Lal Bahadur Shastri: India became independent, when Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, raised the national flag on the ramparts of red fort on 15 August 1947. He was responsible for initiating the process of industrialization and planned development of the country. Chinese aggression on the northern border in 1962 was a rude shock for him and perhaps he succumbed to it, when he breathed his last on May 27, 1964. Thereafter, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was his most trusted lieutenant and was always with him in thick and thin was sworn in as the prime minister of India. Lal Bahadur Shastri was a popular leader. He provided free hand to the defence services during the Indo Pakistan war of 1965, which resulted in substantial gains by the Indian Forces in all sectors, including Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan. However, cease fire was declared on 23 September 1965 under a United Nations resolution, sponsored by United States and Russia for avoiding further escalation of the conflict. Subsequently, on the initiative of Alexei Kosygin prime minister of USSR, Lal Bahadur Shastri, prime minister of India and General Ayub Khan, president of Pakistan met at Tashkand in January 1966 for working out a permanent settlement of the issues involved, where under pressure from the United Nations, USA and USSR, India and Pakistan signed an agreement on 10 January 1966, to release the conquered regions and to return to the 1949 ceasefire line in Kashmir. Lal Bahadur Shastri collapsed in Tashkand on 11 January 1966 and the actual causes of his death are still shrouded in mystery.
Indira Gandhi: Indira Gandhi, daughter of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Kamla Nehru was born in 1917. She was married to Feroze Gandhi in 1942. They had two sons- Rajeev Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi. Feroze Gandhi was a freedom fighter and was close to the Nehru family. He was also the publisher of family newspapers National Herald and Navjivan from Lucknow. Feroze Gandhi died in 1960. Indira Gandhi became minister for information and broadcasting in the cabinet of Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964. When Lal Bahadur Shastri died at Tashkand in January 1966, Morarji Desai, who was a senior congress leader staked his claim for the office of the prime minister. At that time, the high command of the congress was dominated by a group of senior congressmen led by Kamraj Nadar, commonly referred to as the syndicate. The syndicate was averse to the aspirations of a strong and rigid person like Morarji Desai and chose to back a seemingly pliable Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi defeated Morarji Desai in the leadership election and became the prime minister of India on 24 January 1966.
Rise of Indira Gandhi: During 1967 to 1971 Indira Gandhi enjoyed a large majority in the parliament as also in the Congress Party. Gradually, she concentrated most of the powers of the central government in the prime minister’s office, thereby, substantially, reducing the role of the cabinet, as also that of the parliament. Prime Minister’s office gradually promoted the gospel of committed bureaucracy, which helped in smooth implementation of the social and political programmes of the ruling party. Thereafter, fourteen commercial banks, which controlled 85% of the bank deposits of the country, were suddenly nationalized on 19 July 1969 for opening up large avenues of employment and credit for the socially and economically neglected sections of the society. During the election of the President of India in 1969, the candidate chosen by the syndicate of the congress party was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Indira Gandhi tried to delay the nomination, but was outvoted. In the meantime, VV Giri, who was the vice-president of India since 1967 and was officiating as president of India after the death of president Zakir Hussain in May 1969, resigned from his post on 20 July 1969 and decided to contest the election for the office of the president as an independent candidate. Indira Gandhi looked at it as an opportunity. She had signed the nomination papers of the congress candidate N Sanjiva Reddy, but did not issue any whip to the party legislators. A day before the poll, she called on all eligible members of her party to vote for the office of the president in accordance with the voice of their conscience. Subsequetly, Indira Gandhi voted for VV Giri and sensing the appeal of Indira Gandhi, most of the party members also voted for VV Giri. VV Giri was elected as President of India and the defeat of Sanjiva Reddy led to the splitting of the Indian National Congress into Congress ( O ) and Congress ( R ).
The split of the congress party was followed by abolition of privy purses of the princes in September 1970, which was also a populist measure. She was extremely popular at that time in the masses and in the party, due to her social and economic programmes. Thereafter, Indira Gandhi won the general elections to the parliament with a large majority in 1971 with the help of her “garibi hatao” compaign. All this was capped by spectacular victory of the armed forces during Bangladesh war in December 1971. That was the high water mark of her popularity, echoed in the words of congress president Dev Kant Burua, “Indira Gandhi is India and India is Indira Gandhi”.
Beginnings of the slide: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Unfortunately, Indira Gandhi had bogged down into that phase. She had become imperious. She made the parliament and the cabinet ineffective. She started taking controversial decisions. She decided to appoint AN Roy as Chief Justice of the supreme court, superseding three senior judges. She would appoint and replace chief ministers of states at will. Gradually, by the end of 1972, the popularity of Indira Gandhi started moving downhill. Sheltering millions of Bangladeshis in refugee camps was a tremendous financial burden. Failure of monsoons in 1972 and 1973 led to famine, food scarcity and inflation. Railway strike in 1974 was ruthlessly suppressed. Social and economic discontent were beginning to surface in almost all parts of the country. The brain storming session of the congress workers at Narora in 1974, looked at all the issues involved and mooted out a thirteen point programme for pushing the socialist agenda of the congress party. The crash programme included distribution of land and living accommodation to landless agricultural labour, tribals and other economically weaker sections of the society.
Jai Prakash Narain: Jai Prakash Narain was a freedom fighter and a popular socialist leader. He picked up the gauntlet during the agitation in Bihar in 1974. He highlighted the dictatorial tendencies of Indira Gandhi and gave the clarion call for a total revolution, to all political parties, students, farmers, landless labour and all people belonging to the deprived sections of the society. Gradually, the movement picked up and in February 1975 he gave a call to the government servants, army and police not to accept the unjust orders of the government. He also asked the people to remain prepared for dharnas, gheraos and demonstrations for paralyzing the government. On March 6, 1975, he led a long march of eight kilometers through Delhi and presented a charter of demands to the speaker and called for Indira Gandhi’s resignation.
Proclamation of internal emergency: Indira Gandhi had defeated Raj Narain in the parliamentary elections in 1971 for the Rai Bareilly seat. The election was challenged by Raj Narain in Allahabad High Court. The court found Indira Gandhi guilty on the charges of misuse of government machinery during the election compaign and declared her election null and void and unseated her from her seat in the Lok Sabha. She challenged the decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court. The supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court on 24 June 1975. Thereafter, Jai Prakash Narain addressed a mass meeting on 25 June 1975, at Ram Lila Grounds in Delhi and announced a programme for civil disobedience in Delhi and other cities and appealed to the army and the police to disobey the illegal orders of the government. Looking to the imminent danger to the security of India, threatened by internal disturbances, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed the President of India declared a state of internal emergency on the advice of the prime minister on the night of 25 June 1975.