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Fourth General Election 1967 Class 12 Political Science

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Political ScienceCBSE Class 12 · Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System

The Fourth General Election of 1967: A Political Earthquake (Class 12 Political Science)

Updated 16 October 2026 · Fact-checked

The fourth general election of February 1967 was the first without Nehru. Economic crisis and protests, and Lohia's strategy of non-Congressism, set the stage. The Congress kept a Lok Sabha majority with its lowest tally since 1952 but lost power in nine states, giving rise to coalition governments and defections.

Notice that Congress fell from 361 to 283 Lok Sabha seats yet kept power at the Centre, while losing nine states, which led to coalitions and defections.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand The Fourth General Election of 1967

Why this topic matters. The 1967 election is a favourite of Part B: papers ask its consequences, the meaning of non-Congressism, defection and 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram', and ask students to identify states from clues. NCERT section: 'Fourth General Elections, 1967' (context, non-Congressism, electoral verdict, coalitions, defection), with the box on a Rajasthan village.

1. After Nehru: the doubts. Nehru died in May 1964. Outsiders doubted whether India could manage a democratic succession; failure might bring a political role for the army. The 1960s were called the 'dangerous decade'. Succession to Shastri (1964) and then to Indira Gandhi (1966) went through without a breakdown, but the new Prime Minister was seen as a political novice and had to face the electorate within a year.

2. The context of the election.

PressureDetail
EconomyFailed monsoons, drought, falling farm output, food shortage, shrinking foreign exchange reserves, falling industrial production and exports, a sharp rise in military expenditure and diversion of resources from planning
DevaluationThe rupee was devalued: a US dollar cost less than Rs 5 earlier and more than Rs 7 afterwards
ProtestPrice rise, scarcity and unemployment led to frequent bandhs and hartals. The government treated the protests as a law and order problem, not as expressions of people's problems, which increased public bitterness
Left strugglesCommunist and socialist parties launched struggles for equality; a group that left the CPI(M) formed the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) and led armed agrarian struggles
TensionSome of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots since Independence

3. Non-Congressism. Opposition parties realised that the division of their votes kept the Congress in power, and saw the new Prime Minister's inexperience and the party's factionalism as an opening. The socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia named the strategy 'non-Congressism' and argued that Congress rule was undemocratic and against ordinary poor people, so non-Congress parties should come together to reclaim democracy. Parties with very different programmes formed anti-Congress fronts or adjusted seats. A London *Times* article by Neville Maxwell, 'India's Disintegrating Democracy', even predicted that the democratic experiment would fail and the army would be the only alternative source of order.

4. The verdict (February 1967).

  • It was the first election the Congress faced without Nehru. Observers called the result a 'political earthquake'.
  • Centre: the Congress kept a majority in the Lok Sabha, but with its lowest tally of seats and share of votes since 1952. Half the ministers in Indira Gandhi's cabinet lost, among them Kamaraj (Tamil Nadu), S.K. Patil (Maharashtra), Atulya Ghosh (West Bengal) and K.B. Sahay (Bihar).
  • States: the Congress lost its majority in seven States, and defections stopped it forming governments in two more. The nine were Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala. In Madras the DMK, led by C.N. Annadurai, won a clear majority after a student-led anti-Hindi agitation, the first time a non-Congress party won a majority of its own in a State. People joked that one could travel from Delhi to Howrah without passing through a Congress-ruled State.

5. Coalitions and defections.

  • No party had a majority in several States, so non-Congress parties formed joint legislative parties (Samyukt Vidhayak Dal, SVD). The partners were ideologically incongruent: the Bihar SVD had two socialist parties (SSP, PSP), the CPI on the left and the Jana Sangh on the right; Punjab's Popular United Front joined two rival Akali groups, both communist parties, the SSP, the Republican Party and the Jana Sangh.
  • Defection means an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he or she was elected. Breakaway Congress legislators helped install non-Congress governments in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Gaya Lal, a Haryana MLA, changed party three times in a fortnight in 1967, the last time within nine hours, giving the phrase 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram'. The Constitution was later amended to prevent defections.
  • Result: the Congress could be defeated, but there was no substitute as yet; most non-Congress coalitions did not last, and either new combinations formed or President's rule was imposed.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

  • political earthquake

    Contemporary political observers, cited in NCERT Chapter 5: Their description of the 1967 results.

    The standard phrase for the 1967 verdict.

  • Aya Ram, Gaya Ram

    Expression popularised after Gaya Lal's floor-crossing in Haryana, 1967: Used for frequent floor-crossing by legislators.

    The standard phrase for defection.

The Fourth General Election of 1967: key facts

Verdict in numbers
  • Congress majority in Lok Sabha, lowest tally since 1952
  • Half of Indira Gandhi's ministers defeated
  • Majority lost in 7 states
  • 2 more states lost through defections
  • 9 states in all
Seven plus two.
The nine states
  • Punjab
  • Haryana
  • Uttar Pradesh
  • Madhya Pradesh
  • Bihar
  • West Bengal
  • Orissa
  • Madras
  • Kerala
DMK won a majority in Madras.
Context
  • Failed monsoons
  • Food shortage
  • Falling forex
  • Military expenditure up
  • Rupee devalued
  • Price rise protests
Economic crisis.
Coalition terms
  • Non-Congressism (Lohia)
  • SVD governments
  • Ideologically incongruent partners
  • Defection
  • Aya Ram, Gaya Ram
  • President's rule
Key words.

How to answer The Fourth General Election of 1967 questions

Questions on 1967 either test the Centre-state contrast or the new terms. Give the cause, the result and one named example every time.

  1. 1Open with the context: economic crisis, protests, a new Prime Minister, the first election without Nehru.
  2. 2For the verdict separate the Centre (majority kept, lowest tally) from the states (nine lost).
  3. 3Name the DMK as the first non-Congress party with a majority of its own in a state.
  4. 4Define each term: non-Congressism, SVD, defection, and attach one example.
  5. 5End with the lesson: the Congress could be defeated, but no substitute had arrived.
  6. 6Use neutral wording for parties; report their positions as the book does.

The Fourth General Election of 1967 in real life

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

Local rivalry inside party contests

Two houses compete for the school cup. In one house, an older student and his cousin, who both belong to the same group, are rivals for captaincy. Each quietly backs a different house in the cup contest, so the cup contest ends up deciding who is the stronger of the cousins.

Which NCERT example from the 1967 elections does this resemble, and what does it show? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Rivals from the same family group backing different sides recall Sher Singh and Bhim Singh of Devisar.
  2. Sher Singh worked for the Swatantra candidate; Bhim Singh helped the Congress candidate.
  3. It shows that local rivalries can get mixed up with the competition between parties.

Answer: It resembles the village of Devisar in Chomu constituency, where uncle Sher Singh and nephew Bhim Singh backed rival parties. It shows how local factional rivalries get mixed up with the competition between parties in an election.

Memory hook: A village feud inside a party fight.

Ideologically incongruent coalitions

In a school election no club wins a majority. The science club, which wants more lab hours, and the sports club, which wants fewer, join the arts club to run the council together only because none of them wants the old council back.

Which development in the States after 1967 does this resemble? Give one example from NCERT. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Parties with opposite programmes coming together only to keep one party out resembles the SVD governments.
  2. NCERT calls the partners ideologically incongruent.
  3. Example: the Bihar SVD had the SSP and the PSP, the CPI on the left and the Jana Sangh on the right.

Answer: It resembles the non-Congress coalition governments supported by joint legislative parties (Samyukt Vidhayak Dal) after 1967, whose partners NCERT calls ideologically incongruent. For example, the SVD government in Bihar included the two socialist parties, the SSP and the PSP, along with the CPI on the left and the Jana Sangh on the right.

Memory hook: Opposites united only by a common rival.

Tricks to remember The Fourth General Election of 1967

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

  • 7 + 2 = 9

    Seven states lost by votes, two by defections: nine in all.

    Use it when: States lost by the Congress in 1967.

  • Delhi to Howrah

    A train from Delhi to Howrah would not pass a Congress state.

    Use it when: The spread of the Congress setback.

  • D-S-D

    DMK first majority, SVD coalitions, Defection.

    Use it when: Three outcomes of 1967.

The Fourth General Election of 1967: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: The state that stayed out of the nine · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

In which of the following States did the Congress NOT lose power after the 1967 elections?
(a) Bihar
(b) Orissa
(c) Maharashtra
(d) Kerala

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. The nine States were Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala; Maharashtra is not among them (1 mark).

Answer: (c) Maharashtra

Example 2: The response to the protests · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

How did the government treat the protests against price rise and scarcity in the years before the 1967 election, and what was the effect? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Treatment (1 mark).
  2. Effect (1 mark).

Answer: The government saw the protests as a law and order problem and not as expressions of people's problems. This further increased public bitterness and reinforced popular unrest.

Example 3: Assertion and reason: defeated but not replaced · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): The 1967 results proved that the Congress could be defeated at the elections.
Reason (R): Most non-Congress coalition governments formed in the States after 1967 did not survive for long.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Both statements are in NCERT, so both are true (0.5 mark).
  2. R is about what happened after the defeat: NCERT gives it to show that there was no substitute as yet, not to explain why the Congress could be defeated (0.5 mark).

Answer: (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.

Example 4: A new Prime Minister on weak ground · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Why was the new Prime Minister's position seen as weak in the run-up to the 1967 election? Give four reasons from NCERT. (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Experience (1 mark).
  2. The senior leaders' expectation (1 mark).
  3. Timing of the election (1 mark).
  4. The economic situation (1 mark).

Answer: First, although Indira Gandhi had been politically active for very long, she had served as a minister under Lal Bahadur Shastri only for a short period, and she was being seen as a political novice. Second, the senior Congress leaders may have supported her in the belief that her administrative and political inexperience would compel her to depend on them for support and guidance. Third, within a year of becoming Prime Minister she had to lead the party in a Lok Sabha election, after two Prime Ministers had died in quick succession. Fourth, the economic situation had further deteriorated: successive failures of the monsoon, drought, a decline in farm output, food shortage, depleted foreign exchange reserves and a devaluation of the rupee, which led to price rise and protests.

Example 5: Source-based: a village in 1967 · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level

Read the passage (based on an NCERT box) and choose the most appropriate answer for each question.

In the 1967 Assembly election in Chomu constituency of Rajasthan, the main parties were the Congress and the Swatantra party. In the village of Devisar, a local contest was mixed up with the competition between the two parties. Sher Singh had traditionally dominated village politics, but his nephew Bhim Singh was emerging as the more popular leader. Both were Rajputs, but Bhim Singh cultivated the support of many non-Rajputs after becoming the panchayat Pradhan, striking an alliance of Rajputs and non-Rajputs. Sher Singh had no option but to work for the Swatantra candidate, who was a jagirdar and for whom he promised that a school would be built. For Devisar, the Assembly election had turned into a factional fight between uncle and nephew.

(i) The two main parties in Chomu were:
(A) Congress and the Swatantra party (B) DMK and Congress (C) Jana Sangh and the CPI (D) SSP and PSP
(ii) Bhim Singh built his support through:
(A) an alliance of Rajputs and non-Rajputs (B) the support of the jagirdar (C) a boycott of the election (D) a religious procession
(iii) Sher Singh finally worked for:
(A) the Congress candidate (B) the Swatantra candidate (C) an independent candidate (D) no candidate
(iv) What does the passage suggest about local and party politics?
(A) They never meet (B) Local rivalries can get mixed up with party competition (C) Only parties matter (D) Elections are decided by the army

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. (i) (A) (1 mark).
  2. (ii) (A) (1 mark).
  3. (iii) (B) (1 mark).
  4. (iv) (B) (1 mark).

Answer: (i) (A) Congress and the Swatantra party; (ii) (A) an alliance of Rajputs and non-Rajputs; (iii) (B) the Swatantra candidate; (iv) (B) Local rivalries can get mixed up with party competition.

Example 6: Long answer: defeated but not replaced · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

"The 1967 elections showed that the Congress could be defeated, but not that it could be replaced." Evaluate the statement. (6 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. What the defeat was (1.5 marks).
  2. Coalitions and defections (1.5 marks).
  3. Why no substitute (1.5 marks).
  4. Judgement (1.5 marks).

Answer: The 1967 election was a landmark. Held in an atmosphere of economic crisis, price rise protests and a new Prime Minister, it was the first election without Nehru. The Congress kept its majority at the Centre with its lowest tally of seats and share of votes since 1952; half of Indira Gandhi's ministers lost, and the Congress lost power in nine states, from Punjab to Kerala. In Madras the DMK won a majority of its own, the first time a non-Congress party did so in any State. The results proved that the Congress could be defeated at the elections.

But the opposition could not replace it. No single party had a majority in several States, so non-Congress parties formed SVD governments with ideologically incongruent partners, such as the SSP, PSP, CPI and Jana Sangh together in Bihar. Defections, symbolised by Gaya Lal's moves in Haryana, made and unmade governments in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Most coalitions did not survive for long and either new combinations were formed or President's rule was imposed. At the Centre the Congress still ruled.

Thus the statement is largely right: 1967 ended the assumption that the Congress could not lose, but a stable alternative did not emerge. The Congress dominance was challenged, not ended.

Where students lose marks in The Fourth General Election of 1967

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

  • Mistake: Saying the Congress lost the 1967 Lok Sabha election

    Mixing up Centre and states.

    Wrong working

    The Congress lost the Centre in 1967.

    Right working

    It kept a Lok Sabha majority with its lowest tally since 1952, and lost power in nine states.

    Do this: Write "Centre: majority kept; states: nine lost".

    Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

  • Mistake: Writing "seven states" as the whole answer

    Forgetting the two lost through defections.

    Wrong working

    The Congress lost seven states.

    Right working

    Seven by losing majority plus two by defections: nine.

    Do this: Memorise 7 + 2 = 9.

    Usually costs: 1 mark.

  • Mistake: Defining defection without an example

    The question asks for one.

    Wrong working

    Defection means changing parties.

    Right working

    An elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he or she was elected; for example Gaya Lal in Haryana in 1967.

    Do this: Add Gaya Lal.

    Usually costs: 1 mark.

  • Mistake: Treating non-Congressism as an ideology

    It was a strategy of unity.

    Wrong working

    Non-Congressism was a programme of socialism.

    Right working

    It was a strategy of uniting very different non-Congress parties against the Congress, named by Lohia.

    Do this: Call it "strategy", not "ideology".

    Usually costs: 1 mark.

Exam tips

  • Asked in: 2026 board paper 59/1/3 Q17 (2 marks, two consequences of the 1967 election) and 59/2/2 Q23 (4 marks, non-Congressism with an example); 2026 59/1/2 Q17 (2 marks, defection with an example) and 59/1/1 Q4 (1 mark, the State linked to Aaya Ram Gaya Ram); 2026-27 sample paper Q18 (2 marks, economic challenges on the eve of 1967). Answers here are our own.
  • Split every 1967 answer into Centre and States.
  • Name the DMK as the first non-Congress party with a majority of its own in a state.
  • Attach Lohia to non-Congressism and Gaya Lal to defection.
  • Describe parties neutrally and in the book's words.

Practice questions on The Fourth General Election of 1967

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

    In the Bihar SVD government of 1967, which pair of parties stood on the left and on the right?
    (a) CPI and Jana Sangh
    (b) SSP and PSP
    (c) CPI and CPI(M)
    (d) DMK and the Akali parties

    Hint

    Ideologically incongruent partners.

    Answer

    (a) The CPI stood on the left and the Jana Sangh on the right; the SSP and PSP were the two socialist partners.

  2. Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

    People joked after the 1967 election that one could travel by train from Delhi to Howrah without passing through a single Congress-ruled State. What did the joke show? Name two States on the route that the Congress had lost. (2 marks)

    Hint

    The spread of the setback; Uttar Pradesh, Bihar.

    Answer

    It showed how widely the Congress had lost power in the northern and eastern belt. Two States on that route that the Congress lost were Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal also belong to the list of nine).

  3. Q3 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

    Why did opposition parties feel in 1967 that the Congress could be toppled? Give two reasons. (2 marks)

    Hint

    Votes, new Prime Minister, factions.

    Answer

    First, they realised that the division of their votes kept the Congress in power, so uniting would hurt it. Second, they saw the inexperience of the new Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, and the internal factionalism within the Congress as an opportunity.

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

    Assertion (A): Non-Congressism was a socialist economic programme that Ram Manohar Lohia drew up for the 1967 election.
    Reason (R): Lohia 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.
    (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
    (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
    (c) A is true but R is false.
    (d) A is false but R is true.

    Hint

    Was non-Congressism a programme or a strategy?

    Answer

    (d) A is false but R is true: non-Congressism was the name Lohia gave to a strategy of bringing together parties with entirely different programmes against the Congress; R is the theoretical argument he gave in its defence.

  5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

    Explain how the language issue helped a regional party win a State in 1967 and what this showed about the place of regional parties in the party system. (4 marks)

    Hint

    DMK, anti-Hindi agitation, Annadurai.

    Answer

    In Madras (now Tamil Nadu) the DMK came to power by securing a clear majority after leading a massive anti-Hindi agitation by students against the Centre on the issue of imposition of Hindi as the official language. It was the first time any non-Congress party had won a majority of its own in a State. Its leader C. N. Annadurai, a supporter of greater autonomy to States, became Chief Minister. The success showed that a regional party built on regional pride and language concerns could defeat the Congress in a State and that regional parties would be important players in the party system.

  6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

    NCERT calls 1967 a landmark in electoral history, but it describes 1989 as the end of the "Congress system". Compare the two elections in terms of the Congress's position at the Centre. (4 marks)

    Hint

    Majority kept in 1967; 415 to 197 in 1989.

    Answer

    In 1967 the Congress faced the voters for the first time without Nehru and was jolted: it kept a majority in the Lok Sabha, though with its lowest tally of seats and vote share since 1952, and lost power in nine states. At the Centre it remained dominant, and its dominance was restored later. In 1989 the party that had won 415 seats in 1984 was reduced to only 197, and no other party got a majority either. NCERT says that the 1989 elections marked the end of what political scientists call the Congress system, because the Congress, although it remained important, lost the central position it had enjoyed in the party system.

  7. Q7 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

    After Nehru's death many feared for India's democracy, and a London newspaper article of 1967 predicted its failure. Examine how the events of 1964-1967 answered these doubts. (6 marks)

    Hint

    Dangerous decade; army; smooth successions; the 1967 verdict.

    Answer

    When Nehru died in May 1964, outsiders doubted that India could manage a democratic succession; failure was feared to lead to a political role for the army, and the 1960s were called the dangerous decade, with poverty, inequality and communal and regional divisions threatening democracy or even the country's unity. A London Times article of 1967 by Neville Maxwell, India's Disintegrating Democracy, predicted that the army might become the only alternative source of order.

    The events answered these doubts. Succession passed without a breakdown: Lal Bahadur Shastri was chosen unanimously after a consensus built by the Congress President, and Indira Gandhi was chosen by a secret ballot of Congress MPs after Shastri's sudden death at Tashkent in January 1966; a peaceful transition despite competition was seen as a sign of maturity. In February 1967, despite price rise, food shortage and unrest, elections were held, the Congress lost power in nine states, and governments changed through the ballot box. Opposition parties pursued their aims through non-Congressism and coalitions, not through the army.

    The election was a political earthquake, yet the system stayed within democratic limits. The troubles of coalitions and defections showed weaknesses, but the larger fear of democratic collapse proved wrong.

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.When was Nehru's death?Show answer

    May 1964.

  2. 2.Who wrote the article "India's Disintegrating Democracy"?Show answer

    Neville Maxwell, in the London Times, 1967.

  3. 3.Which leader of the Congress lost his seat in Tamil Nadu in 1967?Show answer

    K. Kamaraj.

  4. 4.How long did Gaya Lal take to change his party three times?Show answer

    A fortnight; the last change took nine hours.

  5. 5.Which Congress leader brought Gaya Lal to the Chandigarh press to declare "Gaya Ram was now Aya Ram"?Show answer

    Rao Birendra Singh.

  6. 6.Which two rival Akali groups were part of Punjab's Popular United Front in 1967?Show answer

    The Sant group and the Master group.

The Fourth General Election of 1967: frequently asked questions

Where does 1967 stand in the story of the Congress system?

Chapter 5 begins by saying the Congress system was first challenged in the 1960s; the 1967 election made that challenge visible, and the chapter then shows how the Congress was restored by 1971.

What is an SVD government?

A government supported by a joint legislative party (Samyukt Vidhayak Dal) of non-Congress parties, formed in States where no party had a majority.

Is the Rajasthan village box important?

It is a source-based text in the book: it shows how local factional rivalries get mixed into party competition.

What happened to the defection problem later?

NCERT says the Constitution was later amended to prevent defections.