The paradox of populism: the Indira Gandhi years studies the changing dynamics of politics brought about by the Eclipse of Congress hegemony, caused principally by the 1967 election results and the split in the Congress party in 1969. It examines the proposition, widely accepted, that Indira Gandhi systematically subverted constitutional democracy by undermining institutions like the Parliament and the cabinet, and established authoritarian control of both the government and the party after the split. It concludes that such widespread subversion happened only after the imposition of the emergency, when Mrs Gandhi succeeded in concentrating power in her hands.