Srimati Indira Gandhi, also known as Indira Priyadarshini Nehru was born on November 19, 1917 in Allahabad, India. She was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India (1947-1964). Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the most famous freedom fighter and later leaded the long surviving Indian National Congress. She is known as the “Iron Lady of India”.

Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru

Her grandfather Motilal Nehru was a companion of Mahatma Gandhi , the father of the Nation. He was the co founder of the Swaraj (Self-rule) Party. He belonged to a Brahman Kashmiri family. He practiced law in Allahabad. later became the president of the Indian National Congress.

Following the British slaughter of hundreds of Indians at Jalianwala Bagh in 1919 in Amritsar, Motilal abandoned his legal career to join Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement and adopted a simpler way of living. He and Jawaharlal were arrested by the British in 1921 and imprisoned for six months.

Motilal was imprisoned in 1930 for his involvement in the Salt March and the Civil disobedience movement. He died soon after his release.

Jawaharlal Nehru was also drawn by Mahatma Gandhi’s brave opposition against British. He first met Gandhi at the at the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) annual convention in Lucknow in 1916.

Early Life

In March 1916, Nehru wed Kamala Kaul, who was also from a Kashmiri family that had made Delhi their home. Indira Priyadarshini, their only child was born in 1917.

Indira Gandhi went to the Vishwa Bharti University in Shantiniketan, and later went ahead to study in the Oxford University in England. She joined the Congress in 1938.

She married Feroze Gandhi, a close associate from the congress party in 1942. she had two children Sanjay and Rajiv.

Following her father’s election in 1947, Indira Gandhi joined the Congress Party’s working committee in 1955 when the party came to power. She was chosen as the party president in 1959. In 1964, she was elected as a member of Rajya Sabha and appointed as the minister of communication and broadcasting in his administration.

Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister

With the untimely demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri in January 1966, Indira was named as the leader of the Congress party. And the right and left wing of the parties named her as the Prime Minister, also the first female Prime Minister of India.

Due to some internal tensions amongst the party members , she was expelled by Morarji Desai in 1969. Indira , however, with the support of a large number of party members formed the “New” Congress Party. This new party won over the coalition in 1971.

Indira was a rigid supporter of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during its separatist war with Pakistan in late 1971. India’s armed forces defeated Pakistan with bravery and valor, resulting in the establishment of Bangladesh. She was the first official to acknowledge the newly formed nation.

Shortly afterward, her opposition charged against her and the Allahabad High Court pressed the charges against her. If guilty, she could have denied a seat in the parliament and banishment of six years from politics.

She challenged the decision in an appeal to the Supreme Court, but she did not get a satisfactory answer. Taking matters into her own hands, she imposed emergency measures, jailed her political rivals, and proclaimed a state of emergency across India.

Numerous new laws that restricted personal freedom were passed. She also put into effect a number of unpopular measures during that time, such as widespread sterilization as a method of birth control.

She and her party were defeated in the much-awaited national parliamentary elections later in 1977, and she resigned from government. Following Desai’s recruitment, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came into power and appointed him as prime minister.

She was jailed from October 1977 to December 1978, after the successful split of her party into two wings. In January 1980, Congress (I) was back in power. Her son Sanjay became her Political advisor.

After Sanjay’s sudden demise in an airplane crash in June 1980, Indira prepared Rajiv for becoming the successor of her political leadership in India.

She made stronger ties with the Soviet Union, relying on its support for the dispute with Pakistan.

In 1982 Sikhs in Punjab demanded independence from the Central government, seeking an independent state. A large number of protestors occupied the Golden temple in Amritsar. to escalate the growing tensions, Gandhi ordered the army to fight the separatists, killing 450 Sikhs.

She was killed five months later in her New Delhi home by her own Sikh bodyguards avenging the Amritsar attack. She is the only female prime minister of India till now. After Jawaharlal Nehru, she holds the record for serving the second-longest tenure as prime minister of India.

Rajiv Gandhi succeeded her as the Prime Minister till 1989.

On the anniversary of Indira Gandhi’s passing, Rahul Gandhi offered condolences. Rahul Gandhi is the grandson of Indira Gandhi, and the son of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi.

मेरी शक्ति, मेरी दादी!

जिस भारत के लिए आपने अपना सर्वस्व बलिदान कर दिया, उसकी हमेशा रक्षा करूंगा। आपकी यादें हमेशा साथ हैं, दिल में। pic.twitter.com/SmpmqM13bo

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 31, 2023

Rahul said that his grandmother Indira Gandhi was his strength in a social media post on X. “My strength, my grandmother!” was what his message said. I promise to always defend India, the country for which you gave your all. I will always carry your memories close to my heart.”