What was the duration of the Emergency before the government decided to hold elections in January 1977?
1) Six months
2) Twelve months
3) Eighteen months
4) Twenty-four months

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

3

Answer: Eighteen months
After eighteen months of Emergency, the government decided to hold elections in January 1977.

In January 1977, after eighteen months of Emergency, the government decided to hold elections. Accordingly, all the leaders and activists were released from jails. Elections were held in March 1977. This left the opposition with very little time, but political developments took place very rapidly. The major opposition parties had already been coming closer in the pre-Emergency period. Now they came together on the eve of the elections and formed a new party, known as the Janata Party. The new party accepted the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan. Some leaders of the Congress who were opposed to the Emergency also joined this new party . Some other Congress leaders also came out and formed a separate party under the leadership of Jagjivan Ram. This party named as Congress for Democracy, later merged with the Janata Party.