November 12 holds a special significance in the history of India. For this was the day in 1969 when one of India’s most powerful prime ministers, Indira Gandhi, was expelled from her own party on charges of violating the party discipline. 

On November 12, 1969, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was purged out of the Congress party after simmering tensions between herself and the “Syndicate”, a group within the Congress party, broke out in the open. The party President, S. Nijalingappa, one of the foremost leaders of the “Syndicate” expelled Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from the party for “fostering a cult of personality”. Indira’s ouster ultimately led to the split in the Congress party. 

The fallout between the “Syndicate” and Indira Gandhi could be ascribed to the leadership crisis in Congress following the demise of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964. Nehru committed a host of blunders during his tenure as the country’s head but one of his lesser talked about failures is not leaving behind him a credible deputy who would lead the Congress party in his absence or after his retirement.

As a consequence, there were several regional leaders in the Congress party but none powerful enough to fill in the void left by Nehru. Mutual interest and self-preservation dictated them to join hands and take the reigns of the party, which would have been practically impossible in their respective individual capacities. This group of powerful leaders who were non-Hindi speaking came to be called the “Syndicate” and they started wielding outsize influence on the Congress party after Nehru’s demise.

The preeminence of the “Syndicate” group was such that they are largely credited for electing responsible for electing Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi as the prime minister for the first time after Nehru’s death. Most of the members of this “Syndicate” were from the South, led by K Kamaraj. Indira locked horns with this “Syndicate” and was re-elected as the Prime Minister of the country in the 1967 elections. However, she had to yield to the Syndicate’s demand of appointing Morarji Desai as the deputy prime minister. 

1969 Presidential elections pits Gandhi against the Syndicate

Indira was chafed at the repeated interference of the syndicate in the smooth functioning of the party and hobbling the Prime Minister of the country in effectively dispensing her duties. The syndicate, on the other hand, could not quite come to grips with the fact that the “gungi gudiya” (dumb doll)—their snide reference for Indira—had started raising opposition against them. 

During that time, India’s then-president Dr Zakir Hussain died and VV Giri, who was the vice president, was made the acting president. The Syndicate wanted Neelam Sanjiva Reddy to succeed Khan as the president of the country. Reddy was already the Lok Sabha speaker then and Indira feared his appointment to the post of President would pave the way for the Syndicate to replace her with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister of the country. 

Indira Gandhi with K Kamaraj and Morarji Desai

Indira Gandhi without knowing to anyone promised her support to V.V.Giri and encouraged him to nominate in presindential elections as an independent candidate to win over Sanjiva Reddy, with support of Indira Gandhi he announced to contest the elections and resigned as acting president to take part in elections.

In a bid to avert this crisis, Indira floated the name of Jagjivan Ram in the Congress Working Committee but it was vetoed by the Syndicate and Reddy was selected as the official candidate for president. In the absence of Giri, CJI Hidayullah was made the acting president.

The syndicated suggested Giri could be appointed as the Lok Sabha speaker. This was the moment when the rift between Indira and the Syndicate finally came out in open. Although Indira had to contend with the syndicate’s choice of Neelam Sanjiva Reddy during the 1969 presidential elections, being the leader of Congress members in Lok Sabha, she played her trick and refused to issue a whip to Congress members.

Indira Gandhi knew that before she could support V.V.Giri against her own party's nominee, she would have to regain the initiative within the party. She also went ahead and filed the nomination for Sanjiva Reddy, though she refrained from issuing a whip to Congress MPs of India .On 18 July 1969, Indira Gandhi took away the Finance portfolio from morarji Desai on the grounds that he was incapable of implementing her programme. Assuming the Finance portfolio herself, Indira Gandhi immediately, on 18 July, without consent of anyone nationalised 14 major banks through a presidential ordinance.

She also announced her plan to withdraw the special privileges of the Princes. Morarji felt humiliation and left with no option but to resign from the Cabinet. Morarji decided to swallow humiliation and wait for Sanjiva Reddy to be elected as the President. Indira Gandhi wanted to support VV. Giri, but did not know how she could go against her party’s candidate whose nomination papers she had filed. The Syndicate realized that Indira Gandhi may support VV. Giri and thought to approach the main opposition, to assure Sanjiva Reddy’s election. It was blunder that Nijalingappa met the leaders of Jan Sangh and Swatantra and persuaded them to cast their second preference votes.

Indira Gandhi did not formally reveal her preference until the night before the elections, on the night of elections Gandhi immediately accused the Syndicate of having struck a secret deal with communal and reactionary forces in order to oust her from power. She now, more or less openly, supported VV. Giri by refusing to issue a party whip in favour of Sanjiva Reddy and by asking Congress MPs and MLAs to vote freely according to their ‘conscience’, which was an indirect appeal to vote against the Congress’ chosen candidate. VV Giri, the rebel Congress candidate won the election. A total of 163 Congress MPs voted for VV Giri and 11 out of the 12 Congress-ruled states also got a majority.

Indira Gandhi expelled from the Congress party, resulting in the split of the party

The Syndicate decreed that CD Deshmukh, the candidate of opposition Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party, should be given the second priority vote. But Indira Gandhi had her way and ensured that the Congress’ official candidate Neelam Sanjiva Reddy is defeated by the rebel Congress candidate, VV Giri. Following the presidential elections, Indira Gandhi launched a concerted campaign to weaken the hold of the Syndicate on the Congress party. She toured various parts of the country and mobilised Congressmen as a show of strength to the syndicate.

Morarji Desai with former prime minister Indira Gandhi and S Nijalingappa during AICC meeting, Bangalore. (Image Source: Indian Express)