June 1975 was momentous for more than one reason in the contemporary history of the country. On the day (June 12) the Allahabad High Court set aside the 1971 election of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Lok Sabha on grounds of malpractice, the ruling Congress at the Centre was administered another set back. For the first time since the first Assembly elections in Gujarat in 1962, the party could not secure a simple majority in the Assembly polls, even though it emerged as the single largest party. Till date, the 1975 polls holds the record of throwing up a hung Assembly for the first and only occasion. Two weeks later, the infamous internal Emergency was promulgated, suspending the Fundamental Rights.
The 1975 Assembly elections in June were themselves caused by certain events, which were, in a sense, unparalleled. In April 1975, the Opposition leader Morarji Desai, went on a fast in New Delhi, demanding early elections in his home State of Gujarat, which was under President’s rule for one year. A week later, the Central government gave in to his demand and Indira Gandhi wrote to Desai, indicating that the Centre would like to have the polls in June.
Even though Desai’s fast was the immediate cause for the elections, it was preceded by, what was called then, a “rare popular upsurge” against mounting inflation a year earlier. Chimanbhai Patel, who became Chief Minister in July 1973 in the wake of infighting within the Congress, was the target of the agitation, Nav Nirman (political regeneration) stir, launched primarily by students. Patel’s removal was demanded by the agitators on the grounds of “misrule and corruption.” The stir went on for over six weeks and eventually, Patel resigned in February 1974. But, he had also blamed “certain sections within the Congress for fanning the agitation.”
The students were not content with his removal and they had demanded the dissolution of the Assembly, which was also conceded by the Centre a month later.
By the time the elections to the Gujarat Assembly were held in June 1975 in two spells, Patel was no longer in the Congress and he had floated a new party, Kisan Mazdoor Lok Paksha (KMLP), which had fielded 131 candidates out of a total of 182 seats. Fighting against the Congress, the principal formation was the Janata Front, which included Desai’s Congress (O), Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal and the Socialist Party. The Janata Front was able to net 86 seats against 75 secured by the Congress. In a strange turn of events, it went on to form the government with the help of Patel, against whom its constituents had carried out a political campaign not long ago. Patel’s KMLP had bagged 12 seats.
However, the 1975 elections had paved the way for the revival of the Opposition’s struggle under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan against Indira Gandhi.
