Editing Indian National Congress (section)

=== Indira Gandhi era (1966–1984) ===
{{See also|The Emergency (India)|Assassination of Indira Gandhi|Indian general election, 1977|1984 anti-Sikh riots}}
[[File:Indira and Nixon.JPG|thumb|upright|left|[[Indira Gandhi]] with U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]], 1971]]
In 1967, following a poor performance in the [[1967 Indian general election]], [[Indira Gandhi]] started moving toward the political left. On 12 July 1969, Congress Parliamentary Board nominated [[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]] as Congress's candidate for the post of [[President of India]] by a vote of four to two. [[K. Kamaraj]], [[Morarji Desai]] and [[S. K. Patil]] voted for Reddy. [[Indira Gandhi]] and [[Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed]] voted for [[V. V. Giri]] and Congress President [[S. Nijalingappa]], Home Minister [[Yashwantrao Chavan]] and Agriculture Minister [[Jagjivan Ram]] abstained from voting.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Austin |first=Granville |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r42bAAAAMAAJ |title=Working a Democratic Constitution: The Indian Experience |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0195648889 |pages=178}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharma |first=Unnati |date=2022-08-10 |title=V.V. Giri – how election of first 'independent president' changed Congress & India's politics |url=https://theprint.in/politics/v-v-giri-how-election-of-first-independent-president-changed-congress-indias-politics/1077753/ |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=ThePrint}}</ref>

In mid-1969, she was involved in a dispute with senior party leaders on several issues. Notably – Her support for the independent candidate, [[V. V. Giri]], rather than the official Congress party candidate, [[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]], for the vacant post of the [[president of India]]{{sfn|Mahendra Prasad Singh|1981|pp=65–80}}<ref>Hardgrave, R. L., 1970. "The Congress in India: Crisis and Split". ''Asian Survey'', 10(3), pp. 256–262.</ref> and Gandhi's abrupt nationalisation of the 14 biggest banks in India.

====Congress split, 1969====
In November 1969, the Congress party president, [[S. Nijalingappa]], expelled Indira Gandhi from the party for indiscipline.<ref name=socialism>{{cite news |title=March to socialism under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi|work=[[The Economic Times]]|agency=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd|date=24 August 2011}}</ref><ref name=expelled>{{cite news|title=1969: S. Nijalingappa expelled Indira Gandhi from the Party|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/1969-congress-splits/1/155566.html|access-date=25 June 2014|work=[[India Today]]|publisher=Aroon Purie|date=2 July 2007}}</ref> Subsequently, Gandhi launched her own faction of the INC which came to be known as Congress (R).{{efn|The "R" stood for Requisition or Ruling}} The original party then came to be known as [[Congress (O)|Indian National Congress (O)]].{{efn|The "O" stands for organisation/Old Congress.}} Its principal leaders were Kamraj, Morarji Desai, Nijalingappa and [[S. K. Patil]] who stood for a more right-wing agenda.<ref name="book">{{cite book|last=Sanghvi|first=Vijay |title=The Congress, Indira to Sonia Gandh|year=2006|publisher=Kalpaz Publications|location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7835-340-1|page=77|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npdqD_TXucQC&q=%22indira+gandhi%22+cow++calf+symbol&pg=PA77}}</ref> The split occurred when a united opposition under the banner of [[Samyukt Vidhayak Dal]], won control over several states in the [[Hindi Belt]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npdqD_TXucQC&q=%22indira+gandhi%22+cow++calf+symbol&pg=PA77|title=The Congress, Indira to Sonia Gandhi |first=Vijay|last=Sanghvi|date=21 March 2006|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|isbn=9788178353401}}</ref> Indira Gandhi, on the other side, wanted to use a populist agenda in order to mobilise popular support for the party.<ref name=book /> Her faction, called Congress (R), was supported by most of the Congress MPs while [[Indian National Congress (Organisation)|the original party]] had the support of only 65 MPs.<ref name="Rosser">{{Cite book|publisher = MIT Press| pages = 468–470| url={{Google books|y3Mr6TgalqMC|page=PA470|plainurl=yes}} |isbn=978-0-262-18234-8| last1=Rosser| first1=J. Barkley| last2=Rosser| first2=Marina V.| title=Comparative Economics in Transforming the World Economy| year=2004}}</ref> In the All India Congress Committee, 446 of its 705 members walked over to Indira's side. The "Old Congress" retained the party symbol of a pair of bullocks carrying a yoke while Indira's breakaway faction was given a new symbol of a cow with a suckling calf by the Election Commission as the party election symbol. The Congress&nbsp;(O) eventually merged with other opposition parties to form the [[Janata Party]].
{{quote box|bgcolor=#CCDDFF|width=25%|align=right|quote="India might be an ancient country but was a young democracy and as such should remain vigilant against the domination of few over the social, economic or political systems. Banks should be publicly owned so that they catered to not just large industries and big businesses but also agriculturists, small industries and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the private banks had been functioning erratically with hundreds of them failing and causing loss to the depositors who were given no guarantee against such loss."|source=—Gandhi's remarks after the nationalisation of private banks.<ref name="Quote">{{cite news |last1=Menon |first1=Vandana |title='We simply don't have time': Read Indira Gandhi's letters defending bank nationalisation |url=https://theprint.in/politics/letters-indira-gandhi-defending-bank-nationalisation/17110/ |access-date=10 March 2022 |work=ThePrint |agency=Printline Media Pvt. Ltd |date=16 November 2017}}</ref>}} 
In the mid-term [[1971 Indian general election]], the Gandhi-led Congress&nbsp;(R) won a landslide victory on a platform of progressive policies such as the elimination of poverty ({{lang|hi|[[Garibi Hatao]]}}).<ref name="1971 result">{{cite web|title=General Elections, India, 1971: Statistical report |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/statisticalreports/LS_1971/Vol_I_LS71.pdf |website=eci.nic.in |publisher=[[Election Commission of India]] |access-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718175452/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1971/Vol_I_LS71.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2014 }}</ref> The policies of the Congress&nbsp;(R) under Gandhi before the 1971 elections included proposals to abolish the [[Privy Purse in India|Privy Purse]] to former rulers of the [[Princely states]], and the 1969 [[Nationalization|nationalisation]] of India's 14 largest banks.<ref name=nationalisation>{{cite news|title=Economic Milestone: Nationalisation of Banks (1969)|url=http://forbesindia.com/article/independence-day-special/economic-milestone-nationalisation-of-banks-(1969)/38415/1|access-date=17 September 2015|work=[[Forbes India]]|date=17 September 2015|archive-date=29 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029061931/http://forbesindia.com/article/independence-day-special/economic-milestone-nationalisation-of-banks-(1969)/38415/1|url-status=dead}}</ref> The 1969 attempt by Indira Gandhi government to abolish privy purse and the official recognition of the titles did not meet with success. The constitutional Amendment bill to this effect was passed in Lok Sabha, but it failed to get the required two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha. However, in 1971, with the passage of the [[Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of India|Twenty-sixth Amendment]] to the Constitution of India, the privy purses were abolished.

Due to [[Sino-Indian War]] 1962, India faced a huge budgetary deficit resulting in its treasury being almost empty, high inflation, and dwindling forex reserves. The brief War of 1962 exposed weaknesses in the economy and shifted the focus towards the defence industry and the [[Indian Army]]. The government found itself short of resources to fund the Third Plan (1961–1966). [[Subhadra Joshi]] a senior party member, proposed a non-official resolution asking for the nationalisation of private banks stating that nationalisation would help in mobilising resources for development.<ref name="Bank Act">{{cite web |title=The Defining Event |url=https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/content/PDFs/90069.pdf |publisher=[[Reserve Bank of India]] |access-date=10 March 2022}}</ref> In July 1969, Indira Gandhi through the ordinance nationalised fourteen major private banks.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChrzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=Banking Awareness |date=2017 |publisher=Arihant Publications (India) Ltd. |page=20 |isbn=978-93-11124-66-7}}</ref> After being re-elected in 1971 on a campaign that endorsed nationalisation, Indira Gandhi went on to nationalise the coal, steel, copper, refining, cotton textiles and insurance industries. The main reason was to protect employment and the interest of the organised labour.<ref name="Bank Act" />

On 12 June 1975, the [[Allahabad High Court|High Court of Allahabad]] declared Indira Gandhi's election to the [[Lok Sabha]], the lower house of India's parliament, void on the grounds of electoral malpractice.<ref name=emergency>{{cite web|title=The Emergency, and Indian democracy|url=https://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/Indira.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991112105947/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/Indira.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 November 1999|website=sscnet.ucla.edu|publisher=UCLA Division of Social Science|access-date=25 June 2014}}</ref> However, Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to appeal to the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]]. In response to increasing disorder and lawlessness, Gandhi's ministry recommended that President [[Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed]] declare a [[State of Emergency in India|State of Emergency]], based on the provisions of [[Part Eleven of the Constitution of India|Article 352]] of the [[Constitution of India|Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Emergency papers found |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/Emergency-papers-found/articleshow/20839450.cms |website=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=6 June 2018 |date=30 June 2013}}</ref> During the [[The Emergency (India)|nineteen-month emergency]], widespread oppression and abuse of power by Gandhi's unelected younger son and political heir [[Sanjay Gandhi]] and his close associates occurred.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ghildiyal|first=Subodh |title=Cong blames Sanjay Gandhi for Emergency 'excesses'|date=29 December 2010|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cong-blames-Sanjay-Gandhi-for-Emergency-excesses/articleshow/7181279.cms|access-date=30 January 2014 |url-status=live|archive-date=28 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828145401/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-29/india/28661327_1_slum-clearance-sanjay-gandhi-sterilization|journal=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Emergency 'propagandist' who banned Kishore Kumar songs |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/emergency-propagandist-who-banned-kishore-kumar-songs/1127804/ |access-date=17 January 2014|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=11 June 2013}}</ref><ref name="The Life of Indira Gandhi">{{cite journal |last=Dasgupta |first=Swapan |title=The Life of Indira Gandhi |date=July 1985 |volume=7 |issue=3 |journal=Third World Quarterly |department=Book Reviews |doi=10.1080/01436598508419863 |pages=731–778}}<!--|access-date=17 January 2014 --></ref> Implemented on 25 June 1975, the Emergency officially ended on 21 March 1977.<ref name=proved>{{cite news| author=Inder Malhotra|title=What Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Emergency proved for India|date=23 June 2010 |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/inder-malhotra-on-35-years-after-the-emergency/20100623.htm |access-date=25 June 2014|work=[[Rediff.com]]}}</ref> All political prisoners were released and fresh elections for the Lok Sabha were called.<ref name=union>{{cite web|title=Indian general election, 1977|url=http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/INDIA_1977_E.PDF |website=ipu.org|publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union|access-date=25 June 2014}}</ref> In [[1977 Indian general election|parliamentary elections]] held in March, the Janata alliance of anti-Indira opposition parties won a landslide victory over Congress, winning 295 seats in the Lok Sabha against Congress' 153. Gandhi lost her seat to her Janata opponent [[Raj Narain]].

====Formation of Congress (I)====
On 2 January 1978, Indira and her followers seceded and formed a new opposition party, popularly called Congress&nbsp;(I)—the "I" signifying Indira.<ref name="Buffalo state">{{cite web | title= Indira Gandhi: India's Destined Leader| url=https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=history_theses | access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref><ref name="IE">{{cite web | title=February 3, 1978, Forty Years Ago: Hand For Congress (I) | website=The Indian Express | date=3 February 2018 | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/february-3-1978-forty-years-ago-hand-for-congress-i-5049516/ | access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref><ref>"On 1 and 2 January dissidents led by Indira Gandhi staged convention of what they claimed was "the real Congress." Mrs. Gandhi was elected President of the body, which promptly laid claim to the offices, funds and even the electoral symbol of the Indian National Congress. These claims were, unsurprisingly, resisted by Y.B. Chavan and his group, who had controlled Congress since the I977 election. Initial reports varied but it seemed that no more than a third of the State Congress Committees sided with the Indira Gandhi faction." {{cite journal |last=Mendelsohn |first=Oliver |title=The Collapse of the Indian National Congress |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=58 |number=1 |year=1978 |page=65 |doi=10.2307/2757008 |jstor=2757008}}</ref> During the next year, her new party attracted enough members of the legislature to become the official opposition.<ref name="Basu2016">{{cite book|last1=Basu |first1=Manisha |title=The Rhetoric of Hindutva|year=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-14987-8 |pages=73– |url={{Google books|E7gtDQAAQBAJ |page=PA73|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref> In November 1978, Gandhi regained a parliamentary seat. In January 1980, following a [[1980 Indian general election|landslide victory]] for Congress&nbsp;(I), she was again elected prime minister.<ref name="1980 report">{{cite web |title=Statistical report general elections, 1980 |website=eci.nic.in |publisher=[[Election Commission of India]] |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/statisticalreports/LS_1980/Vol_I_LS_80.pdf |access-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718175926/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1980/Vol_I_LS_80.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2014}}</ref> The national election commission declared Congress&nbsp;(I) to be the real Indian National Congress for the [[1984 Indian general election|1984 general election]].<ref name="IE 1984">{{cite web | last=Yadav | first=Shyamlal | title=1980 Lok Sabha elections: Triumph and tragedy of Indira Gandhi | website=The Indian Express | date=17 May 2024 | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/a-history-of-lok-sabha-elections-indiras-triumph-tragedy-9314864/ | access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref> However, the designation I was dropped only in 1996.<ref name="Basu2016" /><ref name="1980 report" />

====Punjab crisis====
Gandhi's premiership witnessed increasing turmoil in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], with demands for [[Khalistan|Sikh autonomy]] by [[Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale]] and his militant followers.<ref name=operation>{{cite news|title=Operation Blue Star 1984|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-7-things-you-need-to-know-about-operation-blue-star-1993952|access-date=25 June 2014|work=[[Daily News and Analysis]]|agency=[[Dainik Bhaskar]]|publisher=Deepak Rathi|date=6 June 2014}}</ref> In 1983, Bhindranwale with his armed followers headquartered themselves in the [[Harmandir Sahib|Golden Temple]] in [[Amritsar]] and started accumulating weapons.<ref name="telegraph report">{{cite news|title=1984: Operation Blue Star|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10881115/Operation-Blue-Star-How-an-Indian-army-raid-on-the-Golden-Temple-ended-in-disaster.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10881115/Operation-Blue-Star-How-an-Indian-army-raid-on-the-Golden-Temple-ended-in-disaster.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=25 June 2014|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=6 June 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In June 1984, after several futile negotiations, Gandhi ordered the [[Indian Army]] to enter the Golden Temple to establish control over the complex and remove Bhindranwale and his armed followers. This event is known as [[Operation Blue Star]].<ref name="blue star">{{cite news|title=Operation Blue Star|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/operation-blue-star-the-untold-story/article4798102.ece|access-date=25 June 2014|work=The Hindu|date=10 June 2013}}</ref> On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi's bodyguards, [[Satwant Singh]] and [[Beant Singh (assassin)|Beant Singh]], [[assassination of Indira Gandhi|shot her]] with their service weapons in the garden of the prime minister's residence in response to her authorisation of Operation Blue Star.<ref name="telegraph report" /> Gandhi was due to be interviewed by British actor [[Peter Ustinov]], who was filming a documentary for Irish television.<ref name=assassination>{{cite news|title=1984: Indian prime minister shot dead|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/31/newsid_2464000/2464423.stm|access-date=23 June 2014|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=31 October 1984}}</ref> Her assassination prompted the [[1984 anti-Sikh riots]], during which 3,000–17,000 people were killed.<ref name=violence>{{cite news|title=Violence follows Gandhi killing|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/|publisher=[[BBC News]]|access-date=23 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="SAGE">{{cite book |last=Joseph |first=Paul |title=The Sage Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives |date=11 October 2016 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-1483359885 |page=433 |quote=around 17,000 Sikhs were burned alive or killed}}</ref><ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |last1=Nelson |first1=Dean |date=30 January 2014 |title=Delhi to reopen inquiry in to massacre of Sikhs in 1984 riots |website=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10607451/Delhi-to-reopen-inquiry-in-to-massacre-of-Sikhs-in-1984-riots.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=3 May 2016 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10607451/Delhi-to-reopen-inquiry-in-to-massacre-of-Sikhs-in-1984-riots.html |archive-date=12 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jagdish Tytler's role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots to be re-investigated |url=http://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/jagdish-tytlers-role-in-1984-anti-sikh-riots-to-be-re-investigated-518648 |access-date=3 May 2016 |publisher=NDTV}}</ref> Congress Party MP, [[Sajjan Kumar]], was convicted in two cases for instigating and leading a mob to attack and murder Sikh civilians during the Anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi.<ref name=toi-Sajjan-conviction>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/anti-sikh-riots-delhi-court-rejects-political-motivation-claims-finds-sajjan-kumar-guilty-of-murdering-father-son-duo/articleshow/118201773.cms | date=13 Feb 2025 | work = [[The Times of India]] | title=Anti-Sikh riots: Court finds Sajjan Kumar guilty of murdering father-son duo}}</ref>