Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive…

The formation of the Janata Party was next development to draw public attention — although for some reason (perhaps it was a hangover of the emergency) it was not very widely reported in the newspapers.

Canvassing began in right earnest once the dates of the elections were announced. Public meetings were the mainstay of mass contact and JP addressed mammoth crowds while sitting in an easy chair; stirring speeches by Atal Bihari Vajpayee; and the slow, conversational oratory of L.K. Advani, are still fresh in the mind.

Another unique feature of these meetings was the way volunteers collected cash donations from the audience (“ek vote aur ek note”.) In cities like Mumbai, political people like Durgabai Bhagwat and Pu La Deshpande would draw huge crowds. The verbal skirmishes between Pu La and Y.B. Chavan were marked by dignity of language, despite the sharp differences expressed.

The Congress was clearly lacklustre in its campaigning. It was as if it had sensed that it would not return to power. And then the bottom fell out for the party. Jagjivan Ram defected with Vijayalaxmi Pandit and H.N. Bahuguna.

The actual polling was uneventful. And then the wait for the result began. On the day of the counting, the early trends were confusing. By afternoon All India Radio and Doordarshan went silent on the counting trends. This was ominous but people were still sceptical. The news of the defeat of Mrs Gandhi and Sanjay came late in the night and the deluge started. On the streets everybody talked in hushed tones that night.

By the next morning, AIR and DD had changed tack and started highlighting the victories of one opposition leader after other. Mrinal Gore’s win was greeted with the slogan, “Paniwallibai Dilli mein aur Dilliwalibai pani mein!” In another few hours, the Janata Party’s landslide victory became obvious and the drama was over.

The final image of that eventful period was that of the newly elected members of the Janata Party taking the pledge of unity and good governance at Rajghat. A pledge which, alas, they could not keep!

The writer is a general surgeon and an occupational health consultant