India after Independence (1947–1977)

The first three decades of the republic ran from Nehru's nation-building to the gravest crisis Indian democracy has faced. Nehru settled the language question, redrew the internal map and built the institutions of planned development. The shocks of 1962 to 1966 tested the system and proved it resilient. Indira Gandhi then rose to dominance, turned the state sharply leftward and clashed with the judiciary. That path ended in the Emergency of 1975–77 and the voters' decisive verdict of 1977.

At independence India had eleven major languages, each spoken by over a million people, and no single "national" tongue.

• The conflict: Gandhi had favoured Hindustani (neither too Sanskritised nor too Persianised) for national integration. The idea of Hindi as the national language was strongly resisted in the non-Hindi south and east.
• The compromise: The Constituent Assembly's Language Committee made Hindi in the Devanagari script the "official" language (not the "national" language). For the first fifteen years English would continue for official use. Regional languages were listed in the Eighth Schedule.
• The Acts: The Official Languages Act, 1963 provided that Hindi would become the official language from 1965 but kept English as an "associate" official language. Southern resentment flared into violent protests in 1964–65. The Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 1967 confirmed a bilingual (Hindi-English) arrangement for communication between the Centre and the states.

The provinces inherited from the British were drawn for administrative convenience, not language. The demand to redraw the states on linguistic lines surfaced at once.

• Early resistance: Fearing for national unity so soon after partition, the Dhar Commission (1948) and the JVP Committee (1948) (Nehru, Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya) both advised against linguistic states for the time being.
• Andhra, the breakthrough: The Gandhian Potti Sriramulu died after a 56-day fast in December 1952 for a Telugu-speaking state. The agitation that followed forced the government's hand. Andhra was created on 1 October 1953 out of the Madras state.
• The SRC and after: Nehru appointed the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) in 1953, with Fazl Ali, K.M. Panikkar and Hridaynath Kunzru as members. Its report led to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, which created 14 states and 6 union territories. Bombay was split into Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. Nagaland was created in 1963.

Through the 1950s and 60s the Congress dominated the Centre and most states as the natural heir of the freedom struggle. An opposition gradually took shape.

• The Socialists: The Congress Socialist Party left the Congress in 1948. In 1952 it merged with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party to form the Praja Socialist Party (PSP). It soon fractured: Ram Manohar Lohia broke away, and the party never held together for long.
• The Communists: The CPI accepted constitutional democracy after 1951. The Sino-Soviet split and the 1962 war with China divided it, and in 1964 it split into the CPI and the CPI(M).
• The Jana Sangh and Swatantra: Syama Prasad Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951), a right-wing, RSS-linked party. The Swatantra Party (1959), led by C. Rajagopalachari, championed free enterprise against Nehru's planning and nationalisation.
• Kerala, 1957: For the first time a Communist government (under E.M.S. Namboodiripad) was voted to power in a state. Trouble over an Education Bill led to agitation. In 1959 the elected government was dismissed and President's Rule was imposed, the first such dismissal of a democratically elected state government.

Nehru believed the state should lead India's transformation. Influenced by the Soviet experience, India's National Planning Committee (1938) and the Bombay Plan (1944), he chose planning as the engine of development.

• The Planning Commission: an extra-constitutional body, set up by a resolution in March 1950, with the Prime Minister as ex-officio chairman. The National Development Council (NDC) (1952) gave final approval to the plans.
• The five-year plans: The First Plan (1951–56), based on the Harrod-Domar growth model, focused on agriculture and irrigation, including the Bhakra-Nangal project. The Second Plan, drafted under P.C. Mahalanobis, stressed heavy industry and a "socialist pattern of society". The Third Plan continued this direction, though critics saw an "urban bias".
• A mixed economy: Following "democratic socialism", the state controlled key heavy industries and infrastructure while much of agriculture, trade and industry stayed private. The "licence-permit raj" later drew criticism for stifling private enterprise.
• The "temples of modern India": Mega-dams (Bhakra-Nangal, Damodar Valley, Hirakud) and public-sector plants (steel plants, Hindustan Machine Tools, Sindri Fertiliser, Chittaranjan Rail Factory) built an industrial base.

Nehru also saw science and a "scientific temper" as crucial. He personally chaired the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). A network of national laboratories began with the National Physical Laboratory (1947). The first Indian Institute of Technology was set up at Kharagpur (1951), patterned on MIT. The Atomic Energy Commission (1948) under Homi J. Bhabha led the nuclear programme; India's first nuclear reactor, Asia's first, went critical at Trombay (1956). Space research began with the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) and the rocket-launching facility at Thumba. India also moved to decimal coinage and the metric system (1955–62).

Social reform tried to deliver the Constitution's promise of transformation.

• Education: Enrolment rose sharply. The University Grants Commission (UGC) was set up in 1953 and made statutory in 1956. The Mudaliar Commission (1952) reviewed secondary education. The NCERT was established in 1961.
• Against untouchability: The Anti-Untouchability (Untouchability Offences) Law of 1955 made the practice a punishable, cognisable offence. The Constitution's reservations for weaker sections were implemented.
• The Hindu Code Bill: Moved in Parliament in 1951 and passed, against fierce conservative opposition, as four separate Acts. They introduced monogamy and the right of divorce, raised the ages of marriage and consent, and gave Hindu women rights to maintenance and to inherit family property. The reform covered only Hindu women, as there was no uniform civil code.

The friendship of "Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai" did not last.

• The build-up: China occupied Tibet (1950) and crushed a 1959 uprising, after which the Dalai Lama fled to India. Using this as a pretext, China occupied Aksai Chin in Ladakh (1959) and pressed claims on large parts of Indian territory. Border talks during Zhou Enlai's 1960 visit failed.
• The war: In October 1962, China attacked in NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) and Ladakh. With superior arms and position, it inflicted a military debacle on India. Nehru turned to the USA and Britain for help. In November 1962 China declared a unilateral ceasefire and withdrawal, but kept a large strategic chunk of Aksai Chin.
• Consequences: The defeat hurt India's self-respect and the policy of non-alignment. Nehru faced the first no-confidence motion of his life. The Third Plan suffered as resources went to defence. Pakistan, sensing weakness, was emboldened to attack in 1965. China tested its first nuclear weapon in 1964.

After Nehru's death in May 1964, the feared collapse did not happen. The Congress "Syndicate" of party bosses guided a smooth succession, and Lal Bahadur Shastri became the second Prime Minister in June 1964.

• The man: Born in 1904, Shastri had dropped his caste surname. He was a Gandhian who rose through the Congress organisation. As Home Minister he set up the Santhanam Committee on corruption, which led to the Central Vigilance Commission. Mild and soft-spoken, he proved capable of firm, quick decisions. He was the first PM to have a secretary (L.K. Jha), the start of the PMO.
• Economic ideas: Shastri leaned towards reform. He tried to shift decision-making from the Planning Commission to the ministries and relaxed some controls. He laid the groundwork for the Green Revolution by drawing in C. Subramaniam. The Agricultural Prices Commission and the Food Corporation of India were both set up in 1965. He also encouraged the White Revolution, backing Verghese Kurien's Amul model; the NDDB was set up in 1965.
• "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan": His famous slogan linked the security provided by the soldier with the food security provided by the farmer. When the US tried to pressure India with food aid during the 1965 war, Shastri urged Indians to skip a meal a week. He said, "We may go hungry, but not bow before the US."
• The 1965 war: Pakistan, under Ayub Khan and emboldened by 1962, probed the Rann of Kutch and then launched Operation Gibraltar, an infiltration into Kashmir, in August 1965. Shastri responded decisively. Indian forces crossed the ceasefire line, and a three-pronged attack brought Lahore within range. It was the Indian Air Force's first war since independence. The UN brokered a ceasefire on 23 September 1965.
• Tashkent: A Soviet-sponsored conference at Tashkent, mediated by Premier Kosygin, produced the Tashkent Declaration (10 January 1966). Ayub Khan and Shastri agreed to withdraw to pre-war positions and restore normal relations. Critics felt it lacked a no-war pact. On 11 January 1966, the morning after signing, Shastri died of a heart attack at Tashkent, a death long shadowed by controversy.

Indira Gandhi became India's third Prime Minister and its first woman PM on 19 January 1966. The Syndicate backed her because they thought she was "weak enough to be manipulated". Congress won the 1967 elections but with a thin majority, and it lost several states. Tensions with the conservative bosses grew.

• The split of 1969: Indira leaned left while the Syndicate favoured the right. The flashpoint was the 1969 presidential election: the official Congress candidate was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, but Indira backed the independent V.V. Giri, who won. The party president expelled her for indiscipline. She took the majority of members with her as Congress (R) ("Requisitionists"); the rump became Congress (O) ("Organisation"). Without a Lok Sabha majority, she governed with issue-based support from the DMK, the Akali Dal and the two communist parties. A 10-point programme (social control of banks, nationalisation of insurance, land reform, abolition of the princes' privy purses) defined her as champion of the poor.

• 1971 and "Garibi Hatao": Unable to act freely as head of a minority government, Indira called early elections in 1971. Congress (R) campaigned on "Garibi Hatao" (Remove Poverty). The non-Communist opposition (Swatantra, Congress (O), SSP) formed a "Grand Alliance" with the cry "Indira Hatao". Congress (R) won a decisive majority: voters preferred national issues to personal attacks. Later in 1971, India's victory over Pakistan in the Bangladesh War created independent Bangladesh out of East Pakistan and hugely boosted her image. The 1971–72 elections virtually wiped out Congress (O) and Swatantra as serious rivals.
• Centralisation of power: Indira built her power centre around the Prime Minister rather than the party. The Prime Minister's Secretariat (forerunner of today's PMO) emerged as a power centre under P.N. Haksar, the first Principal Secretary. Distrusting the politicians, she relied on trusted advisers: Haksar, T.N. Kaul, D.P. Dhar, P.N. Dhar and the security analyst R.N. Kao. The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency, was set up in 1968, modelled on the CIA, with Kao as its head. Haksar's leftward orientation shaped her socialist turn, while inner-party democracy in the Congress eroded.

To establish her independence from the conservative bosses, Indira took a sharp leftward, statist turn. The measures were popular, but they concentrated economic power in the state and brought repeated conflict with the judiciary.

• Bank nationalisation (1969): Siding with the party's left ("Young Turks"), Indira relieved Morarji Desai of the finance portfolio and nationalised 14 major private banks by ordinance in July 1969 (later the Banking Companies Act). Another 6 banks followed in 1980. She argued banks should serve agriculture, small industry and ordinary depositors, not just big business. The result was a huge expansion of banking into rural areas and priority-sector lending.
• Privy purses abolished (1971): On merging with India, the former princes had been guaranteed a privy purse, a tax-free annual payment under Article 291. Indira's 1969 abolition bill passed the Lok Sabha but failed in the Rajya Sabha by one vote. A presidential order that followed was struck down by the Supreme Court. After her 1971 victory, the 26th Amendment (1971) finally abolished the privy purses and princely recognition, inserting Article 363-A.
• Regulating big business: The MRTP Act (1969) (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices) checked the concentration of economic power in a few business families. The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) placed tight restrictions on foreign investment and companies. After 1971 she nationalised coal, steel, copper and the oil companies (1973).
• Steps for equity: land ceilings and redistribution to marginal farmers, subsidised foodgrains, rural employment, equal pay for equal work, and a moratorium on the debts of the poor.
• Devaluation of the rupee (1966): Under pressure from the US, World Bank and IMF, Indira devalued the rupee by 36.5% in June 1966. The promised foreign aid then fell short, so the move was widely seen as a failure, though its medium-term effect on the trade deficit was in fact beneficial. It deepened her distrust of the West and fed her leftward shift. Five-year planning was suspended for annual plans (1966–69).

Her reforms repeatedly ran into courts that protected property as a fundamental right. Parliament fought back through amendments.

• 24th Amendment (1971): affirmed Parliament's power to amend any part of the Constitution, including fundamental rights, overriding the Supreme Court's Golak Nath ruling.
• 25th Amendment (1972): protected certain laws giving effect to directive principles from being struck down for violating fundamental rights.
• The 1973 supersession: the government passed over three senior judges to make A.N. Ray, who had voted for the government's view, Chief Justice. This was widely seen as a politicisation of the judiciary.
• 38th and 39th Amendments (1975): shielded emergency proclamations and the election of the top office-holders from judicial review, paving the way to the confrontation of the Emergency.

For twenty-one months, from June 1975 to March 1977, India's democracy was effectively suspended. Several pressures converged.

• Economic crisis: Rising prices, unemployment, a failed monsoon and the 1973 oil crisis caused widespread discontent. A nationwide railway strike in 1974 added to the disorder.
• The JP movement: Protest grew with the Nav Nirman agitation in Gujarat and, above all, the Bihar movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan (JP). He called for "Total Revolution" (sampoorna kranti) against corruption and misgovernment, and appealed to the army and police not to obey "illegal" orders. This appeal was later cited as a ground for the Emergency.
• The Allahabad verdict: On 12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court, in Raj Narain v. Indira Gandhi (an election petition), found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractice in her 1971 Rae Bareli contest. Her election was declared void and she was barred from elected office for six years. On 24 June 1975 the Supreme Court granted only a conditional stay: she could remain Prime Minister but could not vote or draw a salary as an MP.
• The declaration: The opposition demanded her resignation, and a civil-disobedience call was set for 29 June. Indira advised President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to declare a state of internal Emergency under Article 352(1). He signed it just before midnight on the night of 25-26 June 1975, before the cabinet had endorsed it; the cabinet was informed only the next morning. At the time, Article 352 needed no written cabinet recommendation.

The Constitution provides three kinds of emergency in Part XVIII (Articles 352–360). A National Emergency (Article 352) can be declared on war, external aggression or armed rebellion. President's Rule (Article 356) applies when a state's constitutional machinery fails. A Financial Emergency (Article 360) has never been used. The 1975 proclamation, on the stated ground of "internal disturbance", was the third National Emergency, after the China war (1962) and the Pakistan war (1971).

The Emergency concentrated all power in the executive.

• Mass arrests: Opposition leaders (JP, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani) and over one lakh activists, journalists, trade unionists and students were detained without trial under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), 1971, a preventive-detention law. The RSS, Jamaat-i-Islami and CPI(ML) were banned.
• Rights suspended: Under a Presidential order made under Article 359, citizens lost the right to move any court to enforce rights under Articles 14, 21 and 22. Under Article 358, the freedoms in Article 19 stood automatically suspended.
• The Habeas Corpus case: In ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976), the Supreme Court held by 4:1 that during the Emergency a detainee had no locus standi to seek release, even if illegally detained. Justice H.R. Khanna's lone dissent later became a celebrated defence of the rule of law.
• Censorship: The press was censored under the Defence of India Rules. Electricity to newspaper presses was cut on the first night, and pre-censorship was imposed. Some papers ran blank editorial spaces in protest; the Indian Express and Statesman were notable for their resistance.
• Amendments: The 38th Amendment barred judicial review of the Emergency declaration. The 39th Amendment placed the election of the Prime Minister beyond the reach of the courts, to nullify the Allahabad verdict. The 42nd Amendment (1976), called the "mini-constitution", curbed the judiciary, claimed unlimited amending power for Parliament, added "socialist, secular" and "integrity" to the Preamble, inserted a chapter on Fundamental Duties, extended the Lok Sabha's term from 5 to 6 years and tilted directive principles over fundamental rights.
• The excesses: People were detained without charge and tortured. Sanjay Gandhi, wielding power he did not officially hold, drove forced sterilisation drives and the demolition of slums, notably at Turkman Gate in Delhi. A Twenty-Point Programme (run alongside Sanjay's five points) and early economic gains, helped by good monsoons, won some initial support. By 1976, popular discontent had spread.

In an unexpected move, Indira Gandhi called elections in early 1977, confident of winning. She released prisoners and lifted censorship.

• The opposition unites: The Jana Sangh, Congress (O), Bharatiya Lok Dal (Charan Singh) and the Socialists merged to form the Janata Party. Jagjivan Ram's Congress for Democracy (CFD) joined them.
• A referendum on the Emergency: Fought on the Emergency's excesses and civil liberties, the March 1977 election gave the Janata alliance a huge mandate of 330 of 542 Lok Sabha seats. Both Indira and Sanjay Gandhi lost their seats, though Congress held the south. The Emergency was revoked on 21 March 1977. The Janata Party under Morarji Desai formed the first non-Congress government at the Centre. The peaceful removal of the government that had suspended democracy proved how firmly democracy was rooted in India.

The Emergency left deep lessons. The 44th Amendment Act, 1978, passed by the Janata government, rebuilt the safeguards so that no future government could repeat it so easily.

• Ground narrowed: The vague ground of "internal disturbance" in Article 352 was replaced by "armed rebellion", so an Emergency can no longer be declared over ordinary law-and-order trouble.
• Cabinet check: A proclamation now needs the written recommendation of the Cabinet (not the Prime Minister alone) before the President can act (Article 352(3)).
• Parliamentary control: Parliament must approve a proclamation by a special majority (a majority of the total membership of each House plus two-thirds of those present and voting), within one month (earlier two months). Continuance must be re-approved every six months. The Lok Sabha can force revocation by a simple-majority resolution, and one-tenth of its members can demand a special sitting for this purpose.
• Rights protected: Articles 20 and 21 can no longer be suspended during any Emergency, directly overturning ADM Jabalpur. The right to life and personal liberty now always survives.
• Judicial review restored: Reversing the 38th Amendment, a proclamation made in mala fide can again be challenged in court.

The Emergency is remembered as the darkest period of independent India and a standing warning against the concentration of power.