The Congress for Democracy (CFD) was an Indian political party founded in 1977 by

Jagjivan Ram Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 – 6 July 1986), known popularly as Babuji, was an Indian independence activist and politician from Bihar. He was instrumental in the foundation of the ''All India Depressed Classes League'', an organisation dedicated ...

. It was formed after

Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna (25 April 1919 – 17 March 1989) was an Indian National Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh; he later joined Bharatiya Lok Dal and worked with Charan Singh. Personal life He was born on 25 Apr ...

, and

Nandini Satpathy Nandini Satpathy (9 June 1931 – 4 August 2006) was an Indian politician and author. She was the Chief Minister of Odisha from June 1972 to December 1976. Early life Nandini Satpathy nee Panigrahi was born on 9 June 1931 to Kalindi Chara ...

left the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

and denounced her rule during the

Indian Emergency The Emergency in India was a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country. Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution beca ...

. The party contested the

1977 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 16 and 20 March 1977 to elect the members of the 6th Lok Sabha. The elections took place during the Emergency period, which expired on 21 March 1977, shortly before the final results were announced ...

with the Janata alliance and later merged with it.

Formation

was a senior politician within the

and had been a loyalist of

. He had held various cabinet posts, and had served India's defence minister during the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

. He was also the most prominent

Scheduled Caste The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

politician in the nation. Ram had stayed loyal to Indira after she imposed a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

in 1975. However, the state of emergency had proven widely unpopular and upon calling elections in 1977, it became apparent that Indira's

could suffer defeat. Consequently, Ram and his supporters resigned from the government and the

in January 1977, denouncing

and her Emergency rule. The Congress for Democracy was launched on February 2, 1977.

became the president of the party and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

became the party general secretary. Other co-founders included the former Chief minister of Mysore (Now

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

), who later became Party President, former

Chief Minister of Orissa The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Followin ...

, former Union Minister of State for Finance K. R. Ganesh, former M.P. Dwarka Nath Tiwary and

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

i politician Raj Mangal Pandey.

1977 election

Although the new party was mocked by Indira's

as the "Congress for Defectors"

's support was actively courted by the opposition

Janata party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

alliance as he was the most influential Scheduled Caste leader in the country. While the Congress for Democracy agreed to jointly campaign and contest the election with the

, it stated that it would maintain a separate organisation and identity. In the 1977 elections, the Janata-CFD alliance won 298 seats, ousting the

from power for the first time in 30 years. The Congress for Democracy itself won only 28 seats, but its role in raising significant support for the Janata alliance amongst India's Scheduled Caste communities, formerly a loyal Congress base, earned it considerable influence in the formation of a new government.

Merger with Janata

Along with

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...

and

Charan Singh Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.' Charan S ...

was a leading candidate to become the new

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

as head of the Janata-CFD coalition. Seeking to avoid a divisive contest, Janata leaders asked

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

(JP), who was seen as the spiritual leader of the party, to choose the leader, pledging to abide by his choice. When JP chose Desai, the CFD expressed criticism at the un-democratic selection of the leader and hesitated about joining the government. However, JP and Desai coaxed Ram into joining the government as a

Deputy Prime Minister of India The deputy prime minister of India ( IAST: ''Bhārat Ke Upapradhānamantri'') is the second highest ranking minister of the Union in the executive branch of the Government of India and is a senior member of the Union Council of Ministers. The off ...

and Minister of Defence. H. N. Bahuguna joined the Cabinet as Minister of Petroleum and Chemicals. On May 5, 1977 the Congress for Democracy announced its intention to merge its organisation with the

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

Post-Janata

Despite joining the ranks of the

, CFD politicians remained specifically loyal to

. When Ram withdrew his support for the Desai government in 1979, he was supported by a significant number of former CFD MPs. With the fall of the Janata government in 1979-80, Ram and his supporters formed the Congress (J) - "J" standing for "Jagjivan", which maintained a small presence in the Indian Parliament.

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in India Political parties established in 1977 1977 establishments in India Political parties disestablished in 1977 1977 disestablishments in India Indian National Congress breakaway groups

Formation

1977 election

Merger with Janata

Post-Janata

See also

References