Nehru died without naming a successor in 1964. It was believed by many that the death would lead to political turmoil in the faction ridden congress. This also meant that a succesor had to be chosen at the earliest. He had to be a man of principles and honest and more importantly acceptable to the Congress leadership. The process of election was carried out in a dignified manner. There were two candidates, Morarji Desai [Right wing leader, honest but known for being confrontational] and Lal Bahadur Shastri [Honest and tactful]. The congress party was under the influence of Syndicate consisting of State party bosses and Central. They chose Shastri as the leader.
Shastri's rule was initially that of hesitation where important decisions were delayed and trouble increased. The cabinet also started functioning independently and party concentrated on political work. Shastri too couldn't control his cabinet colleagues effectively. The later stage of his rule was firm and he started managing affairs in tougher way. The highlight of his career was the Indo Pak war of 1965.
In this the military which was reeling under the humiliation of China war gained its pride back. The war started with a small section of Pakistan army arching into the Rann of Kutchh. The Indian military response was weak and this increased Pakistan courage. Later they sent infiltrators into Kashmir to foment violence. This led Shastri to declare the army to attack and capture posts beyond the ceasefire line. Pakistani army to launched an all out war. US and UK cutoff military and civilian aid to both nations. China declared India to be the aggressor but due to Soviet pressure refrained from taking any action. Finally a ceasefire was declared.
USSR sponsored peace talk was held at Tashkent and both sides agreed to surrender captured territories. Due to poor heart condition, Shastri died there. And this led another conflict for succession. Syndicate and Kamaraj still were against Morarji Desai's candidature and so wanted a second nominee. Here Indira Gandhi's name was suggested. She was an acceptable candidate to both sides and being Nehru's daughter was popular with the masses. Morarji Desai wasn't ready to leave without a contest. In the secret ballot Indira won and became the next leader of the Congress.
Indira Gandhi Enter's the Stage
Indira Gandhi's tenure saw a lot of political action. She turned out to be a firm decision maker and the hopes of the syndicate that wanted to manage the affairs of the government were thwarted. However even during her tenure a lot of drama was seen. The conflict of Punjab state, rebellion of Naga militants were some but were dealt with effectively. However the other problem was her handling of the US foreign relations.
India was suffering from acute famine and food scarcity. This would lead to hunger and unrest but such problems like food provisioning and distribution were handled on a war footing. The number of deaths were lesser than those during colonial times. India had to borrow food from the US and in return US expected India to approve the Vietnam war. But India's reluctance led to US providing delayed supply to it. This led Indira to change appeasement of US and move closer to USSR. It signed a joined declaration naming US as the chief aggressor in Vietnam. Indo US relations went spiraling downwards and hit bottom during the 1971 war.
The policy of devaluation of the Rupee to increase exports and reduce inflation and boost economy was taken. This was rejected by the Congress party itself. The opposition united against the Government. The decision couldn't improve the situation and popular discontent increased against Indira. A new form of agitation of bandh's started and cities and towns closed.
Indira Gandhi also had to face strong reactions in her own party. She was subjected to personal attacks, male chauvinism, heckling, harassment and vicious personal attacks. The Congress too had eroded public confidence. The cadre were more interested in personal gains and political positions. Corruption, lavish lifestyle was common. Even at entry level factions were formed. This had to be handled firmly but Indira Gandhi wasn't a team leader nor did she have the ideology to handle the situation effectively. She wasn't effective in controlling the syndicate. The syndicate members were highly partisan and gave party tickets to their favorites. The cadre's that had lost the race for tickets contested as independents. this weakened the congress even though the opposition had strengthened behind it. The opposition parties formed an electoral strategy of avoiding division of votes of anti congress.
1967 Elections
In the 1967 elections the congress suffered a setback. Though it had narrowly managed to retain hold over Center but the States assemblies now had newer parties. The opposition to had gained strength and consisted of communal, right-wing parties. One other reason for congress's loss of popularity was defection of rich peasants. The rural agrarian structure had changed and the rich peasants now dominated the scene. They were threatened by the leftist rhetoric of Congress. The rich peasant also took a sizeable section of the middle and small peasants with him.
1967 elections also started a trend of coalitions to form government. The opposition parties united to form the government which now had elements from right-wing and leftists. In some states where the congress was the major party it formed alliances. But such alliances often broke down as allies hankered with each other for more privileges. The defections too increased. Governments were formed and toppled at the states but the center remained united. Also there was no breakdown of legal machinery at center - state level.
Anti congress-ism rose amongst intellectuals and parties at this time. It meant a complete weariness of the congress and hankering towards other choices. All this led to erosion of congress's popularity and now it had to redefine itself as it could no longer rule on the basis of Freedom struggle or Nehru's popularity. All this didn't decrease Indira's position in the party but strengthened it contrarily. The syndicate or its cronies were not successful at the elections and lost clout at the center and states. Indira now got full autonomy to decide her government's policy and cabinet. Morarji Desai who had opposed her initially now was willing to negotiate if given the Deputy Prime Minister's job. In the interest of party unity this was given to him.