Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984, by two of her bodyguards in retaliation for the military action at the Golden Temple as part of Operation Blue Star.
Gandhi, the only woman prime minister of the country, had introduced reforms such as the nationalisation of banks and the abolition of privy purses of the royal families among others. She had also spearheaded the 1971 India-Pakistan War and Operation Blue Star. Known as the Iron Lady of India, Gandhi was one of the most popular and formidable leaders of India.
On her death anniversary, here’s a look at some facts about the former Prime Minister.
Born on November 19, 1917, in Allahabad, Indira Gandhi was the only child of independent India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Her mother, Kamala Nehru, was also a freedom fighter and member of the Indian National Congress.
Gandhi attended Modern School in Delhi, St Cecilia’s and St Mary’s Convent in Allahabad. She also went to the International School of Geneva, the Ecole Nouvelle in Bex, and the Pupil’s Own School in Poona and Bombay.
Gandhi also studied at Shantiniketan where legendary writer and poet Rabindranath Tagore named her Priyadarshini.
On March 26, 1942, she married Feroze Gandhi at Anand Bhavan following Adi Dharm rituals. The couple was blessed with two sons -- Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi.
Indira Gandhi unofficially assisted her father during his tenure as the prime minister of India in the 1950s. In 1960, she was elected as the president of the Indian National Congress.
After her father’s death, Gandhi served as the information and broadcasting minister in Lal Bahadur Shastri’s cabinet in 1964.
After the sudden death of Shastri in 1966, the Congress legislative party chose Gandhi as the leader over Moraji Desai. She formed the government with Desai as deputy prime minister and finance minister.
Gandhi served as the prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977. She swept back to power in January 1980 and remained the PM until her death in 1984.
She became the second-longest-serving prime minister of the country after her father.
In 1975, Gandhi was convicted of an election offence which resulted in her being barred from politics for six years. She refused to step down from her post as the prime minister, resulting in massive protests and unrest. Gandhi arrested most of the Opposition leaders and declared a state of Emergency in the country. She finally called for elections in 1977. Gandhi lost the elections.
Gandhi supported the liberation movement in East Pakistan and went to war with Pakistan. Her move resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh.
She was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, after the Bangladesh Liberation War.
In 1984, Gandhi ordered the army to take over the Golden Temple in Amritsar under Operation Blue Star. The Harmandir Sahib was then under the control of extremists led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who wanted an independent state for Sikhs. Operation Blue Star resulted in bloodshed and offended the Sikh community.
She was assassinated by her two bodyguards outside her home, who sought revenge for the bloodshed at Amritsar. The two bodyguards fired 31 bullets at Gandhi.
In 1999, a BBC poll named Gandhi as the 'Woman of the Millennium'.
