In what way did the imposition of Emergency affect the party system in India? Elaborate your answer with examples.

1. Due to an absolute majority to party in power, leadership even dared to suspend the democratic process. 

2. The constitution makers presumed to abide by laws and democratic orders, hence, wide and open-ended powers were given to the government during an emergency. 

3. A tension and differences arose between institution based democracy and democracy based on spontaneous popular participation. 

4. It was attributed to the incapability of the party system to incorporate aspirations of the people. 

5. For the first time, opposition parties came together to form a new party ‘Janata Party’ not to divide the non-Congress votes. 

6. 1977 elections brought an end to one-party dominance and created a coalition government.

The Emergency showed that a party with absolute majority may suspend civil liberties and the leadership would remain beyond purview. The Emergency bought forward the practice of defection whereby elected representatives would shift party whenever it suited them. The Emergency also established coalition parties in which two or more parties unite pre or post-election to form the government such as the Janata Party. It also showed that a coalition is prone to be quarrelsome and indecisive in nature.