Succession questions are not the easiest to answer.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru died in May 1964. Pandit Nehru was particularly known for his ability to hold his party together notwithstanding the differences within. His successor, therefore, undoubtedly, had to exhibit these qualities. Two contenders stood in line, the tactful and mild Lal Bahadur Shastri and the more experienced, fiercely honest Morarji Desai.
The prologue to the 1967 elections therefore was the Indian National Congress’s inaugural test of potential unity post-Independence.
