Indira Gandhi Becomes Prime Minister of India
Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India on January 19, 1966, making history as the first woman to hold this position in the country. Her appointment marked a significant milestone for women's rights and political representation in the 20th century. Born on November 19, 1917, in Allahabad, she was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, and played a crucial role in the Indian National Congress during the independence movement against British rule. After her father's death in 1964, Indira held the position of Minister of Information and Broadcasting until she ascended to Prime Minister following Lal Bahadur Shastri's death.
Her leadership spanned two terms, marked by both achievements and controversies, including the declaration of a national state of emergency in 1975, which led to significant political repression. Although she faced political setbacks in 1977, she returned to power in 1980. Indira Gandhi's later years in office were defined by her response to a Sikh separatist movement and a military action at the Golden Temple, which resulted in numerous casualties and contributed to her assassination on October 31, 1984. Her legacy remains complex and impactful in the context of Indian politics and women's leadership.
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Indira Gandhi Becomes Prime Minister of India
Indira Gandhi Becomes Prime Minister of India
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi became the prime minister of India on January 19, 1966, the first woman to hold that position. It was a milestone, not just for India but for the progress of women's rights in the 20th century, as more women came to occupy positions of political power.
India, once part of the British Empire, became independent in 1947, and Jawaharlal Nehru became the nation's first prime minister. Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, was born on November 19, 1917, in Allahabad. She attended Visva-Bharati University in Bengal, India, and Oxford University in England. Indira was active in the Indian National Congress, which conducted nonviolent resistence to British rule, and in 1942 she married Feroze Gandhi, another activist in the independence movement. When her father became the prime minister in 1947 she was constantly at his side and was his closest companion, for she was his only child and his wife had died in 1936. Thanks to her father's sponsorship, Indira joined the executive body of the Congress Party (which succeeded the Indian National Congress) in 1955 and later served as president of the Congress Party.
Nehru died in May of 1964, but Indira continued her political career, securing the post of minister of information and broadcasting in the administration of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastri died in January 1966 and Gandhi's historic succession to the post took place on January 19 of that same year. Despite a split in her party, she won a new election in 1971 and served as prime minister of India until 1977. Her leadership was marked by several controversial events, including her declaration of a national state of emergency in 1975 in order to defeat a conviction for violating the election laws and to repress thousands of dissidents. Gandhi lost in the elections of 1977 because of these unpopular actions but was returned to power in the election of 1980. During her final years as prime minister, she tried to suppress a Sikh separatist movement by sending troops to attack the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine. More than 450 people were killed there, and this led directly to Indira's assassination on October 31, 1984, by Sikh members of her personal bodyguard.