THE IRON LADY : INDIRA GANDHI

In the year 1965, after Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death (in Moscow) Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India. The Syndicate (a section of Congress party who were opposed to Indira) thought that they could easily manipulate Indira and occasion for that came when the Congress party had to select the presidential candidate. They met in Bengaluru (Lal Bagh Garden) and had a heated discussion with Indira.  Indira Gandhi who  opposed  the name suggested by the syndicate leaders left in a huff suddenly and flew to New Delhi.

A few tactical moves on the political chessboard took Indira Gandhi to the top level. In the same midnight she nationalised fourteen private banks. This move took everybody by surprise including the syndicate leaders. People wholeheartedly supported her.

In 1971 Indira Gandhi had another opportunity to assert herself. She won the war against Pakistan, divided Pakistan and created Bangladesh. The media described her as ‘the Empress of India’. Mr Vajpayee, who was the leader of the then Jan Sangh party called her ‘Durga’.

During Indira Gandhi’s time the country was importing food grains from America. Indira Gandhi created an atmosphere for the growth of the agricultural sector and ushered in Green Revolution.

There was a bad patch in Indira Gandhi’s political life. To bring some semblance of discipline in the country, she imposed emergency in 1974. For the first six months everything was alright. There was peace in the country and people supported emergency. Slowly unsavoury people who were close to Indira Gandhi started taking undue advantage which resulted in emergency excesses. When emergency was lifted and the country went to polls her party Congress was defeated and she herself was defeated in the elections. The new government couldn’t survive in power for more than three years. The country went to polls once again and Congress and Indira Gandhi won the elections and she once again came to power.

Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira’s father when he was in prison during the freedom movement wrote letters to his young daughter Indira, who was around nine-ten years old.  These letters had great influence over Indira and shaped her life to be a dedicated woman in her later years. 

‘You must learn the alphabet of nature before you can read her story in her books of stone and rock’. Through these letters she was taught to observe the swirls and textures in a little pebble. Nehru taught Indira to treat nature as a book. Indira’s granddaughter Priyanka Gandhi wrote that her grandmother Indira Gandhi may have appeared as rather a serious, formidable personality but she was the warmest and a loving personality.

Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her own security guards on 31^st October, 1984. Like her father Nehru, Indira loved India and its people. Madam, today the 19^th of November is your birthday, so

‘Happy Birthday Indiraji’.