Political History after Independence

1947–1950

The situations in early years of independent India were full of disruptive events like  Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India from West Punjab, North-West Frontier of Punjab, Baluchistan, East Bengal and Sindh after the communal violence in Pakistan.

Nathuram Godse, a revolutionary affiliated with the Hindu Nationalist movement  held Mahatma Gandhi responsible for India’s partition  and also accused him of appeasing Muslims; thus assassin Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948.

In 1949, Hindu refugees fled into West Bengal and other states from East Pakistan following communal violence, bullying and repression from Muslim authorities. The treaty signed by Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan plighted to protect minorities and to create minorities commission by both India and Pakistan. Both also signed a trade agreement, to resolve bilateral disputes through peaceful means.

India at the time of British consisted of 17 provinces and 562 princely states. To read about integration of princely states, click here…

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel lead Government of India for political negotiations backed with the option (and, on several occasions, the use) of military action to ensure the primacy of the Central government and of the Constitution then being drafted.

The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of India, was drafted by a committee headed by B. R. Ambedkar, on November 26, 1949 and came into force w.e.f January 26,1950. India became a democratic republic and Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India. For more information on Indian Constitution click here…..

1950s and 1960s

India held its first constitutional elections in 1952. The National Congress Party won majority, and Jawaharlal Nehru was made Prime Minister & Dr. Rajendra Prasad was re-elected as President of India.

Congress won 1957 and 1962 elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Nehru. The Parliament passed panoptic reforms to give more legal rights to women, and also framed laws against caste discrimination and untouchability. Many schools, colleges and institutions for providing primary and advanced learning, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology were founded across the nation. He firmly advocated socialist model for Indian economy. No taxes were imposed on Indian farmers, minimum wage and benefits for working-class, and the nationalization of steel, aviation, shipping, electricity and mining industries.

States Reorganization Act was passed in 1956 by the States Reorganization Commission, who directed the creation of new states on the basis of spoken language and ethnic demographics.

Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru after his demise as Prime Minister. The Tashkent Agreement was signed on January 10, 1966 between India and Pakistan under the mediation of the Soviet government for establishing peace. Then as a result of the elections nation saw the rise of Indira Gandhi after the death of Lal Bhadur Shastri. She put an end to the privy purse guarantee for former Indian royalty, and waged a major offensive against party hierarchy over the nationalization of India's banks. The Indian National Congress splited in 1969.

1970s

Indira Gandhi and Congress (R) returned to power winning huge majority in 1971. The banks were nationalized and many other socialist economic and industrial policies were enacted during that period. Bangladesh was separated as a result of Bangladesh Liberation War. India signed a 20-year treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union. In 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test in Pokharan Rajasthan. Sikkim was formally declared as India's 21st state on April 26, 1975.

Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

The Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 was fought for the independence of East Pakistan into the nation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. For a comprehensive look on Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 click here…

Indian Emergency

The Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of misusing government machinery for election purposes. Opposition parties conducted nationwide strikes and protests demanding her immediate resignation. In 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared emergency which gave the powers to defend law and order in the nation to the Central government. Explaining the breakdown of law and order and threat to national security as her primary reasons, Mrs. Gandhi suspended many civil liberties and postponed national and state elections. Non-Congress governments in Indian states were dismissed, and opposition political leaders and activists imprisoned. Strikes and public protests were criminalized in all forms.

Indira announced a 20-point programme which enhanced agricultural and industrial production, increasing national growth, productivity and job growth. Indira called for elections in 1977, and was defeated by Janata Party.
Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India. The Desai administration established judicatures to investigate Emergency-era abuses. The coalition crumbled in 1979 and Charan Singh formed an interim government. The Janata party had become intensely unpopular due to its internal conflicts, and its inability to lead India to solve serious economic and social problems.

1980s

Indira Gandhi and her Congress (I) party bounce back into power with a large majority in January, 1980. On October 31, 1984, the Prime Minister's own Sikh bodyguards killed her, and communal violence erupted in Delhi and parts of Punjab.

The Congress party chose Rajiv Gandhi, as the next Prime Minister. Rajiv Gandhi at 40 was the youngest political leader and Prime Minister ever. His administration brought a youthful insight to the existing problems. Congress party had its biggest win under Rajiv with largest majority in history (over 415 seats out of 545 possible).

Rajiv Gandhi relaxed license raj, governmental restrictions on foreign currency, travel, foreign investment and imports. As Prime Minister, Rajiv increased economic aid and scientific cooperation. He also encouraged science and technology which led to the expansion of the telecommunications industry, India's space program and gave birth to the software industry and information technology sector.

In 1987 India acted as mediator in an agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. Rajiv sent Indian Peace Keeping force to enforce the agreement and disarm the Tamil rebels. IPKF was withdrawn by VP Singh in 1990. With the outbreak of Bofors scandal that revealed that senior government officials had taken bribes over defence contracts by a Swedish guns producer shattered Rajiv Gandhi's image of an honest politician.

1990s

On May 21, 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a bomb attack by LTTE when he was campaigning in Tamil Nadu on behalf of Congress (I). In the elections, Congress (I) won 244 parliamentary seats and put together an alliance, returning to power under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao. This government opened the Indian economy to global trade and investment. India's domestic politics also underwent re-shapement and gave way to a plethora of small, regionally-based political parties. India was rocked by communal violence between Hindus and Muslims following the Babri Mosque demolition by Hindu mobs in reply to Ram Janmabhoomi dispute in Ayodhya in 1992.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised in May 1996 national elections as the single-largest party in the Lok Sabha. The power of BJP alignment under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lasted for only 13 days. A 14-party coalition led by the Janata Dal emerged to form the United Front. A United Front government under H.D. Deve Gowda again lasted for less than a year. The Congress Party withdrew his support in March 1997 and Inder Kumar Gujral replaced Deve Gowda as Prime Minister.

In November 1997, the Congress Party again withdrew support for the United Front. BJP conquered the largest number of seats in Parliament (182) in February 1998 elections. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was again appointed as Prime Minister. On May 11 and 13, 1998, a series of underground nuclear tests were done.

With the fall of BJP-led coalition government in April 1999, elections were held in September. In May and June 1999, Kargil War was fought in Kashmir after India discovered an elaborate campaign of terrorist infiltration. Prime Minister Vajpayee inaugurated the bus service between India and Pakistan. Indian forces killed infiltrators. Terrorism has increased in India with bomb blasts in leading cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore, Hyderabad has been very common over the years.

A new coalition led by the BJP resulted from Kargil war with Vajpayee as Prime Minister in October 1999. Then Tehelka scandal happened that accused the chief of BJP party of taking unaccounted contributions in return for promised favours, and the CBI gave chargesheet to the senior BJP leaders for inciting the demolition of the Babri mosque. In 2002, tensions increased over the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad challenged the government, by vowing to perform a religious ceremony on the disputed site. This rage resulted in burning of train in Godhra, Gujarat; 59 Hindu activists died in the mishap. This sparked off the 2002 Gujarat violence in which thousands of Hindus and Muslims died.

In January 2004 Vajpayee recommended early dissolution of the Lok Sabha and general elections. The Congress Party-led alliance was victorious in May 2004 elections. Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister on 22 May 2004. Manmohan Singh became the first Sikh to hold India's most powerful office. Singh has continued economic liberalization. India improved her relations, with many countries and foreign unions. Manmohan Singh talks with American President Barack Obama during the 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit at the Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.


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