The Grand Alliance of 1971
was a pre-poll alliance forged between
Indian National Congress (Organisation),
Samyukta Socialist Party
Samyukta Socialist Party (; SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party.
The General Secret ...
,
Praja Socialist Party
The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the Kisan Mazdoo ...
,
Swatantra party and
Bharatiya Jana Sangh ahead of the
1971 Indian general election
General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the 5th Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections since independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518 constit ...
.
The alliance was led by
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
INC (O) faction against
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 ...
's
INC (R) faction. However, in the end INC (R) won the election.
The rallying cry of the alliance was ''Indira Hatao'' (unseat Indira). Indira Gandhi's INC (R) came up with the slogan ''Garibi Hatao'' (eradicate poverty), in response to this.
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References
{{India-election-stub
Defunct political party alliances in India
1971 elections in India