The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or po ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of

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 ...

. On 12 November 1969, the Prime Minister of India

was expelled from the Congress party for violating the party discipline. The party finally split with Indira Gandhi setting up a rival organization ''Indian National Congress (Requisitionists)'', which came to be known as '' Congress (R)'' or ''Indicate''/''New Congress''. In the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousa ...

, 446 of its 705 members walked over to Indira's side.Chandra, Bipan & others (2000). ''India after Independence 1947-2000'', New Delhi:Penguin Books, , p.236 K Kamaraj and later

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 ...

were the leaders of the INC(O). INC(O) led governments in

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 Ben ...

under

Bhola Paswan Shastri Bhola Paswan Shastri (21 September 1914 - 10 September 1984) was an Indian freedom fighter and on three occasions between 1968-71 was former Chief Minister of Bihar state in India. He was born in Paswan Community in Bairgacchi village of Purn ...

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 ''Karn ...

under Veerendra Patil, and in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth- ...

under Hitendra K Desai. It was also a part of the

Janata Morcha The Janata Morcha ("People's Front") was a coalition of Indian political parties formed in 1974 to oppose the government of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Congress (R) party. The coalition was an integral part of the popular movement ...

that ruled Gujarat under Babubhai J. Patel from 1975–1976 during the emergency era. The split can in some ways be seen as a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically in ...

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

division. Indira wanted to use a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develope ...

agenda in order to mobilize popular support for the party. The regional party elites, who formed the INC(O), stood for a more right-wing agenda, and distrusted

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

help. In the 1971 general election, the INC(O) won about 10% of the vote and 16

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past- ...

seats, against 44% of the vote and 352 seats for Indira's Congress. In March 1977, the party fought the post-Emergency election under the banner of

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 ...

. The Janata Party alliance inflicted crushing defeat to Indira's Congress Party. Nevertheless, the total vote share of Congress (O) in 1977 was almost halved from 1971 and they lost three seats.. Later the same year, INC(O) formally merged with the

Bharatiya Lok Dal Bharatiya Lok Dal ( English: Indian Peoples' Party) was a political party in India. The BLD or simply BL was formed at the end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to the rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra Party, t ...

Bharatiya Jan Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

, Socialist Party of India,

Swatantra Party The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party, that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly soc ...

and others to form the

. Congress (O)'s leader

served as the fourth

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 ...

from 1977 to 1979 which was India's first non-Congress government.

Leaders

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

* S. Nijalingappa * C. M. Poonacha *

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (; 19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independenc ...

* Atulya Ghosh * S. K. Patil * Hitendra K Desai * Satyendra Narayan Sinha *

Chandra Bhanu Gupta Chandra Bhanu Gupta (14 July 1902 – 11 March 1980) served three terms as chief minister of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1970s he was a member of Congress (O) and Janata Party. Early life He was born in Atrauli, Aligarh district in 190 ...

* Veerendra Patil * Ashoka Mehta * Tribhuvan Narain Singh *

Ram Subhag Singh Ram Subhag Singh (7 July 1917 – 16 December 1980)''Data India'', Press Institute of India, 1981 was an Indian politician who was a member of the Indian National Congress. He served as a member of the 3rd and 4th Lok Sabha for Bikramganj and ...

* B. D. Sharma

Notes

{{Indian Emergency Indian National Congress Defunct political parties in India Political parties established in 1969 Political parties disestablished in 1977 Conservative parties in India Indian National Congress (Organisation) Indian National Congress breakaway groups

Leaders

See also

Notes