Indira
Gandhi
1917-1984
India is the world's most populous democracy, but for the first few decades
of its existence, it looked a lot like a hereditary monarchy.
Indira Gandhi was the daughter of
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, so she grew up with
power all around her. After Nehru died, power devolved onto a caretaker PM
for a couple of years until Indira was ready to take over in 1966. She
served as India's third prime minister until 1975, when she was
investigated for corruption. Before the law could bring her down, she
used emergency powers to shut it down and run India by decree for a
couple of years. Eventually the opposition pried her loose, but she
still had enough support to put her back in the driver's seat within a
couple of years.
In the 1980s India faced ongoing unrest from Sikhs, to
which she responded brutally. In
1984, she was assassinated by Sikh nationalists among her bodyguards.
Her son became the next prime minister.
She acquired the surname Gandhi from her husband, who was no relation to the famous one.
SITE INDEX