India’s first female Prime Minister was born into the influential Nehru dynasty in November 1917. Her father had raised her under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi, become the first prime minister of independent India in 1947.
Starting out in politics as her father’s personal assistant, she was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1960, but it wasn’t until his father death in 1964 that she joined the government as Minister for Information and Broadcasting. She immediately impressed Prime Minister Lal Shastri by soothing community leaders and supervising reconstruction of House of Madras that have been destroyed by rioting.
A year later, Shastri died of a heart attack after signing a peace agreement with Pakistan.
With the backing of the syndicate who believes she would be easily led she defeated Morarji Desai to become India’s fifth Prime Minister.
Proving she was no profit Prime Minister, Indira became a leader in the so-called Green Revolution instituting government support for innovative agricultural programs like plant breeding, irrigation development and financing of agro-chemicals to improved the lot of the rural poor.
“This is naturally an important constant. Thiss discussions are aimed at the removal of poverty so that the vast millions of Asia are enabled to live the kind of life which in our times is regarded as man’s basic right.”
India became a food exporter and diversified its commercial crop production. At the same time, Gandhi pushed for an expansion in the production of milk to help combat the serious issue of malnutrition in children, labeled food security. These radical initiatives current favor the country’s ruler on urban poor while the good times lasted she was hailed as a heroine.
But by 1975, the Green Revolution had all but collapsed with the mere fraction of allocated funds reaching the most needy, thanks to poor administration, corruption and greed of the state and national levels. Gandhi’s authoritarian regime which stripped the powers from the states had won her many political enemies while the growing influence of the chief advisor and youngest son Sanjay Gandhi also led to resentment among the elected officials.
After the high court found her guilty of a minor infraction during the 1971 election campaign, her opposition rallies and called her a resignation. Strikes and protests threatened to paralyze the state, but instead of standing down, Gandhi called on President Ali Ahmed to call the state of emergency. President’s rule remained in place for 19 months and Gandhi took advantage of the police state to imprison thousands of the sentenced and clear the slums of Delhi leading hundreds of thousands of people dead and homeless.
Not surprisingly, she lost the election of 1977 after which she and Sanjay were arrested and tried on several charges that didn’t stick. Ironically, the long running child won her great—and in 1980 she was back in power with a landslide majority.
On October the 31st 1984, three months after quelling an insurgent plant on her way to an interview with British actor Peter Ustinov, she was gunned down by two of her own bodyguards who were immediately shot by other members of her security team. She died on the way to hospital where doctors reportedly removed 31 bullets from her body. After lying in stage she was cremated on November the 1st amidst widespread sectarian unrest she was succeeded as Prime Minister by Rajiv who was himself assassinated in May 1991.
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