; Indira Gandhi said its only programme was 'Indira Hatao'.
• She offered a positive slogan, 'Garibi Hatao' (Remove Poverty): growth of the public sector, ceilings on rural land and urban property, removing income disparities and abolishing princely privileges.
• She sought a base among landless labourers, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women and unemployed youth, building an independent nationwide support base.

Results: the Congress (R)-CPI alliance won 375 seats and 48.4 per cent votes; Congress (R) alone 352 seats with about 44 per cent. Congress (O) won only 16 seats; the Grand Alliance won fewer than 60 in all. The Bangladesh war that followed raised her popularity further; the Congress swept the 1972 state elections.

Restoration? A different Congress:

• Not a revival but a re-invention: similar popularity but relying on the supreme leader's popularity, with a weak organisation and few factions, so it could not accommodate all opinions.
• Depended more on certain groups: the poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.
• It lacked the old system's capacity to absorb tensions; while Indira Gandhi gained unprecedented authority, spaces for democratic expression shrank, and unrest over development and deprivation grew.

Worked example

What factors led to the popularity of Indira Gandhi's government in the early 1970s? (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. A positive slogan, 'Garibi Hatao', against the opposition's 'Indira Hatao', with programmes like public sector growth, land ceilings and abolition of princely privileges.
2. Left-oriented measures such as bank nationalisation and the Ten Point Programme built a socialist image.
3. Targeting the disadvantaged (landless labourers, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women, unemployed youth) built an independent support base.
4. Victory in the 1971 Bangladesh war made her appear a strong nationalist leader, and the Congress swept the 1972 state elections.

Answer: A positive pro-poor programme, socialist measures, a new social base and the 1971 war victory.

Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• The Fourth General Election of 1967
• The Congress Split and the Syndicate

Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System: key facts

Succession

May 1964	Nehru dies
1964-66	Shastri PM (consensus via Kamaraj)
11 Jan 1966	Shastri dies, Tashkent
1966	Indira Gandhi beats Morarji Desai in secret ballot

'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' by Shastri.

1967 context

Drought, food crisis, foreign exchange shortage, devaluation (Rs 5 to Rs 7 per dollar), price rise, protests

Indira Gandhi seen as novice.

1967 results

Lowest Congress tally since 1952; half the ministers lost; Congress out in 9 states; DMK first non-Congress majority (Madras)

'Political earthquake'.

Nine states lost in 1967

Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras, Kerala

Delhi to Howrah without a Congress state.

Coalitions

SVD governments; Bihar (SSP, PSP, CPI, Jana Sangh); Punjab 'Popular United Front'

Ideologically incongruent partners.

Defection

Gaya Lal, Haryana, 1967: three changes in a fortnight; 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram'

Constitution later amended.

Syndicate

Kamaraj, S. K. Patil, Nijalingappa, Sanjeeva Reddy, Atulya Ghosh

Controlled party organisation.

Ten Point Programme (May 1967)

• •Social control of banks
• •general insurance nationalised
• •urban property and income ceilings
• •public distribution of food grains
• •land reforms
• •house sites for rural poor

Left orientation.

1969 split

Reddy (official) vs V. V. Giri (independent, won); 14 banks nationalised; privy purse; conscience vote; Congress (O) vs Congress (R)

Nov 1969.

1971 election

Grand Alliance	SSP, PSP, BJS, Swatantra, BKD
Rival	Congress (R)-CPI, slogan Garibi Hatao
Congress (R)	352 seats, ~44%
Congress (R)-CPI alliance	375 seats, 48.4%
Congress (O)	16 seats

Opposition total under 60.

New Congress

Leader-centred; weak organisation; few factions; base among poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities

Restored dominance by changing the system.

How the board asks Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Syndicate members

  "KPNRG": Kamaraj, Patil, Nijalingappa, Reddy, Ghosh.

  Use it when: Syndicate questions.

• Grand Alliance parties

  "SPBSB": SSP, PSP, BJS, Swatantra, BKD.

  Use it when: 1971 alliance.

• Key years

  "64-66-67-69-71": Shastri, Indira, earthquake, split, Garibi Hatao.

  Use it when: Chronology.

• 1971 numbers

  "352 alone, 375 with CPI, 16 for Old".

  Use it when: Results.

Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 4-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Saying the Congress lost the Lok Sabha in 1967

  Confusion with state losses.

  ✓Do this: It kept a reduced Lok Sabha majority but lost nine states.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Putting the split before 1967

  Factionalism existed earlier.

  ✓Do this: Formal split: November 1969, after the Presidential election.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Including the CPI in the Grand Alliance

  Opposition party.

  ✓Do this: The Grand Alliance was non-communist; the CPI allied with Congress (R).

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Saying the old Congress system was simply revived

  The word 'restoration'.

  ✓Do this: It was re-invented: leader-centred, few factions, narrower social base.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Confusing V. V. Giri and Sanjeeva Reddy

  Two candidates.

  ✓Do this: Reddy was the official candidate; Giri, the independent backed by Indira Gandhi, won.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

NCERT exercise guide: Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Practice questions on Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Who was the Congress President who built a consensus for Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964?
   (a) S. Nijalingappa
   (b) K. Kamaraj
   (c) Morarji Desai
   (d) Atulya Ghosh

   Hint

   Kamaraj plan.

   Answer

   (b).

2. Q2 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   In 1967, which party became the first non-Congress party to win a majority on its own in a state?
   (a) CPI(M) in Kerala
   (b) DMK in Madras
   (c) Akali Dal in Punjab
   (d) Jana Sangh in Madhya Pradesh

   Hint

   Anti-Hindi agitation.

   Answer

   (b).

3. Q3 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Match:
   i. Syndicate a. Elected representative leaving his or her party
   ii. Defection b. Catchy phrase that attracts public attention
   iii. Slogan c. Parties of different ideologies uniting against the Congress
   iv. Anti-Congressism d. Group of powerful Congress leaders
   (a) i-d, ii-a, iii-b, iv-c
   (b) i-a, ii-d, iii-b, iv-c
   (c) i-d, ii-b, iii-a, iv-c
   (d) i-c, ii-a, iii-b, iv-d

   Hint

   Definitions.

   Answer

   (a).

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

   Assertion (A): The 1969 Presidential election formalised the split in the Congress.
   Reason (R): The official Congress candidate N. Sanjeeva Reddy was defeated by the independent V. V. Giri.
   Choose (a)-(d).

   Hint

   Expulsion followed.

   Answer

   (a) Both are true and R explains A.

5. Q5 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

   What was the privy purse, and why was its abolition controversial? (2 marks)

   Hint

   Breach of faith?

   Answer

   A hereditary government allowance and retained property given to former princely rulers at integration, based on their state's size, revenue and potential. Supporters said hereditary privileges violated equality and justice; Morarji Desai called abolition morally wrong and a 'breach of faith with the princes'.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Suppose a school council has a powerful senior group that chose the head prefect expecting her to follow them. She instead appeals directly to students with popular promises and wins a re-election by a huge margin. Which episode does this resemble, and what changed in the council? (4 marks)

   Hint

   Syndicate, Garibi Hatao, new Congress.

   Answer

   It resembles Indira Gandhi's conflict with the Syndicate, which expected her to depend on it. She built independence by sidelining it, turned the struggle into an ideological one (Ten Point Programme, bank nationalisation), split the party in 1969 and won directly from voters in 1971 with Garibi Hatao. As in the new Congress, the council would now depend on the leader's personal popularity, with a weaker organisation and less room for internal factions and differing opinions.

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   How should a political party resolve internal differences? Evaluate two methods using the Congress experience. (4 marks)

   Hint

   Secret ballot, seniors.

   Answer

   Secret ballot: in 1966 the Shastri succession contest was settled peacefully when Indira Gandhi won over two-thirds of MPs in a secret ballot; this is democratic and accepted, though it can leave losers unhappy. Following senior leaders: in 1964 Kamaraj's consultations produced consensus for Shastri, but in 1969 the Syndicate's control and whip clashed with the PM, leading to a split. So open, democratic procedures that tolerate differences, as in the old Congress system, help avoid splits.

8. Q8 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

   Why did most non-Congress coalition governments after 1967 not last? (2 marks)

   Hint

   Incongruent partners, defections.

   Answer

   Their partners were ideologically incongruent (e.g. CPI with Jana Sangh in Bihar) and constant defections and shifting loyalties ('Aya Ram, Gaya Ram') made them unstable, so they lost majority and new combinations formed or President's rule was imposed.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Why were the 1960s called the 'dangerous decade'?Show answer

   Because unresolved problems like poverty, inequality and communal and regional divisions could lead to failure of democracy or disintegration.

2. 2.How much did a US dollar cost before and after devaluation?Show answer

   Less than Rs 5 before; more than Rs 7 after.

3. 3.Which leaders lost in 1967?Show answer

   Kamaraj, S. K. Patil, Atulya Ghosh and K. B. Sahay, among others; half of the cabinet lost.

4. 4.What was an SVD government?Show answer

   A government supported by a Samyukt Vidhayak Dal, a joint legislative party of non-Congress parties after 1967.

5. 5.How many banks were nationalised in 1969?Show answer

   Fourteen leading private banks.

6. 6.Who expelled Indira Gandhi from the Congress in 1969?Show answer

   Congress President S. Nijalingappa.

7. 7.When was the Lok Sabha dissolved before the 1971 election?Show answer

   December 1970 (elections held February 1971).

8. 8.What was the 'Kamaraj plan'?Show answer

   His 1963 proposal that senior Congressmen resign office to make way for younger party workers.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you explain 'after Nehru, who?' and 'after Nehru, what?'
• ☐Can you describe both successions?
• ☐Can you list the causes of discontent before 1967?
• ☐Can you explain non-Congressism and Lohia's argument?
• ☐Can you describe the 1967 verdict at Centre and states?
• ☐Can you explain coalitions and defections with examples?
• ☐Can you name the Syndicate and Indira Gandhi's strategy against it?
• ☐Can you narrate the 1969 Presidential election and split?
• ☐Can you explain the privy purse issue?
• ☐Can you explain the 1971 result and how the new Congress differed?

Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System: frequently asked questions