In the UP state elections held in February, 1974, the Congress (R) could barely cross the majority mark. Charan Singh and the BKD on the other hand had 105 seats alone, occupying the highest number in the opposition. These results were to precipitate some unique changes in the party structure of the 70s: the ever-present danger Mrs. Gandhi posed to the democratic political order was felt urgently in several quarters, but the already divided Left in the aftermath of Ram Manohar Lohia’s death was not primed to rise up to challenge just yet. The SSP in particular was distended into two camps over whether the party should accept Gandhi’s leadership or not; some were beguiled by her seeming “leftward” shift, while others remained disillusioned. The poster-child of the latter camp was Raj Narain, a disciple of Lohia, who was especially incensed by Mrs. Gandhi and worked with the singular motivation of bringing her down. He was to be a decisive player in the fate of coalition politics in the coming months.