Free India’s FIRST FAMILY Liberator, dictator, matriarch INDIRA GANDHI NOVEMBER 19, 1917 — OCTOBER 31, 1984

There are few more polarising figures than Indira Gandhi. Hailed as the ‘Iron Lady’, victor of the Bangladesh war, a gutsy leader who stood up to the US and an uncompromising defender of national unity, she has also been accused of authoritarianism, dynastic politics and eroding democratic institutions.
Born into a political family, Indira grew up in the Nehru ancestral home of Anand Bhavan, “headquarters” of the Independence struggle. A lonely child, she made do with an absentee father and an ailing mother who often suffered taunts from the more sophisticated women in the Nehru household. But as her father Jawaharlal’s hostess during his years as prime minister, she proved an adept learner.
Trouncing Morarji Desai by 355 votes to 169 in a Congress parliamentary party election after Lal Bahadur Shastri’s demise, she began the first of her three terms as PM. After the 1967 elections, she pushed bank nationalisation, abolished privy purses and used a presidential contest to rout the syndicate — a grouping of Congress bosses. In 1971, she decisively won the general elections campaigning on the famous slogan of Garibi Hatao (end poverty).
Her finest hour was the skill with which she handled an influx of 10 million refugees fleeing Pakistani jackboots in 1971. Despite Pakistan enjoying US backing, a resounding military victory saw the birth of Bangladesh and the Simla pact. A long-term strategic partnership with Moscow was also born. Though criticised for not formalising the LoC as border, the Simla agreement did confine Kashmir to a bilateral framework. It was a huge confidence pill for a fledgling nation seeking to reconcile myriad ethnic, religious and regional identities. In 1974, India tested the N-bomb, bringing to fruition an atomic programme seeded by Nehru.
As protests led by JP Narayan snowballed and the Allahabad HC held her guilty of electoral malpractice, Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency on June 21, 1975. Buses famously ran on time, civil rights were crushed and Opposition leaders jailed. Then, she suddenly called for elections. Cynics say it’s because she was misled by reports predicting a sweeping win, loyalists insist she always remained committed to democracy deep down. Either way, she was routed.
But India’s first experiment with a coalition at the Centre turned into a fiasco, and Indira swept back to power, promising to deliver a ‘government that works’. Tragically, her initial pandering to Sikh militants eventually led to Army action in the Golden Temple and her assassination. Though she adored her father, Indira lacked Nehru’s tolerant spirit. But as an instinctive leader, she was decisive when it mattered.