Explain any one reason for treating the year 1967 as turning point in the Indian politics.
Answers
Answer:
This paper deals with the most interesting political question thrown up by the 1967 elections: the change that the elections registered in respect of electoral behaviour which led to a decline of Congress preponderance in the country. An attempt is made to describe this in terms of patterns of regularity and change and the factors responsible for these patterns. The analysis in this paper suggests that the country has entered a more active phase of politics, that the voters are becoming aware of problems of policy and performance and that the appeals that parties make must increasingly be based on concrete items of social and economic change and less and less on either vague manifestoes or reliance on local party organisations and 'vote banks' to deliver the votes no matter what the party appeal is. There are two dimensions of the emerging electoral behaviour in India, one political, the other socio-economic. The first is the development of firm party commitments in the electorate. This is what will give Indian politics its stability and predictability. The other is the dimension of comment on and criticism of the ruling party's performance, discontent with the present and expectations of the future, and judgments regarding a particular party's ability to produce results. Whereas the first may be called the dimension of allegiance, the second may be called the dimension of deliberations. As one influences the other in successive elections, and as particular segments and attitudes get stabilised around this or that party, a still clearer profile of the Indian electorate will emerge with less unpredictability than is the case at present. While the general findings of this paper, on the nature of the political change that 1967 brought about, show large shifts in electoral orientations and awareness, they also reveal considerable stability, loyalty and continuity in the system.
Journal Information
The Economic and Political Weekly, published from Mumbai, is an Indian institution which enjoys a global reputation for excellence in independent scholarship and critical inquiry. First published in 1949 as the Economic Weekly and since 1966 as the Economic and Political Weekly, EPW, as the journal is popularly known, occupies a special place in the intellectual history of independent India. For more than five decades EPW has remained a unique forum that week after week has brought together academics, researchers, policy makers, independent thinkers, members of non-governmental organisations and political activists for debates straddling economics, politics, sociology, culture, the environment and numerous other disciplines.
Answer:
Many regional parties came forward to compete Indian national congress.