Question

Why did the Janata Government fail?

Answer 1

The Janata Government failed because of the following reasons:

1. The Janata Government began to wither as significant ideological and political divisions emerged.
2. The party consisted of veteran socialists, trade unionists and pro-business leaders, making major economic reforms which were difficult to achieve without triggering a public divide.
3. Socialists and secular Janata politicians shared an aversion to the Hindu nationalist agenda of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh.
4. The Government had failed to prove most of the allegations and obtained few convictions.
5. Cases against Indira Gandhi had also stalled for lack of evidence, and her continued prosecution began to evoke sympathy for her from the Indian public and anger of her supporters.
6. Through 1979, support for Morarji Desai had declined considerably due to worsening economic conditions as well as the emergence of allegations of nepotism and corruption involving members of his family.
7. Desai also lost the support of the secular and socialist politicians in the party, who saw him as favouring the Hindu nationalist BJS.
8. On 19 July 1979, Desai resigned from the Government and eventually retired to his home
9. The broken health of Jayaprakash Narayan made it hard for him to remain politically active and act as a unifying influence, thereby his death in 1979 deprived the party of its most popular leader.
10. Dissidents placed Charan Singh as the new prime minister in place of Desai.
11. President Reddy appointed Charan Singh as the Prime Minister of a minority Government on the strength of 64 MPs, calling upon him to form a new Government and prove his majority.
12. The departure of Desai and the BJS had considerably diminished Janata’s majority, and numerous Janata MPs refused to support Charan Singh. MPs who were loyal to Jagjivan Ram withdrew themselves from the Janata Party.
13. Former allies such as the DMK, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had distanced themselves from the Janata party.
14. Desperately seeking enough support for a majority, even Charan Singh sought to negotiate with Congress (I), which refused. After three weeks Charan Singh resigned.