India - 4th Lok Sabha 1967

4th Lok Sabha 1967

The country had its fourth outing at the hustings since Independence in April 1967. For the Congress which till now had never won less than 73 per cent of the seats in Parliament, it was more bad news ahead. 

Congress' internal crisis stared at its face in the results of the 1967 elections. For the first time, it lost nearly 60 seats in the Lower House, managing to win 297 seats. Until 1967, the grand old party had also never won less than 60 per cent of all seats in Assembly elections. It also suffered a major setback as non-Congress ministries were established in Bihar, Kerala, Orissa, Madras, the Punjab and West Bengal. Among all this, Indira Gandhi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Rai Bareili constituency, was sworn in as the Prime Minister on March 13. In order to keep dissident voices at bay, she appointed Morarji Desai, who had opposed her candidature as PM after Nehru's death, as Deputy Prime Minister of India and Finance Minister of India. 

The Congress' dismal electoral performance forced her to become assertive and opt for a series of choices that put her against the Congress Party high command. Differences within the party kept building. The Congress expelled her for "indiscipline" on November 12, 1969, an action that split the party into two factions: the Congress (O)-for Organisation-led by Morarji Desai, and the Congress (I)--for Indira-led by Indira Gandhi. Indira continued to head a minority government with support from the CPI(M) till December 1970. Not wanting to head a minority government any longer, she called for a mid-term election to the Lok Sabha a full one year ahead of schedule. 

Dates: 04/03/1967-27/12/1970

Speaker Shri N.Sanjiva Reddy 17/3/1967 -19/7/1969 Dr.G.S. Dhillion 8/8/1969 -19/3/1971 Deputy Speaker R.K.Khadilkar 28/3/1967 -1/11/1969 Shri G.G.Swell 9/12/1969 -27/12/1970 Secretary-General Shri S.L.Shakdher 04/03/1967-27/12/1970