Today is the memorial day of India’s most powerful Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi is counted among the most powerful and important leaders not only in India but also in the world. He was born on 19 November 1917. Indira Gandhi got the name Indira from her grandparents. But as a child everyone used to call him Priyadarshini. He got the child of patriotism from his mother Kamala Nehru and father Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
He was inculcated with patriotism at an early age. Because his entire family was the leader in the freedom struggle. From his childhood, he developed love for Swadesh and Swadeshi. Even when he was very young, he used to buy exotic toys and clothes. He refused to wear an expensive frock brought for him by a guest from abroad. Seeing the ongoing movements of grandfather Motilal Nehru and father Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for the freedom of the country, he felt that he should also participate in this movement. At the age of just 13, i.e. in the year 1930, he established an organization called Vanarsena with his companions and worked to convey the message of the leaders.
Processions were taken out, slogans were given against the British. She had her initial education in Allahabad, Pune and then went to Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan for her education. There he acquired various arts along with education. Since his father Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was a pioneer in the freedom movement, he was often in jail, while Indira used to take care of her mother Kamala Nehru. When Kamala Nehru died on February 18, 1936, she was deeply saddened. To recover from this suffering, his father Pandit Nehru sent him to study abroad.
On 26th February 1942, after completing her education from abroad, she married Feroze Gandhi, an eminent and handsome young man. After marriage, Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi participated in the freedom movement. After the independence of the country, she indulged in the world. Her time was spent in raising her two sons, Rajiv and Sanjeev. Later she became active in Congress. In 1959, she became the president of the National Congress. During this time he worked a lot to strengthen the party organization. Even though her husband Feroze Gandhi died in 1960 and her father Pandit Nehru in 1964, she did not give up. She stood firm even in difficult situations.
Lal Bahadur Shastri gave him the responsibility of Minister of Information Broadcasting and Broadcasting in the Cabinet and he fulfilled it. She became the Prime Minister of the country on 24 January 1966 after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. She became the first woman Prime Minister of India. He took over the post of Prime Minister but at that time the situation of the country was very bad. There was a war between India and Pakistan. There was a big drought in the country. The United States refused to renew the PL 480 agreement on food aid. While trying to find a way out of this economic situation, the 1967 general elections came and the Congress had to accept defeat in many states. The strength of Congress in the Lok Sabha decreased. So the syndicate leaders of the party took it up. He wanted Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to govern as per his wishes. Due to this, Indira Gandhi and her had a dispute which led to a vertical split in the Congress.
There was a stand-off between the syndicate of the elders and the syndicate of the youth. Young leaders in Congress supported Indira Gandhi. In the presidential election, Indira Gandhi defeated the syndicate candidate Neelam Sanjeev Reddy and made VV Giri the President. Indira Gandhi became powerful as the syndicate was severely defeated. He made changes in the cabinet. He took the finance account of Deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai and showed Morarji Desai the way out. After that he took many bold decisions. She created a sensation by taking the decision to nationalize 14 banks and cancel the salaries of the institutions. He single-handedly won the early elections held in 1971. In this election, he gave the slogan of eradicating poverty. His announcement was very popular. The poor gave him plenty of votes. At this time, a big conflict started between West Pakistan and East Pakistan. One crore refugees came to India from East Pakistan. It put a strain on the economy. West Pakistan declared war against India because India was helping East Pakistan. America threatened India and sent its seventh armada to the Bay of Bengal, but they were not afraid, they believed in the people and the soldiers, and on the strength of their belief, India defeated Pakistan and gave birth to a new nation called Bangladesh. One crore soldiers of Pakistan surrendered to India. The world took note of the courage and leadership qualities he showed at this time.
She emerged as a powerful leader in world politics. His popularity reached the peak in the country as well. Opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee likened her to Durga. In 1975, he merged Sikkim with India and in 1976, he made the country self-sufficient in nuclear energy by nuclear explosion. However, the emergency imposed on the country by him on 26 June 1975 was not liked by the people, so he had to accept defeat in the elections in 1977, but after three years in 1980, he won with a majority. In 1984, Khalistanist militants staged a sit-in at the holy Golden Temple in Punjab. Their demand was to create an independent Khalistan country by partitioning the country for the second time, realizing that if they are not defeated soon, there is a great threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the country, so they decided to launch Operation Blue Star to flush out these militants from the Golden Temple. Many people advised him not to take this decision as many people advised him not to take this decision as the militants would not hesitate to take their lives because of this campaign but he took this decision for the integrity of the country.
Militants were flushed out by Operation Blue Star in the Golden Temple. Many militants were eliminated. Bhindranwale, a militant, was killed in the operation. Hurt by this campaign, his bodyguards fired at him on 31 October 1984, which met his tragic end. His death spread not only in India but also in the world. Heartfelt tributes to Indira Gandhi who sacrificed her life for the sovereignty and integrity of the country on Memorial Day!
✒️Shyam Basappa Thanedar(Daund District Pune)mo:-9922546295
