THE REPUBLICcompetence and universally acknowledged integrity, was thought to be
closer to the Jana Sangh than to the other elements of the Janata Party. But
Morarji was proud of his new Janata Party and expected it to have a great
future. Although an experienced administrator, he was not a good party
leader and thus was unable to prevent the internal bickering which afflicted
the Janata Party more and more. Internal conflict was also unchecked by
any fear of a potential comeback of Indira Gandhi, who was considered to
be finished politically.
Without a proper challenge from a strong opposition the Janata Party
could bring about its own downfall at leisure. Although Morarji Desai did
everything to please the rich peasants and never mentioned his old scheme
for an agricultural wealth tax (which he had planned to introduce in 1969
when he had been a member of Indira Gandhi’s cabinet), he nevertheless
did not see eye to eye with ambitious Deputy Prime Minister Charan
Singh, the champion of the rich peasants, and he finally dismissed him just
as he himself had been forced out of office by Indira Gandhi in 1969.
Charan Singh then mobilised his supporters against the premier and by the
summer of 1979 Morarji was at the end of his tether. He resigned.
President Sanjiva Reddy could find no opposition leader capable of
forming a government and should have immediately held fresh elections;
instead, he installed a minority government with Charan Singh as prime
minister. All parties tolerated this extraordinary move because none of
them was ready to face an election straightaway.
The Janata regime succumbed merely because of internal disorder and a
basic incompatibility of the parties which had only superficially merged their
identity. In economic terms the years of the Janata regime were a good time,
though this was only partly due to the government’s achievements.
Agricultural production increased and India’s balance of payments showed a
comfortable surplus. This was due to a surprising byproduct of the energy
crisis: the shift of Indian manpower to the Gulf states and the large
remittances to the home country that this produced. Agricultural goods were
also exported in a big way to the Gulf states—in fact, shortages were caused
in India as produce was syphoned off by the Arabs, who could afford to pay a
good price. A serious drawback of the ‘Green Revolution’ thus became
apparent: it was primarily a wheat revolution and had almost completely
bypassed all other aspects of agricultural production. The harvest of 1979
failed to remedy the shortfall and the high prices of essential foodstuffs
played an important role in the election campaign of 1980.
Indira Gandhi’s comeback and endThe result of the election of 1980 was even more surprising than that of
- Of course, the Janata Party was split once more and the old
disregard for the lessons of the majority election system prevailed. But