On 12 June 1975, Allahabad High Court found her guilty of using corrupt electoral practices in her 1971 election victory over Narain in the Rae Bareli constituency.

In the 1977 general election, the party defeated the Congress (R) and JP leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister in independent modern India's history.

Although several major foreign policy and economic reforms were attempted, continuous in-fighting and ideological differences made the Janata government unable to effectively address national problems.

Political leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Kripalani and Congress (O) chief Morarji Desai condemned Indira's government as dictatorial and corrupt.

On 12 June 1975 in State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain, the Allahabad High Court found Indira guilty and barred her from holding public office for six years.

On 25 June, Narayan and Desai held a massive rally in Delhi, calling for a "Satyagraha" – a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience to force the government to resign.

[17] On 25 June 1975, the president of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, accepted prime minister Indira Gandhi's recommendation to declare a state of national emergency.

[19][17] Opposition political organisations such as the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were banned and their leaders arrested.

The most controversial issue was the 42nd amendment to the Constitution of India, which deprived citizens of direct access to the Supreme Court, except when violation of the fundamental rights resulted from Union law.

[17] Sanjay Gandhi had also instigated the demolition of slums in the Jama Masjid area of New Delhi, the national capital, which left thousands of people, mostly Muslims, homeless.

[17][22] Indian laborers, urban workers, teachers and government employees were also disenchanted by wage freezes and the curtailing of trade union activities and rights.

[17][22] Calling elections on 18 January 1977 the government released political prisoners and weakened restrictions and censorship on the press, although the state of emergency was not officially ended.

Janata's campaign evoked memories of India's freedom struggle against British rule, during which Jayaprakash Narayan, Jivatram Kripalani and Morarji Desai had first emerged as political leaders.

Although Narayan and Kripalani did not seek office themselves, they became the leading campaigners for the Janata party, drawing great masses of people in rallies across the country.

BLD leader Charan Singh's peasant roots helped him raise considerable support in the rural parts of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India.

One of the most shocking outcomes of the election was the defeat of Indira Gandhi in her bid to seek re-election from her constituency of Rae Bareilly, which she lost to her 1971 opponent Raj Narain by a margin of 55,200 votes.

Summary of the 1977 March Lok Sabha election results of India, using alliances under Morarji Government from 1977 to 1979 Sources: Keesing's – World News Archive On the morning of 24 March, Jayaprakash Narayan and Jivatram Kripalani led the newly elected Janata MPs to Raj Ghat, where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were laid, and administered a pledge to continue Gandhi's work and preserve honesty in serving the nation.

He sought to carefully distribute important posts to satisfy Janata's different constituents and the most powerful party leaders who were rivals for his own position of leadership.

[22][26] The Constitution was amended to make it more difficult for any future government to declare a state of emergency; fundamental freedoms and the independence of India's judiciary was reaffirmed.

Specific inquiries were instituted on Sanjay Gandhi's management of the state-owned Maruti Udyog Ltd., the activities of the former Minister of Defence Bansi Lal and the 1971 Nagarwala scandal.

Home Minister Charan Singh argued that the ruling party had been resoundingly rejected by voters and would need to win a new mandate from the people of the states.

The government also called fresh elections in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where the Janata party won 13 seats to the Congress's 11, and the veteran Kashmiri politician Sheikh Abdullah returned to power after having been dismissed in 1953.

[17] The party consisted of veteran socialists, trade unionists and pro-business leaders, making major economic reforms difficult to achieve without triggering a public divide.

Cases against Indira Gandhi had also stalled for lack of evidence, and her continued prosecution began to evoke sympathy for her from the Indian public and anger of her supporters, who saw it as a "witch hunt.

[34] Through 1979, support for Morarji Desai had declined considerably due to worsening economic conditions as well as the emergence of allegations of nepotism and corruption involving members of his family.

[19] The failing health of Jayaprakash Narayan made it hard for him to remain politically active and act as a unifying influence, and his death in 1979 deprived the party of its most popular leader.

[56] After some months, it merged into the Janata Dal, which had emerged as the chief opposition party under the leadership of Vishwanath Pratap Singh and the main constituent of the National Front coalition.

[55] Although its tenure in office was tumultuous and unsuccessful, the Janata party played a definitive role in Indian politics and history and its legacy remains strong in contemporary India.

Younger politicians such as Subramanian Swamy, Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj and others were grass-roots activists in the Janata party.

[citation needed] The Janata Party continued to exist led by Subramanian Swamy, which maintained a small presence in the politics of the state of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Delhi and at the national stage.