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Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi is born in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), Uttar Pradesh, to Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, and Kamala Nehru. -
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Early Life and Education
Studied at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan and then at the University of Oxford in the UK. She later attended the University of Cambridge. -
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Early Life and Education
Moved to the United States to study at Yale University for a brief period. -
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Political Career and Rise to Power
India gains independence; Jawaharlal Nehru becomes Prime Minister. Indira works closely with her father and becomes involved in the Indian National Congress. -
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Political Career and Rise to Power
Became a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and soon joined the political circles more actively. -
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Political Career and Rise to Power
Serves as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in Nehru’s government(1964-1966) -
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Prime Ministership
After the sudden death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India on January 24, 1966. She was the second woman to lead a country after Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka. -
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Prime Ministership
Won the 1967 General Election. Her leadership marked a break from the previous Congress leaders, and she consolidated her position in the party. -
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Prime Ministership
Led India to victory in the Indo-Pakistani War, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh. This significantly boosted her popularity. -
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Prime Minstership
India signed the Simla Agreement with Pakistan, which reaffirmed the boundaries established after the 1971 war. -
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Prime Ministership
Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency on June 25, citing threats to national security and internal instability. This allowed her to rule by decree, suspend civil liberties, and arrest political opponents. This move faced significant backlash but also increased her control over the government. -
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Prime Ministership
The Emergency ended, and the opposition led by the Janata Party defeated Indira Gandhi in the 1977 General Elections. She lost her seat in the Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament) but quickly regained it in a 1978 by-election. -
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Return to Power and Assassination
Indira Gandhi returned to power after a landslide victory in the general elections, beginning her second term as Prime Minister on January 14, 1980. -
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Return to Power and Assassination
Her second term saw increasing unrest, particularly in Punjab, where Sikh separatists led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale sought independence. To quell the violence, she ordered the Operation Blue Star military action in June 1984 to remove militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a move that alienated many Sikhs. -
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Her Legacy
Indira Gandhi’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, took office as the 6th Prime Minister of India following her death. Rajiv was relatively young and had no prior political experience, but he quickly became the face of the Congress Party.