1947 – 1949
Integration of over 560 princely states
At independence, roughly two-fifths of India was still ruled by kings. Sardar Patel and V.P. Menon negotiated, and in some cases used force (Hyderabad, Junagadh), to bring them into the Union.
Home / Bharat & Political Parties
Bharat & Political Parties
From 1947 to 2026 — who was in power, what worked, what went wrong. Every entry names the party, the leader and the outcome. This page does not take sides; it keeps a record.
What India got right
Missions, movements and decisions that changed the country for the better.
1950
The Constitution comes into force
Drafted by a Constituent Assembly under Dr B.R. Ambedkar, it gave India universal adult franchise from day one — decades before many older democracies.
1951 – 1952
First general election
India held the world's largest election with universal adult franchise — every adult could vote regardless of caste, gender, education or wealth, when many democracies still restricted it.
1960s
Green Revolution
New wheat and rice varieties, irrigation and support prices turned India from a food-importing country into a self-sufficient one. The last major famine risk ended.
1961
Liberation of Goa
Operation Vijay ended 451 years of Portuguese rule in Goa, Daman and Diu, completing the map of independent India.
1970
Operation Flood — the White Revolution
A dairy cooperative model built around Amul made India the world's largest milk producer and gave millions of rural families a steady income.
1971
Bangladesh Liberation War
India's military and diplomatic effort helped create Bangladesh and resulted in the surrender of over 90,000 Pakistani troops — India's biggest military and diplomatic victory.
1973
Chipko Movement
Villagers in Uttarakhand, led largely by women, hugged trees to stop logging. It became a global symbol of community-led environmental protection.
1974
Pokhran-I — Smiling Buddha
India's first nuclear test, at Pokhran in Rajasthan. India called it a peaceful explosion and refused to sign the NPT.
1975
Aryabhata — first Indian satellite
India's first satellite was launched, starting a space programme that now runs missions to the Moon and Mars on remarkably small budgets.
1984
Operation Meghdoot — Siachen
India took control of the Siachen glacier heights before Pakistan could. Indian troops have held the world's highest battlefield since.
1991
Economic liberalisation
With foreign reserves down to a few weeks of imports, India dismantled the licence raj and opened the economy. It reset India's growth path for the next three decades.
1998
Pokhran-II
Five nuclear tests at Pokhran made India an openly declared nuclear power. India then announced a no-first-use policy.
1999
Kargil
Indian forces pushed back infiltrators from the Kargil heights in a two-month war. It remains one of independent India's clearest military successes.
2005
Right to Information Act
For the first time, any citizen could demand information from a government office. It became the single most used anti-corruption tool in the country.
2005
MGNREGA
A legal guarantee of 100 days of work a year for rural households — the largest such programme in the world.
2008
Chandrayaan-1
India's first Moon mission. Its instrument confirmed water molecules on the lunar surface — a discovery that changed global lunar science.
2008
Indo-US civil nuclear deal
India ended decades of nuclear isolation and got access to international nuclear fuel and technology without signing the NPT.
2009
Aadhaar
A biometric identity system that now covers over a billion people. It made direct benefit transfers possible and cut out a lot of middlemen.
2013 – 2014
Mangalyaan
India became the first country to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt, and the cheapest Mars mission ever flown.
2014
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
A national cleanliness and sanitation drive. Millions of household toilets were built and open defecation fell sharply, though quality and water supply remain issues.
2014
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
Bank accounts for the unbanked at scale — over 50 crore accounts opened, which later made direct cash transfers possible during COVID.
2016
UPI
The Unified Payments Interface, built by NPCI, turned every phone into a payment terminal. India now records more digital payments than almost any country, and UPI is being adopted abroad.
2016
Surgical strikes
After the Uri attack, India publicly announced cross-border strikes on launch pads. It marked a shift in how India responded to cross-border terrorism.
2017
GST
One indirect tax replaced a maze of state and central taxes. It created a single national market, though the multi-slab structure is still criticised.
2019
Article 370 abrogated
Jammu and Kashmir's special status was removed and the state was reorganised into two Union Territories. The Supreme Court upheld the decision in December 2023.
2019
Triple talaq banned
Parliament made instant triple talaq a criminal offence, following a 2017 Supreme Court judgment. It was a major step for Muslim women's rights.
2019
Balakot air strike
After the Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force struck a terror camp inside Pakistan — the first such air action since 1971.
2021
COVID vaccination drive
India ran one of the largest vaccination programmes in history, administering over 220 crore doses and exporting vaccines to many countries.
2023
Chandrayaan-3
India became the first country to land near the Moon's south pole, and the fourth to soft-land on the Moon at all.
2023
G20 presidency
India hosted the G20 summit in New Delhi and got the African Union admitted as a permanent member — a real shift in global governance.
Corruption and dark chapters
The other side of the same 79 years. Listed as reported and, where decided, as the courts found.
1948
Jeep scandal
Allegations that money was taken in a defence purchase of jeeps for the army. It was one of independent India's first corruption controversies.
1957
Mundhra scandal
Feroze Gandhi exposed in Parliament that public money in LIC had been used to prop up a failing private company. It forced the resignation of the finance minister.
1975 – 1977
The Emergency
Fundamental rights were suspended, the press was censored, and lakhs of people were jailed without trial. It is the darkest period in India's democratic record.
1984
Anti-Sikh violence
After Indira Gandhi's assassination, thousands of Sikhs were killed in Delhi and other cities. Official commissions later found that state machinery had failed and, in places, participated.
1987
Bofors
Allegations of kickbacks in the purchase of Swedish howitzers. The case ran for decades; key accused were acquitted and no conviction of a political leader followed.
1992 – 1993
Babri demolition and the Bombay blasts
The Babri Masjid was demolished by a mob, followed months later by serial bomb blasts in Bombay. Both changed Indian politics permanently.
1992
Harshad Mehta securities scam
Bank funds were diverted into the stock market through fake receipts. Around ₹5,000 crore was involved, and the Bombay Stock Exchange crashed.
1993
JMM bribery case
MPs were allegedly bribed to vote against a no-confidence motion. The Supreme Court's 1998 ruling on MPs' immunity was overturned in 2024, restoring the criminal route.
1996
Fodder scam
Public money meant for cattle fodder in Bihar was siphoned off over years. Lalu Prasad was convicted in 2013; many others were also convicted.
2003
Telgi stamp paper scam
Fake stamp papers worth tens of thousands of crores were printed and sold across states. It exposed how deeply organised crime had entered the system.
2008
2G spectrum case
Licences were given away on a first-come basis after the cut-off date was advanced. The CAG estimated a presumptive loss of ₹1.76 lakh crore; the CBI put it at ₹30,984 crore. A special CBI court acquitted all the accused in December 2017, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges. The CBI and ED appeals against that acquittal are still pending in the Delhi High Court (admitted in March 2024).
2009
Satyam fraud
The chairman of Satyam admitted inflating profits and faking accounts for years — India's biggest corporate accounting fraud at the time.
2010
Commonwealth Games scam
Overpricing and irregularities in the run-up to the Delhi 2010 Games. Several officials faced charges.
2010
Adarsh housing society
Apartments meant for war widows and veterans went to politicians, bureaucrats and their families in Mumbai. Multiple inquiries found violations.
2012
Coal allocation scam
The CAG alleged that coal blocks were allotted without transparent bidding, causing a notional loss of ₹1.86 lakh crore. Most accused were later acquitted.
2013
Vyapam
A massive admissions and recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh, with impersonation and bribery in medical entrance exams. Dozens of deaths of people linked to the case raised serious questions.
2013
AgustaWestland chopper deal
Allegations of bribes in the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters for the Air Force. The deal was cancelled and a court in Italy later convicted executives; the Indian trial continues.
2016 – 2018
Bank loan frauds
Vijay Mallya left India owing banks over ₹9,000 crore, and the PNB–Nirav Modi case exposed a ₹13,000 crore fraud. Both men face extradition proceedings abroad.
2018
Rafale controversy
The opposition alleged favouritism in the jet deal. The Supreme Court found no evidence of wrongdoing and dismissed review petitions.
2018
IL&FS default
A large infrastructure lender collapsed, defaulting on crores in deposits. Investigations alleged evergreening of bad loans and financial misreporting.
2019
PMC Bank collapse
Lakhs of depositors were locked out of their money after the bank hid huge loans to a single business group. Withdrawals were capped for years.
2020
COVID migrant crisis
The sudden lockdown left crores of workers stranded. Thousands walked home for days, and many died on the way. Courts and auditors criticised the planning.
2020
Yes Bank crisis
The bank was placed under a moratorium after bad loans and governance failures. Depositors were bailed out by a rescue led by SBI.
2021
Pegasus allegations
A global investigation alleged that spyware was used on journalists and activists. The government denied it, and a court-appointed committee found no conclusive evidence.
2024
Electoral bonds struck down
The Supreme Court called the anonymous political funding scheme unconstitutional and ordered disclosure. It exposed how much money flows into parties unseen.
2024
NEET-UG paper leak
Alleged leaks and irregularities in the medical entrance exam led to arrests, re-exams for affected candidates, and a national debate on exam security.
How to read this page: an allegation is not a conviction. Where courts have decided a case, that outcome is mentioned. Some entries are policy failures rather than corruption. The point is not to score parties — it is that every party that has held power has had both wins and failures, and the citizen pays for both.