Only Congress had the claim to be part of the freedom struggle. The Opposition Parties did not have an all India base or influence. They did not even have a strong slogan. This was the situation of the Grand Alliance. But by the time of the 1977 election, things had changed. Then they had a serious issue before them and also a strong leader. The Janata Party was bound by unity. But, after the election, there was a stiff competition for the prime minister ship. There was Morarji Desai who opposed Mrs. Gandhi since 1966. Then there was Charan Singh, the leader of Bhartiya Lok Dal.
There was also Jagjivan Ram, who was an experienced Minister in many Congress Ministries. Finally Morarji Desai became the PM. But that did not solve the problems in the Janata Party.Janata Party was just a group of parties that joined together because of Emergency. It had no sense of direction or a definite goal. It failed to bring about any fundamental change. In 18 months, it lost its majority.
Then Congress supported the Charan Singh Ministry. But very soon Congress withdrew its support. Charan Singh was in power only for 4 months. In the election of 1980, the Janata Party lost badly. Congress under Indira Gandhi came back to power with a big majority. Later Congress became a Party that sought the support of many other parties and interest groups arguing that it was a party with a Socialist leaning working for the welfare of the poor.
