Remembering THE IRON LADY

India has had a fair share of political happenings that have resulted in a ‘rupture’ of sorts, in the way the nation was being led. The 90’s were tumultuous times for the nation when economy was at its lowest, governments fell and social structure was being shaken. But perhaps, the biggest political happening, since Independence, was the cold blooded murder of the first, and till now the only, female Prime Minister of the nation - Indira Gandhi. Since that day, 38 years ago, political commentators and observers have argued about India that could have been had Indira been alive; simply because the years of work that were put in to develop her as an ideal ‘leader’ and not a ‘constitutional post holder’ may not come to pass again.

Known for her ability to take hard decisions and to stand by them, Indira left a grand legacy to carry forward, a legacy which was carried ahead, for a short time, by her son, who groomed, like his mother, young leaders like current Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. Indira had huge shoes to fill in for the Congress and Gandhi family, but devoid of Indira’s ‘guardianship’, the current leadership of Congress does not appear to be able to carry forward the grand legacy left by Indira. But while Indira may have passed on, her ideology and abilities are perhaps being displayed by Ashok Gehlot, a three time CM of Rajasthan, who like her mentor Indira, with whom he came in contact in his twenties, is known for running a ‘no-nonsense’ government and standing by the decisions taken in public interest. But what makes Indira relevant even today is the fact that even after 38 years since her demise, Indira is still ‘relevant’ in the current political clime. In 1999, Indira Gandhi was named “Woman of the Millennium” in an online poll organised by the BBC. In 2020, Gandhi was named by Time magazine among the world’s 100 powerful women who defined the last century. In fact, such was her ‘influence’ that a whole generation of female children in Afghanistan was named Indira! On her 38th death anniversary, First India remembers the ‘Iron Lady of India’!