Opinion | One Nation, One Election: Undoing Indira Gandhi's Legacy Won't Be Easy

Until 1967, independent India had witnessed four simultaneous elections for Parliament and state assemblies. The next national elections were scheduled for 1972, five years later. However, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a different plan. A deep schism had developed between her and the "syndicate" that had helped her become Prime Minister following the unfortunate death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. She proved to be much shrewder than they had anticipated, shaking off the label of Goongi Gudia. The rift between her and her initial backers - the supposed stalwarts of the Congress party - grew so significant that she was ultimately forced out, leading her to form a rival faction, Congress (R). She also initiated a coalition government with some non-Congress parties, marking India's first such experiment.

Those were challenging years for her. It soon became apparent that this coalition was unstable. In December 1970, Gandhi addressed the nation, announcing the dissolution of the Lok Sabha about 15 months ahead of its term to call for a snap election.

In the last simultaneous elections in 1967, the Congress party's nearly perfect winning streak was jolted when it lost five state assemblies and slipped to second place in four others. The next Lok Sabha elections, held in early 1971 instead of the scheduled 1972, decoupled parliamentary and state elections. By then, several state assemblies-such as those in Kerala, Haryana, Bihar, Nagaland, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal-had experienced mid-term elections due to the fall of their respective governments.