Die 7. Parlamentswahlen in Indien (II): Charisma und populistische Politik

Abstract

This paper is the second part of an investigation into the problem of how Indira Gandhi and her party, the Congress-I, could return to power in the 7th Lok-Sabha-Elections. The so-called landslide victory of the Congress-I party in fact reflected only an 8,3 % increase in valid votes compared with the 1977 elections (see Part I in the last issue, p. 5-44). This paper examines the sources of this support; it hypothesises that somewhat more than half of the newly-won votes came from the minorities - mainly Muslims, Scheduled Castes and Tribes, which constitute about one third of the electorate. These people apparently believed Mrs. Gandhi to be the only leader capable of fundamentally changing the situation. Thus, Mrs.Gandhi emerged as a charismatic leader of the poor. In a final chapter the future perspectives are dealt with. Mrs. Gandhi's victory implies a return to the authoritarianism of the Gandhi family and its allies.