The Akali Dal, which took part in Raj Narain's Delhi protest, resolved in a meeting on 30 June to oppose "the fascist tendency of the Congress," also expressing discontent with the construction delay of the Thein Dam, discrimination in heavy industrial development, and unprofitable farm produce prices.

Upon elections being called by her in January 1977 following negative world press, renewed hardline support, and the overturned conviction, Congress was defeated by an opposition alliance, and the Emergency was officially ended on March 23, 1977, with the Akali coalition assuming power in Punjab.

[18] The Anandpur Sahib resolution, issued by the Akali Dal's working committee in 1973, called for the Indian constitution to be "recast on real federal principles, with equal representation at the center for all States," and a "congenial environment and political set-up" for the Sikhs.

[5] According to Atul Kohli, The repeated failure of the Akalis to wrest power from Congress had left open a political space for those who argued that increased militancy was the only means for protecting Sikh interests.

In August 1982, under the leadership of Harcharan Singh Longowal, the Akali Dal launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha, or "righteous campaign",[5] in collaboration with Bhindranwale to win more autonomy for Punjab.

At the start of the protest movement, against long-standing wrongs not addressed by the state's economic and political process,[32] the Akali leaders had, in their Ardas, or prayer, at the Akal Takht, resolved that they would continue the struggle until the Anandpur Sahib Resolution was accepted and implemented by the Government.

[40] She would be later characterized by prime minister Charan Singh as following "a megalomaniacal policy based on elitist philosophies",[40] and her successor Rajiv Gandhi would later describe the Resolution as "not secessionist but negotiable",[40] recognizing the failures of her autocratic style of governance.

[48] Upon returning to power, the Akalis approached Morarji Desai regarding the issue; he agreed on the non-riparian nature of Rajasthan in relation to Punjab's waters, but did not offer to revise the treaty without the condition that his verdict would be final.

[46] The situation was aggravated by the prospect of Gandhi losing support among the broader Hindu electorate across the north of the country if any attempt at resolution risked causing discontent in Haryana, making the sacrifice of the interests of Punjabi farmers less politically damaging in comparison.

[53] The government also did not provide the state with any industrial outlets for its sugar and cotton surpluses, and did not increase the river-water allocation required by new wheat strains and farming practices,[54] which affected soil and water systems and created ecological vulnerability.

[54] During her second term, Gandhi's interests remained as opposed to Punjab's as in her first, and the top end of price ceilings she instituted had increased at less than half the rate (5-10%) of input costs, with Punjabi farmers taking the brunt of the losses.

[46] While this was happening, the lowering of the land ceiling from 30 to 17.5 acres, in line with the socialistic policies of the Congress at the time, also antagonized larger landowners, and Zail Singh was credited by admirers with "humbling the Jat leaders."

"[69] Even among some militants in the late 1980s after Bhindranwale's death, similar financial concerns were raised, with the leader of the Khalistan Commando Force, Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, stating, "Our development policies also were controlled by the center.

[39] Since the launch of the April 1982 morcha against the SYL Canal, followed by provocations like police crackdowns and the behavior of the Haryana government in November 1982, when Sikhs traveling between Punjab and Delhi were indiscriminately stopped, searched, and humiliated, it became increasingly clear that the government would seek a military solution to the unrest, instead of any political settlement, making elaborate plans for an army action while feigning readiness for negotiations and denying any intention of sending armed forces to the Darbar Sahib complex.

[77] Another round of talks between the Akalis and Congress MP Amrinder Singh was successful, but was sabotaged by Bhajan Lal, who stated that protests, which were largely stifled, would not be allowed in Haryana during the event.

"[79] Sikhs allowed to pass through, regardless of social position, whether retired or serving police or military officer, politician (even Congress MPs),[77] or ordinary citizen, were subjected to various procedures including invasive friskings[78][80] and removal of turbans,[81] in addition to resulting in deaths.

[3] He reprimanded the press for suppressing instances of police atrocities,[3] and of the double standards of dealing with Sikhs: Take the case of Pawan Kumar, President of the Hindu Suraksha Samiti [in Patiala district], they found 230 grenades in his house and he didn't go to jail for even an hour.

[88]Though Akali demands were largely for the developmental welfare of the state of Punjab as a whole, with no demands in regards to other communities and was directed at the government, police killings, including extrajudicial actions of fatal torture and mutilations of detainees, with some subsequently declared as escapees, as well as unprovoked attacks on innocent individual Sikhs were carried out by bandhs, or mobs, of the Hindi Suraksha Samiti, mobilized by the Arya Samaj, sparked off retributory attacks against them by Sikh youths.

[22] After the launch of the Dharam Yudh Morcha, and subsequent governmental inaction in regards to police brutality,[50] Sikh activists began committing retaliatory[50] acts of political violence.

"[87] With the release of Amrik Singh in July 1983, Bhindranwale felt confident of the advancement of the movement without the Akali leadership; they would part ways in December, two months after the imposition of President's Rule.

"[101] As Congress' power as a pan-Indian party had begun to be seriously challenged by various coalitions in an increasingly complex political scene after Nehru, Indira Gandhi had started cultivating a majoritarian votebank, presenting a more outwardly Hindu image to begin to ingratiate herself to the majority, after her economic and social slogans had grown less effective.

[114] The 400-strong[115] Khalistan Commando Force, or KCF, which emerged after Blue Star, was led by Wassan Singh Zafarwal and would later become the official armed wing of the first Panthic Committee formed on 26 January 1986, the day of the scheduled transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab;[116] the Bhindranwale Tiger Force for Khalistan, led by Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, which splintered off from the KCF; the Babbar Khalsa, and the now-militarized AISSF, and as well as subsequent other splinter groups, organized after Blue Star.

[113] The Akalis would attempt to cater to the growing sense of Sikh resentment in a major conference at Anandpur Sahib in March 1985 to plan a course of action to make the government accede to its preconditions for talks.

Other government measures to draw Sikh support toward Longowal were the release of Tohra and Parkash Singh Badal from jail, the rehabilitation of the AISSF, and a judicial inquiry into the anti-Sikh pogroms in Delhi (but not elsewhere).

[123] The Rajiv-Longowal Accord, negotiated in June 1985, after two days,[123] gave provisions for the transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi-speaking areas of Haryana to Punjab, and consideration of the riparian issue to a tribunal to be presided over by a Supreme Court Judge.

[129] In addition to Badal and Tohra, who would be kept at political distance as they were seen to be potential rivals who would undermine him at the opportune time, the United Akali Dal and AISSF continued to retain significant support in the Sikh community.

[131] Signs of schism would also appear among the factions of the Sikh movement rivalling Barnala as well beginning in 1985, as the United Akali Dal under Joginder Singh and the AISSF/Damdami Taksal also jostled for leadership of their side.

[131] A day after the announcement, the AISSF and Damdami Taksal would also hold a shaheedi samagam ("martyr remembrance") of 500 Sikh fighters including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, honoring their families.

[127] It had again been made contingent on the transfer of territory from deep in Punjab which did not share a border with Haryana, and was to be connected by a corridor; as it would have ceded Punjabi-speaking villages as well, the January 26th deadline for the extended talks also passed without result.

[113] Segments of the population found informing or cooperating with the police, selling intoxicants, behaving inappropriately with women, cheating on exams, or what was considered as breaking Sikh conduct principles by some militant factions like engaging in ostentatiousness, were also targeted as violence increased in the late 1980s.