ABSTRACT
There is no doubt that the Congress system sustained one-party dominance in India till the 1967 election to the state assemblies. What was basic in the Congress system was the hegemonic role of the Indian National Congress in conducting public affairs almost without resistance from parties outside the Congress fold. Sorting out the opposition internally, the earlier Congress leadership never allowed challenge from within to destroy its viability both as a party of governance and as a machinery to resolve conflict involving regional issues. This was a time-tested device and the Congress Party sustained its hegemony on the Indian political scene almost uninterrupted till 1967. The Congress wave was halted, as it were. What was significant was not so much the failure of Congress to maintain its rule in the states but that the consolidation of the parties with their strong presence posed a serious challenge to the Congress Party. It is also true that most of these regional parties did not differ much ideologically from the Congress party; in fact, the roots of most of these parties can be traced back to Congress. Opposed to Congress, these parties articulated a unique political voice that assumed significant dimension presumably because of a conducive political environment in which the anti-Congress political sentiments were meaningfully translated into votes.
