The premiership of Morarji Desai extended from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979. In the 1977 Indian general election Morarji Desai led the Janata Party to victory against the Congress party. Upon taking office, Morarji Desai became the first Indian Prime Minister not belonging to the Congress party.[1]

Morarji Desai ministry

8th Ministry of the Republic of India
Date formed24 March 1977 (1977-03-24)
Date dissolved28 July 1979 (1979-07-28)
People and organisations
Head of stateBasappa Danappa Jatti (Acting)
(until 25 July 1977)
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (from 25 July 1977)
Head of governmentMorarji Desai
Member partyJanata Party (Janata alliance)
Status in legislatureMajority
295 / 542(54%)
Opposition partyIndian National Congress
(Congress Alliance)
Opposition leaderYashwantrao Chavan
(1 July 1977 – 11 April 1978; from 10 July 1979)
C. M. Stephen (12 April 1978 – 9 July 1979) (Lok Sabha)
History
Election(s)1977
Outgoing election1980
Legislature term(s)2 years, 4 months and 4 days
PredecessorSecond Indira Gandhi ministry
SuccessorCharan Singh ministry

Emergency and election victory

The Janata Party was formed by political leaders and activists of various political parties who had been united in opposing the state of emergency imposed in 1975 by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[1][2] After elections were called in 1977, the Janata Party was formed from the union of the Congress (O), Swatantra Party, Socialist Party of India, Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the Lok Dal. Congress defector Jagjivan Ram, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna & Nandini Satpathy formed the Congress for Democracy and joined the Janata alliance.[3] The widespread unpopularity of Emergency rule gave Janata and its allied a landslide victory in the election.

Cabinet Ministers

PortfolioMinisterTookofficeLeftofficeParty Remarks
Prime Minister
And also in-charge of all other important portfolios and policy issues
not allocated to any Minister.
24 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Deputy Prime Ministers24 January 197916 July 1979 JP 
24 January 197916 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Shipping and Transport24 March 197714 August 1977 JPPrime Minister was responsible.
Minister of Home Affairs26 March 19771 July 1978 JP 
1 July 197824 January 1979 JPPrime Minister was responsible.
29 January 197928 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Finance26 March 197724 January 1979 JP 
24 January 197916 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Defence28 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of External Affairs26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Information and Broadcasting26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Education, Social Welfare and Culture26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Education and Social Welfare25 January 197915 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Railways26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Commerce, Civil Supplies and Cooperation26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Energy26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Works, Housing, Supply and Rehabilition26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
Minister of Labour
26 March 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Steel and Mines26 March 197715 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Communications26 March 197727 March 1977 SAD 
27 March 19776 July 1977 JP 
6 July 197728 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation26 March 197715 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation28 March 197717 June 1977 SAD 
18 June 197728 July 1979 SAD 
Minister of Health and Family Welfare28 March 19771 July 1978 JP 
1 July 197824 January 1979 JPPrime Minister was responsible.
Minister of Industry28 March 19776 July 1977 JP 
6 July 197715 July 1979 JP 
Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers28 March 197729 March 1977 JPRenamed as Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Minister of Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertilizers29 March 197715 July 1979 JP 

Ministers of State

PortfolioMinisterTookofficeLeftofficeParty
Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
14 August 197715 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs14 August 197715 July 1979 JP
S. D. Patil
14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence
Sher Singh
14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour
14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs
Narsingh Yadav
14 August 197711 July 1978 JP
S. D. Patil
20 February 197928 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel and Mines14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare14 August 197726 January 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce, Civil Supplies and Cooperation14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
26 January 197928 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertilizers14 August 197711 July 1978 JP
Narsingh Yadav
26 January 197915 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation14 August 197715 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Energy
Fazlur Rahman
14 August 197726 January 1979 JP
26 January 197915 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Shipping and Transport14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Works, Housing, Supply and Rehabilitation14 August 197711 July 1978 JP
26 January 197915 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Social Welfare and Culture14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
16 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications14 August 197728 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Jagbir Singh
14 August 197711 July 1978 JP
Jagbir Singh
26 January 197915 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Ministry of Planning
Fazlur Rahman
26 January 197915 July 1979 JP
Minister of State in the Departments of Atomic Energy, Space, Electronics and
Science and Technology
Sher SIngh
24 March 197928 July 1979 JP

Reversal of Emergency decrees

The first actions taken by the Desai government were to formally end the state of emergency and media censorship and repeal the controversial executive decrees issued during the Emergency.[1][2][4][5] The Constitution was amended to make it more difficult for any future government to declare a state of emergency; fundamental freedoms and the independence of India's judiciary was reaffirmed.[4][5] The new government also proceeded to withdraw all charges against the 25 accused in the Baroda dynamite case, which included the new Minister of Industry, George Fernandes.[5] The Minister of Railways reinstated the railway employees disciplined after the May 1974 strike.[5] The Desai government proceeded to establish inquiry commissions and tribunals to investigate allegations of corruption and human rights abuses by members of Indira Gandhi's government, political party and the police forces. Specific inquiries were instituted on Sanjay Gandhi's management of the state-owned Maruti Udyog Ltd., the activities of the former Minister of Defence Bansi Lal and the 1971 Nagarwala scandal.[5] Both Indira and her son Sanjay were charged with allegations of corruption and briefly arrested.

Economic policy

The Janata government had lesser success in achieving economic reforms. It launched the Sixth Five-Year Plan, aiming to boost agricultural production and rural industries. Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required multi-national corporations to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, diminishing foreign investment and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India.[6] But the government was unable to address the issues of resurging inflation, fuel shortages, unemployment and poverty. The legalisation of strikes and re-empowerment of trade unions affected business efficiency and economic production.

The Janata government tried to curb forgery and black money in India by demonetising notes of 1000, 5000 and 10000 Rupees on 16 January 1978.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kuldip Singh (11 April 1995). "OBITUARY: Morarji Desai". The Independent. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  2. 1 2 "The Rise of Indira Gandhi". Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  3. G. G. Mirchandani (2003). 320 Million Judges. Abhinav Publications. pp. 90–100. ISBN 81-7017-061-3.
  4. 1 2 Paul R. Brass (1994). The Politics of India Since Independence. Cambridge University Press. pp. 40–50. ISBN 978-0-521-45970-9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 G. G. Mirchandani (2003). 320 Million Judges. Abhinav Publications. pp. 176–191. ISBN 81-7017-061-3.
  6. Shashi Tharoor (2006). India: From Midnight To Millennium. Arcade Publishing. pp. 164–66. ISBN 978-1-55970-803-6.
  7. "A Look Back to 1978 When Currency Notes Were Last Scrapped". Retrieved 10 November 2016.
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