As it became clear that Indira's Emergency rule had been widely unpopular, defections from the Congress (R) government increased. The most significant was that of Jagjivan Ram, who commanded great support amongst India's Dalit communities. A former Minister of Defence, Ram left the Congress (R) and along with his supporters formed the Congress for Democracy on 2 February 1977. Other co-founders included the former Chief Minister of Orissa Nandini Satpathy, former Union Minister of State for Finance K. R. Ganesh, former MP D. N. Tiwari and Bihar politician Raj Mangal Pandey.