Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) was created in 1969; it was created and led by
Indira Gandhi. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress or Syndicate.
The letter 'R' stands for 'Requisition'.
The original congress party then became the
Indian National Congress (Organisation)
The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a political party in India formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of Indira Gandhi.
On 12 November 1969, the Prime Minis ...
, or ''Congress (O)'', and was led by
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) ...
. It was informally called the ''Old Congress'' or ''Syndicate'' and retained the party symbol of a pair of bullocks carrying a yoke. Mrs. Gandhi's breakaway faction were given a new symbol of a cow with suckling calf by the Election Commission as the party election symbol.
The split occurred when, in 1969, a united opposition under the banner of
Samyukt Vidhayak Dal, won control over several states in the
Hindi belt
The Hindi Belt, also known as the Hindi Heartland, is a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern and western India where various Central Indo-Aryan languages subsumed under the term 'Hindi' (for example, by the ...
. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister and daughter of
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
, was then challenged by the majority of the party leadership. Gandhi formed the new party to demonstrate her support amongst the people. In the
1971 general election, Congress (R) had secured an overwhelming majority winning 352 out of 518 seats in the
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-p ...
. In the elections to five state assemblies too, the Congress (R) performed well. Later in 1970s the name Congress (R) evolved to Congress (I) the 'I' stands for Indira and gradually Congress (I) became Indian National Congress, as Congress (O) merged with
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 ...
. Other parties split from Congress party were
Congress for Democracy
The Congress for Democracy (CFD) was an Indian political party founded in 1977 by Jagjivan Ram. It was formed after Jagjivan Ram, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, and Nandini Satpathy left the Indian National Congress of Indira Gandhi and denounced her r ...
,
Indian National Congress (Urs) etc.
[ Andersen, Walter K.. India in 1981: Stronger Political Authority and Social Tension, published in Asian Survey, Vol. 22, No. 2, A Survey of Asia in 1981: Part II (Feb., 1982), pp. 119-135 ]
See also
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Indian National Congress breakaway parties
Since India gained independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress (INC) has seen a steady number of splits and breakaway factions. Some of the breakaway organisations have thrived as independent parties, some have become defunct, while oth ...
*
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 E ...
Notes
{{Indian Emergency
Indian National Congress breakaway groups
The Emergency (India)