A war, two deaths and three Prime Ministers

Congress formed the government for the third time but was beset with early signs of internal dissent. Regional parties gained national popularity, India went to war with China and Pakistan, and the non-alignment stance guided India’s foreign policy.

The house of the people

The Indian National Congress emerged victorious in the end. Despite Mr. Nehru’s sustained popularity, Congress saw a dip in majority in the third Lok Sabha. CPI, Swatantra Party and Jan Sangh instead recorded a “corresponding accretion of strength”, The Hindu reported on March 3, 1962.

This is the only session in Indian history which witnessed five ceremonies of swearing in four prime ministers. After Mr. Nehru’s passing in 1964, Independence movement leader Gulzarilal Nanda became the Interim Prime Minister, followed by Lal Bahadur Shastri taking over in June 1964. Mr. Nanda served again as the acting PM after Mr. Shastri, in 1966, died abruptly under mysterious circumstances in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Mr. Gandhi’s daughter Indira Gandhi later took on the prime ministerial role on January 24, 1966.

During this time, Sardar Hukam Singh, a prominent leader during the Independence movement, served as the Speaker of the House.

The politics

INC benefitted from “its organisation, prestige of central leadership, weakness in resources and organisation of the Opposition parties”, The Hindu noted in an editorial. Still, its reduced majority in Lok Sabha was a cause for concern, attributed to “local factors” and early signs of dissension, with some Congress “rebels” fighting the election as independents.

Regional parties also made waves: The CPI made a comeback in Andhra Pradesh after the events of 1957, and Tamil Nadu saw the emergence of DMK as a “solid strong Opposition”. The DMK leapt from a group of 15 in 1957 to a strength of 50 in 1962, showing that it has “been steadily building up its organisation and hold over a large section of the electorate”. The DMK’s victory was more significant than the Communists in Andhra Pradesh — “it is a State party with separatist objectives”, The Hindu wrote.

These surprise wins, and Congress’s regional defeats, marked the beginning of internal dissent and challenges. The strains and stresses of the transition from traditional economic and social set up to democratic norms were “all too obvious”, The Hindu noted on April 10. The party “can no longer regard itself as secure even where it has a large majority in the legislature as long as there is a vigorous opposition”.

Mr. Nehru in a speech at the start of the Lok Sabha said: “I hope that in our working we shall keep the wider objectives always in view and not be led away by petty or vested interests or by caste or other disruptive influences.”

The agenda

Under Mr. Nehru’s leadership, economic development through the Second Five Year Plan gave a fillip to the public sector and promoted rapid industrialisation. The size of the cabinet in the third Lok Sabha increased from 12 to 17, with the creation of a new Ministry of Steel and Heavy Industries. The Hindu commented that the cabinet “cannot be considered too large” for a country of India’s size with a growing public sector and various regional claims”. Mr. Shastri later, in 1964, also promoted the White Revolution and campaigned to increase the production of milk under the “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” slogan.

The specter of war unfolded in the backdrop. The dispute with China over the complex Line of Actual Control (LAC) escalated into the Indo-China war of 1962. Mr. Nehru reportedly sought help from the U.S. and other Western countries for military assistance to respond to this challenge, a former CIA official wrote in a book.

Mr. Shastri saw India through the war with Pakistan in 1965. “India ready to meet all Pakistan threats”, The Hindu reported on April 23.

In the face of arms buildup and conflict globally, Mr. Nehru adopted the non-alignment movement during the Cold War. Not aligning with either side was the “least costly policy for promoting India’s diplomatic presence… and the best means of securing economic assistance from abroad”, former Foreign Secretary Krishnan Srinivasan wrote in 2021.

Conflict stained the global map. In March 1962, The Hindu reported on the army coup in Burma (now Myanmar), which marked the death of democracy and establishment of a turbulent military regime. “A point of shock” for the New Delhi Government, The Hindu noted.

Ms. Gandhi was in power in 1966 for a year before this session of the Lok Sabha was dissolved. Her first year of leadership saw a series of crises: monsoon failure, controversial devaluation exercises and contentious reorganisation of the State of Punjab. Hindu religious leaders along with parties like the Jan Sangha also stirred demand for banning cow slaughter throughout the country. It later resulted in a mob storming the Lok Sabha on November 9, 1966, one of the first instances when India’s Parliament was breached.

India held its fourth General Elections next year in February 1967.

Congress faced criticism for being “more perturbed by the signs that the hold of the Congress and the country is weakening”, stated an article in The Hindu on March 30. The party’s narrow focus on the economy favoured developing steel mills and Five-Year Plans over investing in education and a free press.

Other sundry concerns, as written to the Editor on March 30, 1957: a request for granting Dearness Allowance to pensioners, promoting domestic tourism, a “great shock” over 25% cut for domestic consumers of electricity, and a lingering threat to the deterioration of the “lovely” Jacaranda Mimosaefolia tree of Coonoor and Wellington.

References

1. “G.V. Mavalankar” report prepared by the Lok Sabha Secretariat in 2018. Source: Digital Sansad
2. Guha, Ramachandra. “Democracy’s Biggest Gamble: India’s First Free Elections in 1952.” World Policy Journal, vol. 19, no. 13.
3. “When a nation voted”, Published in The Hindu on February 13, 2017
4. Election Atlas of India: Parliamentary elections 1952 – 2014, edited by Dr. R. K. Thukral
5. Election Commission of India
6. The video was taken from the Prasar Bharati Archives’ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PbKqwvjSKg
7. The Hindu Archives