1971 election victory

Indira's government faced major problems after her tremendous mandate of 1971. The internal structure of the Congress Party had withered following its numerous splits, leaving it entirely dependent on her leadership for its election fortunes. Garibi Hatao (Eradicate Poverty) was the theme for Gandhi's 1971 bid. The slogan and the proposed anti-poverty programs that came with it were designed to give Gandhi an independent national support, based on rural and urban poor. This would allow her to bypass the dominant rural castes both in and of state and local government; likewise the urban commercial class. And, for their part, the previously voiceless poor would at last gain both political worth and political weight
Scholars and historians now agree as to the extent of the failure of Garibi Hatao in alleviating poverty - only about 4% of all funds allocated for economic development went to the three main anti-poverty programs, and precious few of these ever reached the 'poorest of the poor' - and the empty sloganeering of the program was mainly used instead to engender populist support for Gandhi's re-election.

Posted by preeti on 9/28/2010 05:45:00 PM. Filed under INDIRA GANDHI . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0