Indira was released on technical grounds the next day. Rajiv Gandhi, who had not entered politics till then, commented on this entire incident by saying, 'Mummy herself could not have written a better script than this...' This incident generated sympathy for Indira Gandhi across the country and later on, this is where the path of her return to power started getting paved. But the truth is also that politics was not Indira's first choice and contrary to popular belief, she was not the natural successor of her father Jawaharlal Nehru.
Why did she want to settle in England?
In fact, in 1963, Indira had started thinking about settling in England, where both her sons Rajiv and Sanjay were studying. In a letter written to her friend Dorothy Norman nineteen days before Nehru's death, Indira had told that she intended to stay outside India for at least a year and she was looking for ways to earn foreign currency for this. But destiny had something else written. Nehru died on 27 May 1964. Within hours of his demise, senior Congress leaders chose Lal Bahadur Shastri as Nehru's successor.
Rejected the PM's chair
According to Indira Gandhi's advisor and close friend Pupul Jayakar, Shastri met Indira before taking the oath of office and secrecy and offered her the post of Prime Minister. In Indira Gandhi's biography Indira Gandhi: A Biography, Jayakar wrote, 'Indira Gandhi refused this, because she knew that if she became Prime Minister at this time, she would be finished (politically).' Shastri asked Indira to take up a ministerial post with the request that it would be very difficult to provide a stable government in his absence. On this, Indira took charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This is where Indira's real beginning in politics began. Although before this, in 1959, she had been the Congress President for a year.
Indira Gandhi-The Unquestionable Leader - EARLY LIFE. Indira Gandhi was born Indira Nehru in a Kashmiri Pandit family on 19 November 1917 in Allahabad. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a leading
She had a unique bonding with Sonia
While Indira Gandhi always had conflicts with her younger daughter-in-law Maneka, she had a different kind of affection for her elder daughter-in-law Sonia. Sonia had also said in an interview to an Italian magazine that Indira was always an affectionate mother-in-law towards her. Indira never put any pressure on Sonia for anything, be it Indian clothes or Indian food, except speaking Hindi during dinner. It was a tradition in the Nehru-Gandhi family to talk in Hindi during dinner right from the beginning, which everyone had to follow. Sonia benefited from this. At the time when Rajiv made his debut in politics, Sonia started wearing salwar suits, cotton sarees, handloom sarees, kurtas and other traditional Indian clothes. Indira also immediately sensed this change. Finally one day she asked Sonia if anyone (she was probably referring to Rajiv) had said anything to her about her dress? Sonia smiled, ‘No, no one…’ Indira told her that even if someone advised her about her dress, she was free to wear whatever she felt good and comfortable in.
Launched the first program of VHP…
In the early eighties, Indira Gandhi started promoting the religious sentiments of Hindus. To the surprise of many, she accepted the invitation to launch the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) “Ekatmakta Yatra” also known as “Ganga Jal Yatra” in 1981. This was the first public relations program of VHP, which demonstrated how effectively Hindu symbols could be used for gaining popularity and political mobilization. Her trusted C.M. Stephen had even said in 1983 that “Hindu culture and Congress culture both have the same thinking.”
Life and times of Indira Gandhi - India Today
Had a premonition of death…?
It was morning on the last day of October 1984, i.e. 31st October. The hands of the clock were ticking somewhere between 7 and 8. There was a rosy coolness in the air. As was Indira’s habit, she kissed her grandchildren on their foreheads and sent them off to school. Priyanka felt that today her grandmother held her for a little longer than usual. Then Indira went to Rahul and softly said – If something happens to me, don’t cry at all.
So did Indira Gandhi realize her imminent death just a few hours before her assassination? Actually, since Operation Blue Star in June 1984, Indira had started feeling that death could knock at her bedside anytime. Indira She was advised to wear a bulletproof jacket and remove her Sikh security personnel, but she refused to accept both. In fact, a few weeks before the incident, Indira had proudly said, pointing towards Beant Singh, 'If I have Sikhs like him around me, I need not be afraid of anything.' But the same Beant Singh and Satwant Singh together riddled Indira with bullets at around 9 am when she was leaving her residence at 1 Safdarjung Road and heading towards her office.
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