The fourth general elections to the Lok Sabha and State assemblies were held in February 1967. These election results were declared as a ‘political earthquake’. Congress did manage to get majority in the Lok Sabha but half the ministers in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet were defeated. The political stalwarts, who lost in their constituencies included K. Kamaraj in Tamil Nadu, S. K. Patil in Maharashtra, Atulya Ghosh in West Bengal and K.B. Sahay in Bihar. Congress lost majority in seven states. In two other states, defections prevented it from forming a government. This was the first time any non-Congress party had secured a majority of its own in any state. The elections of 1967 brought into picture the phenomenon of coalitions as no single party had gotten majority and various non-congress parties came together to support non-Congress government.
