When India Turned a Page: Remembering Indira Gandhi’s Defining Era

After the sudden death of India's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent on January 11, 1966 following the Tashkent accord between India and Pakistan, the Congress had to immediately choose his successor. Previously, when Jawaharlal Nehru passed away on May 27, 1964, the then home minister Gulzarilal Nanda was made the interim prime minister till the election of the new Congress parliamentary party (CPP) leader.

Even in 1966, Nanda, however feebly, threw his hat into the ring again. Although the names of the then defence minister Y.B. Chavan and Jagjivan Ram were also doing the rounds, the main contest narrowed down to Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai, who had earlier lost out in the race to Shastri.

K. Kamaraj, who was the Congress president, had managed to avert a contest in the CPP by the "consensus" formula after Nehru's death, but this time he could not as Desai was determined not to withdraw. Kamaraj was equally determined to ensure that Indira Gandhi won. He is believed to have shared his sentiments with a colleague accompanying him on  the flight from Chennai (then Madras) to Delhi: "She knows all the world leaders, has travelled widely with her father, has grown up amongst the great men of the freedom movement, has a rational and modern mind, is totally free of any parochialism – state, caste or religion. She has possibly inherited her father's scientific temper and, above all, in 1967, she can win the election."

Even though the electorate for election of the CPP leader was restricted to MPs from both the Houses, getting the moral and public support of the chief ministers was considered crucial. Between Kamaraj and D.P. Mishra, the support of a majority of chief ministers for Indira Gandhi was worked out painstakingly. The exception was Sucheta Kripalani of Uttar Pradesh. But that did not matter much as a majority of the MPs from Uttar Pradesh supported Indira Gandhi.

Also read: A Relook at Jawaharlal Nehru

With all efforts for consensus not materialising, January 19, 1966 was fixed as the date to elect the new CPP leader. Before she went to the parliament, Indira Gandhi visited Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi and to Teen Murti to feel the spirit of her illustrious father. When the ballot papers were counted the results showed that Indira Gandhi won by 186 votes. She had polled 355 votes, against Desai's 169. Indira Gandhi was sworn in as India's third prime minister on January 24, 1966.

Only a year later, in 1967, the general election to the Lok Sabha was held. Even though the Congress won 283 seats with 41% votes, its tally was a sharp drop from the 361 seats it secured in the 1962 polls, the last election fought under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru.

A number of Congress stalwarts, including Congress president Kamaraj, lost the election, as did S.K. Patil in Mumbai and Atulya Ghosh in West Bengal. However, Indira Gandhi won from Raebareli with a huge margin. This put her in a much stronger position. But the old guard would not give up without a fight and tried to pitch Desai against her.

By this time, Congress president Kamaraj had become disillusioned with Indira Gandhi and, along with the Syndicate, toyed with the idea of making Desai the new prime minister. But having bitten the dust in his home state Madras (now Tamil Nadu), Kamaraj's authority had eroded and so had that of several senior leaders who had either lost themselves or the states they belonged to. Kamaraj, however, did not openly support Desai and remained non-committal.

Indira Gandhi was advised by her well-wishers, including some top bureaucrats, to offer Desai a senior position in the Cabinet. A senior bureaucrat, I.G. Patel, called on Desai and pleaded with him not to contest against Gandhi as the country was facing many challenges, for which the services of both were paramount.

Some senior ministers such as Chavan, Ashok Mehta and Dinesh Singh didn't want Indira Gandhi to compromise with Desai. However, taking everyone by surprise, she called on Desai and the leadership issue was resolved. Desai was offered – and he accepted – the deputy prime ministership and with it the finance portfolio, even though this time he was keen on home. He had been a long serving finance minister in the Nehru Cabinet from 1959 to 1964 and perhaps desired a higher profile portfolio this time. But Indira Gandhi wanted to fully utilise his experience in finance at a time when the economy was facing multiple challenges of drought, unemployment and forex reserves. Another reason was that Chavan was already holding the home portfolio, and she didn't want to disturb the status quo.

After her re-election as the prime minister, Indira Gandhi was now in a much stronger position and, from this position of strength, dealt with another immediate problem with great tenacity and political wisdom – the election of the third President of India.

S. Radhakrishnan, who had succeeded Rajendra Prasad after two terms as the vice-president, was due to retire. Indira Gandhi was not inclined to give him a second term and decided on the candidature of Vice-President Zakir Husain. Durga Das, in his magnum opus India: From Curzon to Nehru and After, writes:

"But Husain was not chosen on the basis of communal consideration. He was chosen because of the distinction and success with which he had held the office of Vice President and the patriotic and non-partisan way in which he had conducted himself. She did not favour a second term for Dr Radhakrishnan as his health, especially eye sight, was failing and, in consultation with Desai, boldly sponsored Husain's candidature.

The move received moral support when Desai insisted that the Congress show its disapproval of the manner in which Subba Rao had made the office of chief justice of India a subject of controversy by agreeing to resign and stand for election. This was perhaps the last time that Desai would support a proposal made by Indira Gandhi. Soon they would fall apart, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Congress split in 1969 but Indira Gandhi emerged stronger and called for a midterm poll to the Lok Sabha in March 1971 which she won decisively for her party, the Congress (1) winning 352 seats. This was only slightly short of 361 seats won by the Congress in 1962. Though her bold and courageous leadership leading to India's grand victory in the 1971 war and the creation of Bangladesh is now part of contemporary history, Indira Gandhi's other monumental achievements like ushering in the Green Revolution, lifting millions above the poverty line, strengthening secularism, enhancing India's global prestige and, above all, her martyrdom to preserve the nation's unity and integrity, will never be forgotten by a grateful nation.

Indira Gandhi is often criticised for imposing emergency in 1975 and for Operation Blue Star in 1984. Though it is easy to criticise her in hindsight one must try and understand the circumstances under which she had no other option. As Joe Elder, a British sociologist wrote after visiting India in July 1975: "Emergency was a script jointly written by JP and Indira Gandhi."

Also read: Why a Backdrop to Indira Gandhi's Emergency Holds Lessons for Today's India

For Indira Gandhi the nation came first, always and every time, even if she had to sacrifice her life for it. And she did so on that morning of October 31, 1984 which shook not only India, but the whole world. The last drop of her blood had saved the unity and integrity of the country just as the Mahatma's martyrdom 36 years earlier.

As Margaret Thatcher, then prime minister of UK who shared the sobriquet 'Iron Lady' with Indira Gandhi, though much later, said in her tribute: "Her assassination has brought a renewed mission of purpose to India. Her firmness, her understanding, all these live on and can be seen in the skill and vision with which her son governs India."

Will those who see everything wrong with so called "dynastic politics" care to read such tributes to the mother-son duo who sacrificed their lives for the cause of humanity.

Praveen Davar is an ex Army officer, columnist and author of Freedom Struggle and Beyond.

A version of this piece was previously published on The Asian Age.

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