It was the night of December 27, 1970, radios were playing in homes and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi began her address to the nation.
The announcement that Indira Gandhi was going to make that cold night would put the election process on hold for decades, unless the country once again tried to return to the previous process of simultaneous elections.
Indira Gandhi said, “In the present situation, we cannot proceed with our declared program and fulfill the promises made to our people.” The Prime Minister then announced that the Lok Sabha was being dissolved a full 15 months before the end of its term.
That was the first time that the Lok Sabha was dissolved in independent India.
“We are concerned not only with remaining in power, but with using that power to ensure a better life for the majority of our people,” Indira said in her broadcast.
Ousted from the Congress, Indira Gandhi led a minority government formed with the support of several regional parties, including the DMK, and would have been Prime Minister until February 1972. But she didn’t just want to be in power. She wanted to remain firmly in power.
Indira’s decision to dissolve the Lok Sabha and hold general elections 15 months ahead of schedule would result in parliamentary elections being separated from state elections. Till then, parliamentary and assembly elections were held simultaneously in India.