| 3rd Prime Minister of India | |
|---|---|
| In office 14 January 1980 – 31 October 1984 |
|
| President | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Zail Singh |
| Preceded by | Charan Singh |
| Succeeded by | Rajiv Gandhi |
| In office 24 January 1966 – 24 March 1977 |
|
| President | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Zakir Husain V. V. Giri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
| Deputy | Morarji Desai |
| Preceded by | Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Morarji Desai |
| Minister of External Affairs | |
| In office 9 March 1984 – 31 October 1984 |
|
| Preceded by | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| Succeeded by | Rajiv Gandhi |
| In office 22 August 1967 – 14 March 1969 |
|
| Preceded by | M. C. Chagla |
| Succeeded by | Dinesh Singh |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 14 January 1980 – 15 January 1982 |
|
| Preceded by | Chidambaram Subramaniam |
| Succeeded by | R. Venkataraman |
| In office 30 November 1975 – 20 December 1975 |
|
| Preceded by | Swaran Singh |
| Succeeded by | Bansi Lal |
| Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office 27 June 1970 – 4 February 1973 |
|
| Preceded by | Yashwantrao Chavan |
| Succeeded by | Uma Shankar Dikshit |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 16 July 1969 – 27 June 1970 |
|
| Preceded by | Morarji Desai |
| Succeeded by | Yashwantrao Chavan |
| Minister of Information and Broadcasting | |
| In office 9 June 1964 – 24 January 1966 |
|
| Prime Minister | Lal Bahadur Shastri |
| Preceded by | Satya Narayan Sinha |
| Succeeded by | Kodardas Kalidas Shah |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Indira Priyadarshini Nehru 19 November 1917 Allahabad, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India) |
| Died | 31 October 1984 (aged 66) New Delhi, India |
| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Resting place | Shakti Sthal |
| Political party | Indian National Congress and Congress(I) |
| Spouse(s) | Feroze Gandhi (m. 1942; his death 1960) |
| Relations | See Nehru-Gandhi family |
| Children |
|
| Parents | Jawaharlal Nehru (Father) Kamala Kaul (Mother) |
| Alma mater | Visva-Bharati University Somerville College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Awards |  Bharat Ratna (1971) |
| Signature |  |
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi ( 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indianstateswoman and central figure of the Indian National Congress.[1] She was the first and, to date, the only female Prime Minister of India. Gandhi belonged to the Nehru–Gandhi family and was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Indian prime minister. Despite her surname Gandhi, she is not related to the family of Mahatma Gandhi. She served as Prime Minister from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984, making her the second longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father.
Gandhi served as her father’s personal assistant and hostess during his tenure as Prime Minister between 1947 and 1964. She was elected Congress President in 1959. Upon her father’s death in 1964 she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and became a member of Lal Bahadur Shastri’s cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting.[2] In the Congress Party’s parliamentary leadership election held in early 1966 (upon the death of Shastri) she defeated her rival, Morarji Desai, to become leader, and thus succeeded Shastri as Prime Minister of India.
As Prime Minister, Gandhi was known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralisation of power. She went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan, which resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh, as well as increasing India’s influence to the point where it became the regional hegemon of South Asia. Citing fissiparous tendencies and in response to a call for revolution, Gandhi instituted a state of emergency from 1975 to 1977 where basic civil liberties were suspended and press was censored. In 1980, she returned to power after free and fair elections. She was assassinated by Sikh nationalists in 1984, less than a month before her 67th birthday. The assassins, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, were both shot by other security guards. Satwant Singh recovered from his injuries and was executed after being convicted of murder.
In 1999, Indira Gandhi was named “Woman of the Millennium” in an online poll organised by the BBC
Latest Govt Job & Exam Updates: