The premiership of Morarji Desai extended from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979. In the Indian general election, 1977 Morarji Desai led the Janata Party to victory against the Congress party. Upon taking office, Morarji Desai became the first Indian Prime Minister not belonging to the Congress party.[1]
Emergency and election victory
The Janata Party was formed by political leaders and activists of various political parties who had been united in opposing the Congress (O), Swatantra Party, Socialist Party of India, Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the Lok Dal. Congress defector Jagjivan Ram, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna & Nandini Satpathy formed the Congress for Democracy and joined the Janata alliance.[3] The widespread unpopularity of Emergency rule gave Janata and its allied a landslide victory in the election.
Morarji Desai ministry
Cabinet ministers
Rabi Ray was inducted in January 1979 to fill in the vacancy caused by Raj Narain's exit.
Ministers of state
Reversal of Emergency decrees
The first actions taken by the Desai government were to formally end the state of emergency and media censorship and repeal the controversial executive decrees issued during the Emergency.[1][2][5][6] The Constitution was amended to make it more difficult for any future government to declare a state of emergency; fundamental freedoms and the independence of India's judiciary was reaffirmed.[5][6] The new government also proceeded to withdraw all charges against the 25 accused in the [6] The Minister of Railways reinstated the railway employees disciplined after the May 1974 strike.[6] The Desai government proceeded to establish inquiry commissions and tribunals to investigate allegations of corruption and human rights abuses by members of Indira Gandhi's government, political party and the police forces. Specific inquiries were instituted on Sanjay Gandhi's management of the state-owned Maruti Udyog Ltd., the activities of the former Minister of Defence Bansi Lal and the 1971 Nagarwala scandal.[6] Both Indira and her son Sanjay were charged with allegations of corruption and briefly arrested.
Economic policy
The Janata government had lesser success in achieving economic reforms. It launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan, aiming to boost agricultural production and rural industries. Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required multi-national corporations to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, diminishing foreign investment and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India.[7] But the government was unable to address the issues of resurging inflation, fuel shortages, unemployment and poverty. The legalisation of strikes and re-empowerment of trade unions affected business efficiency and economic production.
References
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^ a b c Kuldip Singh (1995-04-11). "OBITUARY: Morarji Desai".
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^ a b "The Rise of Indira Gandhi".
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^ G. G. Mirchandani (2003). 320 Million Judges. Abhinav Publications. pp. 90–100.
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^ "Morarji, Charan Singh waited for each other to die: Book".
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^ a b Paul R. Brass (1994). The Politics of India Since Independence.
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^ a b c d e G. G. Mirchandani (2003). 320 Million Judges. Abhinav Publications. pp. 176–191.
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^ Shashi Tharoor (2006). India: From Midnight To Millennium. Arcade Publishing. pp. 164–66.
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