Landmark political events since 1947 : 2014: Narendra Modi gets historic mandate, Congress routed

Intro

On August 15, 2014, India completes 67 years of freedom. In this visual chronology of post-Independence India, here are the top political developments that changed the course of the nation and the fate of millions of Indians.

1947: End of the Colonial Rule

Just eleven days before August 15, 1947, Viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah discussed the transfer of power from the British regime. During the deliberations, Nehru represented the Indian National Congress while Jinnah stood for the Muslim League, which demanded a separate sovereign state for Muslims. The British rulers initially favoured a united Indian subcontinent but the idea was rejected by Congress and the Muslim League. On August 14, 1947, the dominion of Pakistan declared independence from the British Crown. At midnight the following day, Nehru delivered his famously speech `tryst with destiny` declaring India`s independence from the British Raj.

1947: The Partition

The creation of two independent nations - India and Pakistan – in 1947 also resulted in one of the greatest forced migrations in human history. Millions of families were displaced from their ancestral homes on the either side of the border. The first train to Pakistan, which ran from Delhi to Lahore, was flagged off in an atmosphere of warmth and bonhomie. But soon, the migration fanned communal passion and aggravated tension.

People were pulled out of their homes and forced to cart their families and belongings to their new homes. During the migration, many came under attack from brigands and thugs. Both fledgling governments were ill equipped to deal with such massive migration, displacement and violence driven by communal sentiments. Nearly 10 million people were reportedly displaced, and over a million died due to violence triggered by the partition.

1948: Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination

Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest icons of India`s struggle for freedom, was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Vinayak Godse and Narayan Apte - members of the Hindu Mahasabha - for his support for conceding Pakistan to Muslims. Godse and Apte had been part of many unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Gandhi. On January 29, 1948, the two men arrived in Delhi and checked into the retiring room of Railway Station. Financed by their organization, they had purchased a Beretta .38 semi-automatic pistol to execute their plan.

The next morning Godse intercepted Gandhi who was heading to a prayer meeting. The assailant bowed before him and fired three shots at point blank range at the latter. Mahatma collapsed to the ground and died uttering, what is believed to be his last words, “Hey Ram”.

1950: Birth of a Republic

The last Governor-General of India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, read out a proclamation declaring the birth of the Republic of India on January 26, 1950. The newly-adopted Constitution declared India as a sovereign, democratic and secular state. Until that day, India was a dominion under the British Commonwealth that acknowledged George VI as King and Emperor. Dr Rajendra Prasad took oath as the President of the new republic. Interestingly, despite the newly proclaimed status, India did not renounce allegiance to the British Commonwealth and regarded it as a “political machinery used to promote peace and economic advancement.”

1952: Democracy takes roots

Jawaharlal Nehru, who had led the interim government since 1947, was elected as the Prime Minister in the country’s first parliamentary election held in 1952. The Congress emerged victorious in the elections, which was the first test of fledgling democracy. On May 13, Nehru formed the first democratically elected Government of India and assumed office as Prime Minister. Later that year, the Prime Minister unveiled India’s first Five Year Plan.

1954: Befriending the Dragon

Before gaining Independence, India had little political contact with its powerful northerly neighbour. China, at that time, also underwent a sea of political changes with the defeat of incumbent Kuomintang Nationalist Party by the People’s Liberation Army, which established the People’s Republic of China after a civil war.

The Nehru government was quick in recognising the People’s Republic of China and, in April 1954, the Prime Minister even travelled to Peking (the erstwhile name of Beijing) and met Chinese leaders Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. April 29 is a major day in the history of Sino-Indian ties as it marks the Panchsheel Treaty Agreement. The slogan “Hindi-Chini bhai bhai” was common during the 1950s as the two countries ignored the odd border skirmish to maintain peaceful relations. However, the bonhomie between the two nations soon vanished over China’s occupation of Tibet.

1956: Ambedkar turns to Buddhism

Born into a poor family belonging to the Mahar caste, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar spent his entire life fighting the stigma of untouchability and caste-based discrimination in the Indian society. At a time when only privileged upper castes had the right to get educated, he went on to obtain multiple doctorates in law, economics and political science from the prestigious Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He was the Law Minister in the first Union Cabinet and chairman of the committee that drafted the Constitution. The draft prepared by Ambedkar-led committee envisioned a law that provided constitutional guarantees for a wide range of civil liberties including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, right to equality, equal rights for women etc.

The Constituent Assembly adopted it in 1949. However, Ambedkar’s proposal for a Hindu Code guaranteeing equal right to inheritance and property was not accepted by a section of Parliament. This disappointed him and he resigned. It was during this period that Ambedkar turned his focus to Buddhism. Encouraged with anthropological research that his Mahar ancestors were in fact Buddhists who were made untouchables by dominant Brahmins, he converted to Buddhism in 1956. Despite his failing health, he began to write his book “The Buddha and His Dhamma” and died just few days after completing it on December 6, 1956.

1961: India`s annexation of Goa

The year 1961 saw the annexation of Goa – a Portuguese colony for 451 years – by the Government of India. On December 19, 1961, Indian forces stormed Goa by land, air and sea and liberated the coastal enclave after a 48-hour operation. The annexation of Goa was hotly debated across the world when a United Nations Security Council draft resolution spearheaded by the United States calling for a ceasefire in Goa was vetoed by the Soviet Union, India’s Cold War ally. India’s ties with Portugal were strained until they were restored in 1974 after the authoritarian ruler António de Oliveira Salazar’s regime was overthrown in 1968.

1962: The war with China

1959 Tibetan uprising and New Delhi`s decision to grant political asylum to Tibetans led by Dalai Lama fleeing the Chinese occupation of their homeland, strained India’s ties with China. What further aggravated tension between the two nations were disputes concerning two border areas - Aksai Chin on the border of Kashmir and Xinjiang, and Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India, a consequence of the Chinese refusal to accept the McMahon Line that was drawn in 1914 as the historical border between China and British India. Skirmishes and hostilities escalated as the Chinese built up troops and reinforcements in two places along the disputed border.

The Chinese aggression was timed to coincide with the Cuban Missile crisis in which the United States and the Soviet Union were involved, as this meant both powers would not involve themselves with the happenings in southern Asia. The then Indian government failed to foresee China’s motives and following the defeat of Indian forces in 1962, Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon quit taking moral responsibility for the country’s lack of military preparedness. The defeat in the 1962 war forced India to review its foreign policy and look west.

1964: End of Nehruvian era

Jawaharlal Nehru, an acknowledged statesman and a visionary who led a young nation out of post-Independence darkness as India’s first prime minister, died on May 27. It is said that in his last days, Nehru was deeply troubled due to India’s defeat in the 1962 war with China and with his Congress party`s rout in Kerala in Assembly elections that year. He fell ill and went to Kashmir to recover from his illness. On returning to Delhi he suffered a stroke and later a heart attack and died on May 27.

1965: The Pakistan War

India’s defeat in 1962 war encouraged Pakistan to attack and lay claim to Kashmir, which it had lost during the Partition of India. After clashes between troops in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, the hostilities intensified in August. Though both sides suffered heavy casualties in land and air battles that extended along Pakistan’s border with Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, India was perceived as the victor for decisively thwarting the Pakistani attack. A United Nations-mediated ceasefire was enforced and remained in effect till the next war in 1971. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was hailed as a national hero for the victory, which compensated for 1962 defeat.

1966: Tashkent Agreement and LB Shastri’s death

The year 1966 saw the death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, a highly popular figure among the Indian masses, even as India and Pakistan negotiated for peace at Tashkent. The same year, an Air India flight crashed into Mont Blanc killing 117 people including Homi J Bhabha, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission.

1970: The Rise of Iron Lady

Nehru`s daughter Indira Gandhi, who was fast losing ground, made a famous speech, “They say Indira hatao, I say Garibi hatao” in a desperate bid to gain the loyalty of the masses for the elections to be held next year. The slogan, which means “Abolish Poverty”, was later adopted by her son Rajiv Gandhi. Though the campaign was by no means successful, it helped her party win the elections in 1971.

1975 : National Emergency

The year 1975 saw Indian democracy come to a halt. Acting on the advise of the then PM Indira Gandhi, then president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state of internal emergency, granting her full power to rule by decree. During the emergency, several political leaders, social activists were put behind jail and restrictions were imposed on the national media. The two-year-long emergency ended in early 1977, with the Janata Party beating Indira Gandhi’s Congress by a small majority in the General Elections, bringing back ‘democracy’ from a bleak period of ‘dictatorship’.

1984-86 : Operation Blue Star and Indira Gandhi’s assassination

Ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, ‘Black Cat’ commandos of the National Security Guards carried out a military operation Blue Star in various phases in 1984 to rid Amritsar’s Golden Temple of Khalistani separatists, who were using the holy shrine as a base for their activities. The entire operation lasted for ten days. It started on June 1, 1984 and ended on June 10, 1984. Assassination of Indira Gandhi was the most notable event related to Operation Blue Star. Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984, four months after the Operation Blue Star. She was shot dead by two of her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. 33 rounds of bullets were fired on Indira Gandhi.

The primary reason for the assassination is the Operation Blue Star, which was ordered by her. Assassination of Indira Gandhi led to the anti-Sikh riots across India. The riots started on 1 November 1984. The riots continued for a few days, which killed more than 3,000 Sikhs. The year 1986 saw a repeat of Operation Blue Star in the form of Operation Black Thunder. The operation aimed at flushing out remaining Sikh activists from the Golden Temple. The 1000-member strong team of NSG and BSF personnel lay siege at the temple and forced surrender of over 300 militants, with little collateral damage as compared to the Operation Blue Storm in1984. Soon after, the government deemed it illegal to use religious shrines for military and political purposes.

1990: Mandal movement

VP Singh government`s decision to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission set up by the Janata Party government in 1979 triggered widespread protests in the country during the 1990s. The commission headed by parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal was mandated to "identify the socially or educationally backward." It was asked to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people from the extremely backward section known as SC/STs and OBCs by using eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine "backwardness." In 1980, the commission`s recommended raising the quota in government jobs and educational institutions from 27% to 49.5% to improve the socio-economic status of the SC/STs and the OBCs.

A Delhi University student Rajiv Goswami`s attempt self-immolation to protest PM VP Singh’s implementation of the Mandal Commission’s recommendations. It fanned the flames of protest throughout the nation. The protests and politics stalled the recommendations in their tracks and were never implemented.

1991: Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

On May 21, 1991, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in Tamil Nadu. At least 14 others were also killed in the suicide bombing by LTTE member Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, also known as Dhanu. It is believed that Gandhi was eliminated by the LTTE for Indian government`s decision to send Peace Keeping Force to help the Sri Lankan forces during the Civil War.

1991: Economic Reforms

After the assassination of ex-PM Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE, a new Congress government headed by PV Narasimha Rao came to power in 1991. India during those days was facing huge financial crisis. It had a huge problem with its balance of payments, and its foreign exchange reserves had all but depleted. The situation was so bad that the government had to pledge tonnes of its Gold reserves for an IMF loan to end the financial crunch.

Manmohan Singh, the then finance minister in Narasimha Rao government, presented the interim budget of 1991-92, which overhauled the economic architecture of the nation and ushered in what is often referred to as economic liberalization. It was only in 1991 that the government signalled a systemic shift to a more open economy with greater reliance upon market forces, a larger role for the private sector including foreign investment, and a restructuring of the role of government.

1992-93: Babri Masjid demolition, Mumbai serial blasts

In one of the dark chapters in the history of Indian democracy, the nation’s secular fabric was threatened by the demolition of the Babri Mosque located in Ayodhya - the birthplace of Lord Ram. The mosque was brought down by hundreds Hindu karsevaks who believed that the mosque was built at the site of Ram’s birth and a grand temple needed to be constructed there. What happened later changed the course of the nation forever. A bigger tragedy was waiting to hit the nation after some months. On March 9, 1993, thirteen coordinated explosions tore apart Mumbai and the soul of the nation. In all, 257 people died and about 700 suffered injuries. Though Mumbai appears to have survived one attack after another, the festering wounds and scars of these incidents etched in the memories of those who suffered would be hard to erase.

1996-99: Lahore Diplomacy & IC 814 hijacking

The BJP led by its tallest leader of those times - AB Vajpayee - came to power in 1996. It was the first time that a BJP-led government was formed since its inception in 1980 after the split in the Janata Party. However, its first government lasted for a mere 13 days. In 1998, the next government of BJP-led NDA lasted 13 months while in 1999 it again came to power in the backdrop of the India`s victory in Kargil conflict. Vajpayee`s three tenures as PM saw the government taking bold decisions namely - nuclear tests at Pokharan in May 1998, Lahore bus diplomacy in February 1999 and Indian Army’s victory in Kargil war.

In the same year, on December 24, armed gunmen hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 just as it entered Indian airspace on its way from Nepal. The plane was forced to land in Kandahar, Afghanistan and after seven days of hectic negotiations with the terrorists mediated by the Taliban, Indian govt agreed to release three dreaded militants Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar in exchange for the passengers.

2002: Communal carnage in Gujarat

Gujarat - the otherwise progressive state saw huge bloodshed and communal violence ravaging its streets in 2002. On February 27, fifty-nine out of nearly 2200 Hindu pilgrims travelling from Ayodhya by train were killed as their coach was set ablaze by a mob in Godhra. In retaliation, a massacre ensued. Muslims and Hindus were killed by the hundreds in enraged communal rioting. Durgahs, mosques, temples and churches were damaged by crowds consumed with hate.

2004: The Massive Tsunami

A massive earthquake, measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale, in the Indian Ocean triggered a devastating Tsunami on December 26 killing thousands and completely destroying properties worth billions across 11 nations. The underwater earthquake displaced a great volume of water, creating waves as high as 15 metres, which travelled distances of 5000 kms killing over 8000 people in Southern India. According to government estimates, the killer tsunami cost India an estimated $1.6 billion and forced the country to invest heavily in developing a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean.

2009: Manmohan Singh gets 2nd term as PM

With Congress chief Sonia Gandhi already refusing the priministeship in 2004 and her Rahul Gandhi not in the race, the party decided to continue with Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister following its victory in the 2009 General Elections. The bold decisions and achievments of the Congrress-led UPA-1 government helped the party win 206 seats this time. This was 61 more than the 2004 election tally. The pre-poll alliance of the UPA won 262 seats, and just needed the support of 10 MPs to get a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. However, the second term of PM Singh got mired in controversies and a series of scam and corruption cases aginst his senior ministers.

2011: The Janlokpal Movement & AAP

Social activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare spearheaded a massive campaign to revive the Jan Lokpal Bill in 2011. The first Jan Lokpal Bill, also known as the Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill, was introduced by senior lawyer Shanti Bhushan in 1968 and tabled in the fourth Lok Sabha the following year. Though the bill was tabled subsequently on nine occasions, it was never passed. Forty-two years after its introduction, Hazare`s campaign for the Bill’s revival got massive public suport. The bill was backed by Hazare, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, RTI campaigner Arvind Kejriwal and many others. The Congress regime, however, rejected the draft of the bill prepared by the Hazare camp and introduced a revised bill for the tenth time during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament. Peeved at this, Hazare went on an indefinite fast from August 16 in protest against the Congress government’s “weak” bill. After a bitter split from his mentor Anna Hazzare, Kejriwal launched a political outfit named "Aam Aadmi Party" on November 26, 2012. AAP went on to win 28 seats in 2013 Delhi Assembly polls and later formed government with outside support of Congress, though, it lasted for only 49 days.

2012: Nirbhaya case and concerns over women`s safety

Year 2012 saw Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee`s elevation as the 13th President on July 25. On November 21, lone surviving terrorist of the Mumbai bomb blast Ajmal Kasab was hanged in secrecy at Pune`s Yerwada jail. Kasab was executed after President Pranab rejected his appeal for mercy.

The death of a 23-year-old paramedical student, who was gang-rape and tortured by six men on December 16, led to mass protests across the country. The continued agitations and public outcry forced the government to pass a bill which provides for natural life term or even death for repeat offenders of rape and other stringent punishment for various offences like stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.

2014: Narendra Modi gets historic mandate, Congress routed

In the hotly-contested 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP-led NDA riding on the Narendra Modi wave claimed a landslide victory, making huge gains across the country. Out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP-led alliance (NDA) won 336 seats. The BJP, led by its poster-boy and Hindutva mascot Narendra Modi, won 282 seats on its own. This was the highest number of seats won by any party on its own since the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress party was decimated in the polls and it registered its lowest ever tally of 44 seats – beating its previous low of 114 seats in 1999. It failed to open its account in seven states and did not cross the double-digit mark in any state. So complete was the decimation that its tally was less than 10% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha required to be recongnised as the main oposition party. Consequently, Modi was sworn-in as the 15th PM of independent India in a mammoth ceremony attended by SAARC leaders.