History does not always repeat itself in the same form. The actors change, the circumstances differ, and the instruments of power evolve. Yet certain patterns return—concentration of power, public discontent, the emergence of protest, and eventually the demand that those who govern listen to those who are governed.

India witnessed such a moment fifty years ago. We witnessing another, in a very different form, today.

1975: When Power Became Personal

By the mid-1970s, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had emerged as the dominant figure in Indian politics. Her political stature had become so overwhelming that Congress president Dev Kant Barooah was associated with the controversial declaration, “India is Indira, Indira is India.” The slogan captured more than political admiration; it symbolised the dangers of allowing institutions and a nation itself to become identified too closely with one leader.

The turning point came in June 1975, when the Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractice and invalidated her election to the Lok Sabha. Opposition to her government gathered momentum.

At its forefront stood an unlikely challenger: Jayaprakash Narayan—popularly known as Lok Nayak, the People’s Leader. Already in his seventies, JP had largely withdrawn from active politics, but returned to public life to call for what he termed Sampoorna Kranti, or Total Revolution—a transformation extending beyond a change of government to the renewal of political and social institutions.

At a massive gathering at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, JP invoked the celebrated words of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar:

“Singhasan khaali karo ke janata aati hai”
Vacate the throne, for the people are coming.

On the night of 25 June 1975, a national Emergency was proclaimed. Opposition leaders were arrested, civil liberties were curtailed and the press was subjected to censorship. What began as a political crisis became one of the most consequential tests of Indian democracy.

But democracy survived.

1977: The People Respond

On 18 January 1977, Indira Gandhi announced elections. Opposition parties that had long differed in ideology recognised that the moment demanded unity. The Congress (Organisation), Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Socialist Party and others came together under JP’s moral leadership to form the Janata Party on 23 January 1977.

In the general election that followed, the Janata Party defeated Congress and formed the first non-Congress government at the Centre.

The experiment, however, did not endure. Ideological differences, competing ambitions and internal conflicts weakened the coalition. The Janata government collapsed, and Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980.

Birth of BJP

Former members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh left the Janata Party and, on 6 April 1980, founded the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party that had its roots in the opposition to the political dominance of the Congress would, decades later, itself become the dominant force in Indian politics.

The BJP emerged as the largest party in Parliament in 1996, though Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government lasted only 13 days. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power in 1998 and again in 1999, when Vajpayee headed the first non-Congress government to complete a full term.

After ten years in opposition, the BJP returned with a decisive victory under Narendra Modi in 2014 and won an even larger majority in 2019. In 2024, the BJP lost its individual parliamentary majority but, with its NDA partners, formed the government for a third consecutive term.

History had completed an extraordinary circle: a political stream that had once rallied against the concentration of power had itself become the centre of political power, that too on a single individual.

2026: A New Generation Finds Its Voice

The circumstances of 2026 are not those of 1975, but the concentration of power and a position of diffidence very much evident.

In 1975, the challenge to an overwhelmingly powerful government was personified by a leader in his seventies—Jayaprakash Narayan. In 2026, a striking challenge has come from the opposite end of the age spectrum: Generation Z.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) began on 16 May 2026 as an online satirical response after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant made controversial remarks likening some unemployed young activists to “cockroaches” and “parasites”. Political communicator Abhijeet Dipke turned the insult on its head, asking in effect: What if the cockroaches came together?

What began as satire rapidly became mobilisation. Social media provided what public meetings and pamphlets had provided to earlier generations: a space for dispersed frustration to discover a common voice. By June, the movement had moved from the digital world to Jantar Mantar, drawing students, parents, young professionals and others concerned about examination irregularities, paper leaks, unemployment and accountability.

The controversy surrounding NEET-UG 2026 became the immediate rallying point. The protesters demanded accountability for examination failures and reforms to restore credibility to a system on which millions of young Indians place their hopes. The movement eventually developed a five-point examination reform charter, shifting the conversation from protest alone towards systemic change.

After weeks of agitation, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on 25 July 2026. The government subsequently announced a task force to overhaul the examination system, while the CJP called off its agitation after key demands were accepted.

The significance of the episode lies not merely in the resignation of a minister. Ministers may come and go. The larger message is that public anger, when rooted in legitimate grievances and channelled through democratic means, cannot indefinitely be dismissed.

The Lesson of History

There is an irony worth reflecting upon.

The political movement that helped challenge Congress dominance in 1977 eventually contributed, through many twists and turns, to the emergence of the BJP. Today, after more than a decade at the Centre, the BJP faces a generation that has known no other national government during much of its politically conscious life.

Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement emerged in a very different political and constitutional context, and the Emergency remains a singularly grave chapter in independent India’s history. That movement led to the formation of the Janata Party, an alliance of several political groups. By contrast, the Cockroach Janata Party is organic, spontaneous, Gen Z-driven, fluid and largely shaped by social media. Whether it remains a civic movement, develops into a political force, or fades after meeting its immediate goals remains to be seen.

Lest We Forget

Do we learn from history?

We should.

No political party is permanently the ruler, and no opposition is permanently the opposition. Those who challenge power today may exercise it tomorrow. That is precisely why the safeguards of democracy must matter equally to everyone, irrespective of who occupies the seat of government.

The present government’s willingness to respond to the protests, accept political accountability and initiate examination reforms is therefore a welcome sign.

The challenge now is to ensure that the response goes beyond a resignation and addresses the deeper causes of the unrest—particularly the integrity of examinations, transparency in public institutions and the anxieties of a generation seeking education, employment and a fair opportunity to build its future.

The lesson of 1975 is not that history must repeat itself. It is that history warns us precisely so that it need not.

Has the government taken the warning seriously and begun to correct itself? Or is this merely a band aid applied to soothe an injury caused by deeper institutional failure? Only the steps that follow will reveal the answer.

Democracy survives not because power concedes easily, but because citizens continue to question, resist complacency and insist that those who govern remain answerable to the people.

Lest we forget: fifty years ago, Indian democracy passed through a gruelling trial and still found its way back to the people.

Seen in that wider light, democracy reminds us that governments may change, parties may rise and fall, and leaders may come and go—but sovereignty, in the end, rests quietly and enduringly with the people.