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Indira Gandhi

INDIRA PRIYAI GANDHI was the third Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics during the second half of the 20th century. She was elected a record four terms as Prime Minister from 1966–77 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.Indira Gandhi was the only child of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

As Prime Minister, Gandhi became known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralisation of power. She presided over a period where India emerged with greater power than before .She ruled by decree and made lasting changes to the constitution of India. She also came first in the "Woman of the Millennium" poll organised by the in 1999.

Early Life And Career

Indira Gandhi was born on 19 November 1917 at the Anand Bhavan  in the historically important town of Allahabad, in what was then the United Provinces of agra and Oudh, into the politically influential Nehru family.[2] Indira Gandhi's father was Jawaharlal Nehru and her mother was Kamla Nehru. Her grandfather, Motilal Nehru, was a prominent Indian nationalist leader. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a pivotal figure in the independence movement of India.

Economic policy

Gandhi presided over three Five-Year plans as Prime Minister. All but one of them succeeding in meeting the targeted growth.There is considerable debate regarding whether Gandhi was a socialist on principle or out of political expediency. S. K. Datta-Ray described her as "a master of rhetoric...often more posture than policy", while the The Times journalist, Peter Hazelhurst, famously quipped that Gandhi's socialism was "slightly left of self-interest.“.

Green Revolution and the Fourth Five

Year Plan

The Green Revolution in India subsequently culminated under Gandhi in the 1970s and transformed the country from a nation heavily reliant on imported grains and prone to famine to being largely able to feed itself, and become successful in achieving its goal of food security. Gandhi had a personal motive in pursuing agricultural self-sufficiency, having found India's dependency on the United States for shipments of grains in exchange for diplomatic support for the intervention in Vietnam humiliating.

Social reform

The principle of equal pay for equal work for both men and women was enshrined in the Indian Constitution under the Gandhi administration.Gandhi questioned the continued existence of a privy purses for Indian monarchs. She argued the case for abolition based on equal rights for all citizens and the need to reduce the government's revenue deficit. The nobility responded by rallying around the jana Sangh and other right-wing parties that stood in opposition to Gandhi's attempts to abolish royal privileges. The motion to abolish privy purses, and the official recognition of the titles, was originally brought before the Parliament in 1970. It was passed in the Lok Sabha  but felt short of the two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha by a single vote.

Operation Blue Star

 Operation Blue Star:

In the 1977 elections, a coalition led by the Sikh-majority Akali Dal came to power in the northern Indian state of Punjab. In an effort to split the Akali Dal and gain popular support among the Sikhs, Indira Gandhi's Congress helped bring the orthodox religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to prominence in the Punjab politics. Later, Bhindranwale's organisation Damdami Taksal became embroiled in violence with another religious sect called the Sant Nirankari Mission, and he was accused of instigating the murder of the Congress leader Jagat Narain. After being arrested in this matter, Bhindranwale disassociated himself from Congress.

Assassination

On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi's bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, shot her with their service weapons in the garden of the Prime Minister's residence. Gnndhi was cremated on 3 November near Raj Ghat. The site where she was cremated is today known as Shakti Sthala,

“I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow. I shall continue to serve till my last breath and when I die every drop of my blood will strengthen India and keep a united India alive."

Quote from indira gandhi

.Nishtha Varma interviewing Mrs.Thakkar,who is a housemaker

We hope that you enjoyed this presentation and got to know something new from it , something new about one of the greatest heroes, the symbol of woman power, Indira Gandhi.

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