Word: sabha
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Since Mrs. Gandhi's Congress Party holds an overwhelming majority in both houses, the amendments reinforce the party's already substantial power. Shortly afterward, Parliament approved a government request to postpone once again national elections, originally scheduled for last March, and the life of the present Lok Sabha (lower house) was extended until March...
...word dictatorship is frequently bandied about," answered Mrs. Gandhi during parliamentary debate last week. "Not only our system but our methods of working leave little room for authoritarianism." Thereupon the amendments sailed through the Rajya Sabha (upper house) by a vote of 191 to 0. They are expected to be ratified in short order by a majority of India's 22 state legislatures, most of which are also controlled by the Congress Party...
...Delhi, Mrs. Gandhi announced, to no one's great surprise, that she would ask Parliament to prolong the state of emergency she declared last June and to postpone next month's elections for another year. Since the Congress Party enjoys a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha (lower house), and since about 30 opposition Members of Parliament are still under detention, both measures will sail through with ease...
Embittered Protest. One by one, opposition members rose to denounce the measures, especially the censorship rules that bar all Indian newspapers and radio from reporting their speeches. After the Lok Sabha voted to approve the emergency by a margin of 336 to 59, the bulk of the opposition made an embittered but dignified protest and announced they would boycott the rest of the session. They then walked out. Said P.G. Mavalankar, an independent: "This is the most obnoxious piece of legislation ever introduced in the history of India." Undeterred, the government then moved for approval of a constitutional amendment barring...
...year ahead of schedule, she called for a general election, then campaigned on the populist Hindi slogan Garibi hatao ("Abolish poverty"). The result: the New Congress Party won two-thirds of the seats in the Lok Sabha, or lower house of the Parliament...