The ministry lasted only another 18 days. Charan Singh, who had refused to join Gupta’s government, dramatically declared in the Legislative Assembly that he and his followers from the Congress had formed a new party called the Jan Congress (People’s Congress). To the shock and awe of many, he crossed the floor, thus ending his 46-year old association with the party. Dubbing the decision as a “call from the people” he joined hands with the opposition alongside 17 of his men. Singh was elected leader of the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (coalition of non-Congress parties) right after, and was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of the state on April 3, 1967. He was 65 years old. The coalition settled on 16 ministers (in proportion to their strength in the ruling group), including Charan Singh himself, divided among the Jan Congress, Jan Sangh, SSP, CPI, Swatantra Party, PSP and one independent member. These groups were so far apart ideologically, that portents of the SVD’s imminent collapse had started ringing in the media from its very conception, and keeping them together was going to tax Singh deeply. To sustain such a coalition, the members had agreed on a common minimum program among them, which sought to ameliorate the state’s socio-economic position.