India's first female Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was the second-longest serving prime minister. Indira Gandhi completed her education in India as well as in England, and later joined the Congress party in 1938.
Political Journey:
Her journey in politics officially began when she became the party president in 1959. Later, her journey continued as she took charge as an MP and was elected to the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Indian Parliament) in 1964.
Indira Gandhi took charge as the prime minister in 1966 for the first time and in 1980, she became the prime minister again and remained in power until her assassination in 1984.
Three important decisions taken by Indira Gandhi:
1971 India-Pakistan war
When Pakistan attacked on India airbase in 1971, Indira Gandhi announced war against the neighboring country. It was her strong vision and military planning that India won the war, which was touted as the moral war, creating another nation, Bangladesh, which changed the geographical map of the world overnight.
Emergency:
When Indira Gandhi defeated the Socialist party in 1971, she was charged with violating the election laws by her opponents. The final verdict on this was given by the Allahabad court in June 1975. The court disqualified Indira Gandhi from parliament and barred her from holding any position for the next six years.
Soon after the verdict, Indira Gandhi announced the emergency and it was formally announced by the then president, Fakhruddin Ali, under Article 352 of the Constitution. It came into effect on June 25, 1975. The Emergency lasted till March 21, 1977. Later, when the elections were announced in 1977, Gandhi lost the elections.
Operation Blue Star:
In the 1980s, Indian political integrity was threatened. Several Sikh separatists from Punjab demanded a separate state. Due to which the tension between the government and the Sikhs increased, and in June 1984, under Operation Blue Star, the Indian army attacked the separatists from the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex at Amritsar. At least 450 Sikhs were killed.
And Indira Gandhi was assassinated five months later by her Sikh bodyguard in reaction to the Golden Temple attack. Later, Indira Gandhi was titled as the Woman of the Millennium in a 1999 by BBC.
Today, on her death anniversary, people from across the country have paid tribute to the Iron Lady of India.
