Indira Gandhi, the first and the only female prime minister of India, was born on this day in 1917 in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad. Political leaders from across the spectrum paid rich tributes to the ‘Iron Lady of India’ on her 102nd birth anniversary.
“Tributes to our former PM Smt. Indira Gandhi Ji on her birth anniversary,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former president Pranab Mukherjee, and former vice-president Hamid Ansari Tuesday paid homage to Indira at Shakti Sthal in New Delhi.
Remembering Indira Gandhi’s contribution to the Indian economy and foreign politics, Congress tweeted, “On her birth anniversary we pay homage to India’s first female Prime Minister, the Late Smt Indira Gandhi. Her will and determination led our country to great heights. Her contributions to India’s national security, economy & foreign policy will always be cherished.”
The party also shared a video where women described the qualities that they would like to emulate from India’s first female Prime Minister. Congress MPs and party workers were also in attendance at the ceremony in New Delhi.
Born to the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala Nehru, Indira served as the Prime Minister of the country for three terms. She was the second longest-serving PM after her father. During her tenure, Gandhi took decisions like the nationalization of banks and abolishing the privy purses of the princely states in the country. In one of the darkest phase of independent India, Indira had imposed a 21-month-long Emergency across the country in 1975.
सशक्त, समर्थ नेतृत्व और अद्भुत प्रबंधन क्षमता की धनी, भारत को एक सशक्त देश के रूप में, स्थापित करने में अहम भूमिका रखने वाली लौह-महिला और मेरी प्यारी दादी स्व० श्रीमती इंदिरा गांधी जी की जयंती पर शत् शत् नमन।#IndiraGandhi pic.twitter.com/7ezAIsSQ9N
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 19, 2019
From ushering in green revolution to the 1971 war victory to the first nuclear test at Pokhran, India witnessed several defining moments under her leadership.
Indira was assassinated by her own bodyguards at her residence in Delhi on October 31, 1984 in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, when the Indian army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar to flush out armed Sikh militants.