A strong Indira Gandhi loyalist, and strong leader in Delhi in the 1980s, Bhagat won six consecutive elections by large margins, and was responsible for a Congress comeback in the 1980 and 1983 elections in Delhi. He was known to have a strong group in the Congress Party, and won his first Lok Sabha election in 1980 from the East Delhi constituency in Delhi. He grew in political stature after Congress' victory in the local elections of 1983 which led him to be known as the ‘Uncrowned King of Delhi’ for many a years. He held ministerial positions, including of Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs and Law, and made the state-run TV "Doordarshan" the Congress party's mouthpiece during the mid to late 1980s.