CHRONOLOGY1957 Second general election, Congress wins with the exception of
Kerala (Communist Chief Minister: E.M.S.Namboodiripad)
1959 ‘President’s Rule’ in Kerala; foundation of the Swatantra Party;
Dalai Lama flees from Tibet to India; beginning of open
confrontation between China and India
1960 Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, Nehru-Ayub Khan talks;
Nehru’s attempt at mediation in UN after breakdown of Paris
summit; division of Bombay state between Gujarat and
Maharashtra
1961 Non-aligned Conference in Belgrade; Nehru-Chou Enlai talks in
Delhi; liberation of Goa
1962 Third general election; Congress wins; border war with China
1962–6 Third five-year plan, rapid expansion of heavy industry
1964 Nehru dies; succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri
1965 Conflict with Pakistan over the Rann of Cutch; Pakistan’s attack
on road to Kashmir, Indian counter-offensive directed at Lahore,
cease-fire and Soviet mediation
1966 Conference at Tashkent (USSR); Shastri dies, succeeded by
Indira Gandhi; devaluation of the rupee, bad harvests and great
increase of agrarian prices
1967 Fourth general election, Congress maintains majority position at
the centre but loses control of several states
1968 ‘Green Revolution’ begins; fourth five-year plan postponed
1969 Elections in several states, no consolidation of Congress
position; Indira Gandhi splits Congress, drops ‘old guard’
1971 Elections (centre only), Indira Gandhi’s Congress wins; Indo-
Soviet Friendship Treaty; Indian army helps in liberation of
Bangladesh, Pakistan’s troops surrender in Dhaka
1972 Indira Gandhi’s meeting with Bhutto at Simla leads to
normalisation of relations; bad harvest endangers economic
position
1974 Oil price rise and another bad harvest lead to rapid inflation;
strike of railway workers; underground test of a nuclear device
1975 Protest movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan; High Court
judgment against Indira Gandhi in election case; Congress defeat
in Gujarat; ‘Emergency’, many opposition leaders arrested
1976 Indira Gandhi postpones elections which would have been due
in that year and then suddenly fixes election date for March
1977
1977 Indira Gandhi defeated in election, Morarji Desai becomes
prime minister, former opposition parties merge and form Janata
Party
1978 Conflicts in Janata Party, Deputy Prime Minister Charan Singh
dismissed
1979 Desai resigns, Charan Singh leads caretaker government
1980 Indira Gandhi wins elections; Sanjay Gandhi, Congress secretary
general, dies in private aircraft accident
1983 Elections in Andhra Pradesh (Telugu Desam Party: N.T.Rama
Rao) and Karnataka (Janata Party: Ramkrishna Hegde) lead to
defeat of Congress (I); Non-aligned Conference in New Delhi,
with Indira Gandhi as president
1984 Unrest in Panjab, Indian army action in Golden Temple of
Amritsar which is occupied by armed Sikhs (leader Jarnail Singh