Politics under Indira Gandi and Rajiv Gandhi

1. DEVELOPMENTS IN
1980s
CONGRESS YEARS-1980-1989

2. INDIRA GANDHI YEARS
1980-1985

3. INDIRA GANDI’S RETURN
The elections, held in January 1980, were fought primarily between Congress (I), Congress (U),
the Lok Dal, the new party floated by Charan Singh and the Socialists, and Janata, now consisting
primarily of the Jan Sangh and a handful of old Congressmen such as Jagjivan Ram and Chandra
Shekhar.
The people gave a massive mandate to Congress (I), which secured 353 out of 529 seats, that is,
a two-thirds majority .
After having been out of office for thirty -four months, Indira Gandhi was once again the prime
minister and Congress was restored to its old position as the dominant party.
But Indira Gandhi was no longer the same person she had been from 1969 to 1977. She no
longer had a firm grasp over politics and administration. Despite enjoy ing unchallenged power,
she dithered in taking significant new policy initiatives or dealing effectively with a number of
disturbing problems.

4. Sanjay Gandhi’s death while flying a stunt plane on 23 June 1980 left her shaken and further
weakened. She tried to fill his place with her elder son, Rajiv Gandhi, who was brought into
politics, got elected as an MP and then appointed as the general secretary of the party in 1983.
Despite Indira Gandhi’s total domination of the party and the government, the central
leadership of the party again faced the problem of continuous factionalism and infighting—in
fact, virtual civil war within the state units of the party and the state governments.
From the beginning of her second prime ministership Indira Gandhi faced certain intractable
problems arising out of communal, linguistic and caste conflicts; none of these was dealt with
firmly and with insight and all of them were to drag on for y ears. One of these was the growing
communalism in Punjab.

5. CRISIS IN PUNJAB
Insurgency in Punjab had begun in the early eighties and it was an armed movement largely for a
separate Sikh homeland called Khalistan based out of Punjab in India. It is believed that there were
Pakistani elements too that supported the Khalistani movement in order to weaken the country.
Akali Dal, a regional political party in Punjab, had passed the Anandpur Resolution in 1973 which
demanded more autonomy to the states, among other things. In 1982, Bhindranwale joined the Akali
Dal and launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha to implement the Anandpur Resolution.
Bhindranwale was a firebrand leader who was able to get support from the youth in the state,
especially from the rural areas. Failing to get the Anandpur Resolution implemented, he declared his
intention to carve out a semi-autonomous homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab region of India.
He stoked up emotions by increasing the rhetoric on the assault on Sikh values in India. He and his
supporters started carrying firearms at all times with them. The number of violent incidents also
increased in Punjab during this time.
In 1983, Bhindranwale fortified the Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex and started hiding there
to avoid arrest. He and his men led the campaign for Punjab’s autonomy from the temple.

6. OPERATION BLUE STAR
Operation Blue Star was carried out by the Indian Army from 1 to 10 June 1984 in order to capture Sikh leader
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his group of supporters who had lodged at the Harmandir Sahib Temple Complex in
Amritsar in Punjab.
In the wake of the operation, there was a total media blackout imposed by the government. Curfew was also
imposed on the people. Operation Blue Star had two sub-components: 1. Operation Metal to flush out the
militants holed up in the Golden Temple, 2. Operation Shop to mop up remaining extremists throughout Punjab.
The actual storming of the temple occurred on 5 June 1984 under the command of Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh
Brar. By June 7, the army had full control over the Harmandir Sahib complex. Bhindranwale was killed in the
operation along with many of his leading men.
There was a lot of anguish among the Sikh community in India and abroad over the storming of their most holy
place. The timing of the operation was also questioned since June 3, 1984, was the martyrdom day of Sikh Guru,
Guru Arjan Singh and hence a large number of devotees were present inside the temple complex.
Many Sikh soldiers in the Indian Army mutinied because of the operation. Many Sikhs resigned from administrative
positions in the government.
Instead of ending Khalistani terrorism in Punjab, the operation is said to have increased militancy in the state. It
was only in the nineties that insurgency in Punjab is said to have fizzled out.

7. EVALUATION OF INDIRA GANDHI
Indira Gandhi possessed great political skill which she continuously developed over time as she
faced new situations and challenges. For all of her political life, Indira Gandhi conducted herself
with fierce courage. Possessed of extraordinary will, as a political fighter Indira Gandhi was
tough, resolute, decisive and, when necessary , ruthless.
Though quite cautious by nature and temperament, when necessary she acted boldly, swiftly,
with a superb sense of timing, and decisively , as for example in the case of the Congress split in
1969, the Bangladesh crisis in 1971, the defiance of the US decision to send the Seventh Fleet to
the Bay of Bengal in December 1971, the creation of the Punjabi Suba in 1966, the imposition of
the Emergency in 1975, and the Janata’s persecution of her through enquiry commissions during
1977–79.
India under her leadership was one of the few countries to overcome the oil shock of the 1970s.
The success of the Green Revolution made India self-sufficient in foodgrains and broke its
dependence on food imports.

8. Indira Gandhi used her firm grasp of world politics to ensure that there was no successful overt
or covert foreign interference in India’s internal affairs. She kept India free of both the Cold War
blocs and the two superpowers. While adhering to the policy of not going nuclear, she refused
to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty even though it was sponsored by both the United
States and the Soviet Union.
She remained true to the national movement’s secular tradition and consistently opposed the
communal forces, looking upon the RSS, in particular, as a great menace to the unity and
integrity of the country and to its democratic polity . Her firm commitment to secularism was
shown by her insistence on making Dr Zakir Hussain, a Muslim, the country ’s President and
when she countermanded the order to remove from duty her Sikh security guards in October
1984, on the ground that India was a secular country.
Indira Gandhi’s major political asset was her empathy and affection for the poor, the
underprivileged and the minorities, concern for their social condition and an unmatched
capacity to communicate directly with them. The poor, in turn, almost throughout her political
career, looked upon her as their saviour and gave her immense love and trust.

9. However, in spite of all the power that she wielded for over sixteen y ears, Indira Gandhi
achieved little in terms of institutional development, administrative improvement, management
of the political system and far-reaching socio-economic change. Her crucial weakness as a
political leader lay in the absence of any strategic design and long-term perspective around
which her economic, political and administrative policies were framed.
Even the imposition of the Emergency was not part of an alternative strategic design for
managing the political system but merely an ad hoc response to a situation of crisis.
For management of the political system, or even overcoming the instability of the state, or
development of the administrative structure or at least preventing its downslide, there were no
clear-cut or specific strategies upon which to fall back and Indira Gandhi failed to evolve any of
her own.
She failed to evolve a strategic framework to deal with communalism and separatism, resulting
in her failure to deal effectively with the Punjab, Assam and Kashmir problems.

10. She concentrated on centralized authority and decision-making in the party and the government in
her hands. She systematically undermined her own party leaders who had an independent political
base of their own and chose as chief ministers persons who could not survive without her support.
One result of this was that the power and influence of the chief ministers declined over they ears.
Moreover, not having a political base of their own, these candidates were victims of continuous
factionalism in the party at the state level. Indira Gandhi was forced to replace them frequently ,
creating instability in the administration and the party organization in the state.
Her time was taken up in day -to-day fire-fighting of problems relating to the party and government
management; she had no time for evolving strategies and broader policy frameworks for dealing with
the serious problems of the country or the party .
Nevertheless, Indira Gandhi except for the period 1975–77, she functioned within the parliamentary
framework and played an important role in India remaining on the democratic path. She accepted,
even when she did not like it, the authority of the judiciary.

11. RAJIV GANDHI YEARS
(1985-1989)

12. RAJIV GANDHI BECOMES PM
Rajiv, son of Indira Gandhi became prime minister of India on the night of 31 October 1985. That
morning, Indira had begun to walk from her home when she met her fate in the person of two Sikh
guards who shot at her to take revenge for her ordering the storming of the Golden Temple to flush
out Sikh terrorists in June 1984.
By the afternoon, Indira was declared dead and, while Rajiv was away in West Bengal, senior
Congress leaders had with the concurrence of the President, Giani Zail Singh decided to ask Rajiv to
become prime minister. A reluctant Rajiv, persuading an even more reluctant Sonia, his Italian-born
wife, accepted this decision.
Rajiv Gandhi, a pilot with Indian Airlines for fourteen y ears, had kept studiously aloof from politics till
the death of his younger brother, Sanjay , in an air crash in June 1980. After Sanjay ’s death, Indira
persuaded him to help her and in June 1981 he formally entered politics by getting elected to the Lok
Sabha from Amethi, the constituency in Uttar Pradesh vacated by Sanjay ’s death.
He was placed in charge of organizing the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1982, and by all accounts did
a commendable job.

13. DELHI-SIKH RIOTS AND BHOPAL GAS
LEAK TRAGEDY
Rajiv was faced with major crises from the outset. He had hardly any time to come to terms with the personal
grief of his mother’s violent death. a horrific massacre of Sikhs in revenge for her assassination was taking place in
the city , especially on its outskirts in the ‘resettlement colonies’ where the poorer sections lived.
From 31 October, the day of Indira’s death, to 3 November, many Sikhs were attacked, their businesses and
houses looted and burnt, and around 2,800 killed
 It has also been alleged that Congress party workers and even some local-level leaders were involved in assisting
and guiding the crowd, and that the police at the local level turned a blind eye to what was going on. Thousands
of Sikhs were sheltered and protected by Hindu friends and neighbours.
The government’s delay in bringing the situation under control was because of confusion. It also took a while for
the full import of the scale of the massacre to be communicated and understood at the higher levels of the
government.
On 3 November, the day of the funeral, Rajiv visited some of the affected areas in the morning, and later the
army was called in and the violence suppressed. Many voluntary agencies, whose personnel were generally
Hindu, worked for months to bring relief to the families of victims.
Another tragedy during this time was the Bhopal gas leak tragedy , in which around 2,000 people, mostly poor
slum-dwellers, lost their lives and many thousands more were taken ill because of poisonous emissions from a
chemicals factory run by Union Carbide, a multinational company . The legal battle for compensation dragged on
for years.

14. SIX TECHNOLOGY MISSION INITIATIVES
DRINKING WATER MISSION-The aim was to provide drinking water to all Indian villages by using
satellites and the disciplines of geology , civil engineering and biochemistry for identifying, extracting
and cleaning water supplies.
LITERACY MISSION AND TOTAL LITERACY CAMPAIGN- It aimed at attacking the serious problem of
mass illiteracy which was 60 per cent of the population. This was to be achieved by making use of and
extending the television network in rural areas, as well as by using video and audio cassettes.
 IMMUNIZATION-The third mission was targeted at the immunization of pregnant women and
children with the mass campaign for immunization of children against polio.
WHITE REVOLUTION-Promoting milk production, by improving the milk yield and health of cows and
buffaloes, and this was remarkably successful.
EXPANDING EDIBLE OIL PRODUCTION- India imported a large quantity of edible oils, which added
considerably to her foreign exchange deficit and the fifth mission was charged with the task of
expanding edible oil production.
EXPANDING TELEPHONE-Bring one telephone to every village in the country by the end of the
century .

15. OTHER MEASURES UNDER RAJIV GANDI
GOVERNMENT
A big push was also given by Rajiv to India’s computerization programme. Import duties on
components were reduced so that domestic producers could enhance production, foreign
manufacturers were allowed to enter the home market so that quality and competitive prices were
ensured, and use of computers in offices and schools was encouraged. Computer software emerging
as a major foreign exchange earner.
He took the initiative to strengthen panchayati institutions by generating debate and bringing
forward legislation to make panchayat elections mandatory by giving them a constitutional sanction.
The National Perspective Plan for Women was drafted in 1988, and among its important proposals
was the reservation of 30 per cent of elected seats for women in all panchayat bodies.
Another measure directed at the rural poor was the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana or Employment Plan
which aimed at providing employment to at least one member of every rural poor family for 50–100
days in the year.

16. The new education policy focused on Operation Blackboard (which aimed at providing basic
amenities to schools) and distance education. The establishment of Navodaya Vidyalayas, aimed
at providing quality education to the children of poor rural families who were to be chosen by
merit for free education and stay in the residential schools to be set up in every district.
He launched a massive effort to clean the river Ganga which had become polluted in many
parts. He created a new Ministry of Environment and environmental clearance for big projects
was made mandatory . At the Non-Aligned Movement’s ninth summit, he placed before it the
proposal for a Planet Protection Fund to help developing countries access advanced technology
for the protection of the environment.
The Anti-Defection Act was passed in 1985 which laid down that one-third of the members of a
political party in parliament would have to change loyalties for it to be recognized as a split in a
party. Any other defections would invite expulsion from the house. This was meant to check the
tendency of horse-trading and shifting party loyalties.

17. SCANDALS UNDER RAJIV GOVERNMENT
BOFORS SCANDAL-The allegations, which first appeared on Swedish Radio, were that the equivalent of
Rs 60 crores was paid as bribes to Indian officials and Congress party members to secure the contract
for the 410 howitzer guns to Bofors company of Sweden in the face of stiff competition from a French
gun. This was a major attack on Rajiv himself with sections of the Opposition parties charging that he
and his family were the recipients of the money.
THE FAIRFAX CONTROVERSY- V.P. Singh, Rajiv’s finance minister contracted American detective agency
, Fairfax, to investigate the illegal stacking of foreign exchange in overseas banks by Indians. Big names
like Amitabh Bachchan, Industrialists Nusli Wadia of Bombay Deing and Ambani of Reliance were
reported. Rajiv Gandhi in order to save these big names transferred V.P Singh from Finance to Defence
Ministry.
HDW SUBMARINE SCANDAL- India had purchased four submarines from the HDW shipyard in West
Germany in 1981 when Indira Gandhi was the PM. Now when India wanted to place a further order for
two more submarines and asked for discount the shipyard company declined saying that it to had to
pay a heavy 7 per cent commission on the sale to the congress government back in 1981. V.P. Singh,
who was Defence Minister, without speaking to Rajiv, ordered an enquiry. There was criticism of
Singh’s conduct in the cabinet meeting, and he soon resigned from the government. The Opposition
and the Press declared this as proof of V.P. Singh’s honesty and Rajiv’s attempts at a cover-up.

18. LTTE AND RAJIV GANDHI
The problem began when thousands of Tamils from Sri Lanka fled to Tamil Nadu in India in 1983 when
the Sri Lankan government launched heavy repression on Jaffna, the base of the Liberation Tigers of
the Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an organization fighting for Tamil autonomy and later, independence from Sri
Lanka.
Public opinion in Tamil Nadu, whose people spoke the same language as the refugees, was strongly in
favour of India doing something to help the Sri Lankan Tamils. Passions were further roused when Sri
Lanka imposed a blockade on Jaffna, preventing daily necessities from reaching people.
India sent supplies in fishing boats but the Sri Lankan Navy stopped them. This was followed by air-
dropping of supplies by Indian transport planes, which carried Indian and foreign journalists as well.
Sri Lanka realized it had gone too far and permitted supplies by boat. But the problem of Tamil
insurgency was continuing, and the Sri Lankan government realized that no country other than India
could help.

19. RAJIV GANDHI’S ASSASSINATION
President Jayewardene approached Rajiv Gandhi and the negotiations led to an accord in July
1987 by which the Tamils within Sri Lanka would be merged into a single province, the LTTE
would be required to surrender and the Indian army would come to the aid of the Sri Lankan
government. The accord failed to take off because the LTTE refused to surrender.
The Indian army sent to Sri Lanka was in an unpleasant position as the Tamils resented it
because it was disarming the LTTE, and Sri Lankans were resenting it for being a foreign army .
The situation got messier with Premadasa succeeding Jayewardene and asking the Indian
government to withdraw its army . Rajiv agreed to a phased withdrawal and the soldiers started
to come home fully only after the 1989 elections. The Sri Lankan imbroglio was to cost Rajiv his
life.
0n 21st May 1991, during the onset of next elections, Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning near
Madras during elections. A young woman came forward to greet him triggered a bomb that she
had strapped to her waist blowing down 46 year old Rajiv into pieces. Widely believed, and later
proven, it was the handiwork of LTTE militants.