The Emergency (India) in the context of "Bharatiya Janata Party"

Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was fully developed during the Indian independence movement which campaigned against nearly two centuries of British rule. Indian nationalism quickly rose to popularity in India through these united anti-colonial coalitions and movements. Independence movement figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Jawaharlal Nehru spearheaded the Indian nationalist movement, with the Indian National Congress playing a major role.

India's independence in 1947 was coupled with separation from Muslim-majority Pakistan, with that nation being carved out of British India's northwestern and eastern regions. Afterwards, Prime Minister Nehru and his successors continued to campaign on Indian nationalism in the face of border wars with both China and Pakistan, with the latter clashing several times over the Kashmir border region. After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 and the Bangladesh Liberation War, which resulted in East Pakistan's independence, Indian nationalism reached its post-independence peak. However by the 1980s, religious tensions reached a boiling point, the Indian National Congress lost its political dominance and became more authoritarian, and Indian nationalism sluggishly collapsed in the following decades. Despite its decline and the rise of religious nationalism, Indian nationalism and its historic figures continue to strongly influence the politics of India and reflect an opposition to the sectarian strands of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism.

The Special Frontier Force (SFF) is a paramilitary Indian special forces unit composed primarily of Tibetan refugees and Gurkhas in India. It was established after the Sino-Indian War of 1962 to primarily conduct covert operations behind the Chinese lines in case of another war with China. Later it increased in size and scope of operations.

Throughout its history, SFF has fought in India's major external wars including the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Kargil War. It has also been involved in internal security, including Operation Blue Star and also serving as the "Personal Force" of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to suppress opposition parties during the state of emergency from 1975 to 1977. It has been part of border operations against China, including the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes.

Part XVIII of the Constitution of India allows for a constitutional setup that can be proclaimed by the president of India as a state of emergency, when the consultant group perceives and warns against grave threats to the nation from internal and external sources or from financial situations of crisis. Under Article 352 of the Indian constitution, upon the advice of the cabinet of ministers, the President can overrule many provisions of the constitution, which can suspend fundamental rights to the citizens of India and acts governing devolution of powers to the states which form the federation. In the history of independent India, such a state of emergency has been declared thrice.

1. The first instance was between 26 October 1962 to 21 November 1962 during the India-China war, when "the security of India" was declared as being "threatened by external aggression".
2. The second instance was between 3 and 17 December 1971, which was originally proclaimed during the Indo-Pakistan war.
3. The third proclamation between 25 June 1975 to January 1977 was under controversial circumstances of political instability under Indira Gandhi's premiership, when emergency was declared on the basis of "internal disturbances". The proclamation immediately followed a ruling in the Allahabad High Court, that voided the Prime Minister's election from Rae Bareli in the 1971 Indian general election. She was also prohibited from contesting election for next 6 years, challenging her legitimacy to continue in her post. Indira Gandhi, instead recommended to the then president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to proclaim a state of emergency to strengthen her hand.

The phrase Emergency period used loosely, when referring to the political history of India, often refers to this third and the most controversial of the three occasions.

The Janata Party (JP, lit. 'People's Party') is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jai Prakash Bandhu.

The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian National Congress (R). They included the conservative Indian National Congress (Organisation), the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the liberal to social-democratic Bharatiya Lok Dal (formed in 1974 by the merger of the conservative-liberal Swatantra Party, the conservative Bharatiya Kranti Dal, the Samyukta Socialist Party and the Utkal Congress) and the Socialist Party, as well as later defectors from the Indian National Congress.

General elections were held in India between 16 and 20 March 1977 to elect the members of the sixth Lok Sabha. The elections took place during the Emergency period, which expired on 21 March 1977, shortly before the final results were announced.

The elections resulted in a heavy defeat for the Indian National Congress (R), with the incumbent Prime Minister and INC(R) party leader Indira Gandhi losing her seat in Rae Bareli, while her son Sanjay lost his seat in Amethi. The call for restoration of democracy by revoking the Emergency is considered to be a major reason for the sweeping victory for the opposition Janata Alliance, whose leader Morarji Desai was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister of India on 24 March. At 81, Desai became the oldest man to be elected Prime Minister of India.