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78 PoliticsinIndiasinceIndependence government. Parties opposed to ...inIndia,as the Congress realised that the presenttrendscontinue… division of their votes kept the maintenanceofanordered Congress in power. Thus parties structureofsocietyisgoing that were entirely different and “ toslipoutofreachofan disparate in their programmes and ideology got together to orderedstructureofcivil form anti-Congress fronts in governmentandthearmy some states and entered into willbeonlyalternative electoral adjustments of sharing C. Natarajan Annadurai sourceofauthority “ seats in others. They felt that the (1909-1969): Chief Minister andorder.…thegreat inexperience of Indira Gandhi of Madras (Tamil Nadu) experimentofdeveloping and the internal factionalism from 1967; a journalist, Indiawithinademocratic within the Congress provided popular writer and orator; frameworkhasfailed. them an opportunity to topple initially associated with the the Congress. The socialist Justice Party in Madras leader Ram Manohar Lohia province; later joined Dravid gave this strategy the name Kazagham (1934); formed Neville Maxwell of ‘non-Congressism’. He also DMK as a political party in ‘India’s Disintegrating produced a theoretical argument 1949; a proponent of Dravid Democracy’ an article in its defence: Congress rule was culture, he was opposed to published in the London undemocratic and opposed to the imposition of Hindi and led Times, 1967. interests of ordinary poor people; the anti-Hindi agitations; therefore, the coming together supporter of greater of the non-Congress parties autonomy to States. was necessary for reclaiming democracy for the people. Ram Manohar Lohia (1910-1967): Electoral verdict Socialist leader and It was in this context of heightened popular thinker; freedom discontent and the polarisation of political forces fighter and among that the fourth general elections to the Lok Sabha the founders of the and State Assemblies were held in February 1967. Congress Socialist The Congress was facing the electorate for the first Party; after the time without Nehru. split in the parent party, the leader of the Socialist Party The results jolted the Congress at both the and later the Samyukta Socialist national and state levels. Many contemporary Party; Member, Lok Sabha, 1963- political observers described the election results as 67; founder editor of Mankind and a ‘political earthquake’.The Congress did manage Jan, known for original contribution to get a majority in the Lok Sabha, but with its to a non-European socialist theory; lowest tally of seats and share of votes since 1952. as political leader, best known for Half the ministers in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet were sharp attacks on Nehru, strategy defeated. The political stalwarts who lost in their of non-Congressism, advocacy of constituencies included Kamaraj in Tamil Nadu, reservation for backward castes and S.K. Patil in Maharashtra, Atulya Ghosh in West opposition to English. Bengal and K. B. Sahay in Bihar. Reprint 2026-27