Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1974

Elections to the 6th term of the Legislative Assembly in Orissa were held in March 1974, after President’s rule was imposed in the state for a year before. Owing to fluctuations due to mergers and defections during this period, the United Front coalition government faced imminent collapse and strong anti-incumbency, leading to dissolution of the Assembly and President’s rule being imposed before fresh elections were held in 1974. Candidates from political parties contested for a total of 147 Assembly constituencies in the state. The Indian National Congress came back to power in the state, winning 69 Assembly seats. Following the Congress was the Utkal Congress, which won 35 seats.

The former Chief Minister of Mysore state, Basappa Danappa Jatti was the Governor of Orissa for the first few months of this period, before he was replaced by Akhbar Ali Khan, a renowned Barrister. Braja Mohan Mohanty was the Speaker and Chintamani Jena was the Deputy Speaker of the Orissa Vidhan Sabha during this period. Nandini Satpathy of the Congress became the Chief Minister of Orissa and remained in power till 1976, before President’s rule was imposed on the state. Biju Patnaik was the Leader of Opposition in the Sixth Assembly of Orissa. Satpathy, during the National Emergency in the country in Indira Gandhi’s regime, imprisoned a number of prominent leaders like former Chief Minister Nabakrushna Chowdhury and others. However, Satpathy was extremely critical of Indira Gandhi’s policies during the Emergency, and attempted to resist them. In fact, during the Lok Sabha polls in 1977, Satpathy rallied behind Jagjivan Ram, who protested against Indira’s rule.

Some of the most important legislations passed in the Orissa Legislative Assembly during this period were:

• Orissa Government Land Settlement Act, 1974
• Orissa Gram Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 1974
• Orissa River Pollution Prevention (Amendment) Act, 1974
• Orissa Appropriation (No. 2) Act, 1974
• Orissa Re-Enacting Act, 1974
• Orissa Agriculture Laws Repeating Act, 1975
• Orissa Additional Sales Tax Act, 1975
• Orissa Town Planning and Improvement Trust (Amendment) Act, 1975
• Orissa Dowry Prohibition Act, 1976
• Orissa Repealing Act, 1976
• Maternity Benefit Laws Repeating Act, 1976

List of Successful Candidates in Orissa Assembly Election in 1974

List of Participating Political Parties in Orissa Assembly Election in 1974