THE STORY OF RISE OF NEHRU WITH DYNASTY POLITICS, GRADUAL DECAY OF DYNASTY, GENERATION AFTER OTHER, ENDING IN COMPLETE ANTI NATIONAL, ANTI HINDU BREAKING INDIA GROUP : 1. The official history has always downplayed the grave injustice that was done to the ‘Iron Man of India’ – Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. It’s not that the official history does not mention the emergence of Sardar Patel and not Jawaharlal Nehru as the overwhelming choice of the Congress party to lead India after independence but it has been reduced to mere footnotes and nothing more. 2. Perhaps, Gandhi wanted both Nehru and Patel to provide leadership to the country. He used his veto power in favour of Nehru because he feared Nehru could cause problems in the way of India’s independence if he was not given the chance to become Prime Minister.
OPINION : 01/06/2019 : 1812.
Ref : 1. Why Gandhi opted for Nehru and not Sardar Patel for PM? : North lines : August 17, 2017 : INDIA TV.
Sub : THE STORY OF RISE OF NEHRU WITH DYNASTY POLITICS, GRADUAL DECAY OF DYNASTY, GENERATION AFTER OTHER, ENDING IN COMPLETE ANTI NATIONAL, ANTI HINDU BREAKING INDIA GROUP :
1. The official history has always downplayed the grave injustice that was done to the ‘Iron Man of India’ – Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. It’s not that the official history does not mention the emergence of Sardar Patel and not Jawaharlal Nehru as the overwhelming choice of the Congress party to lead India after independence but it has been reduced to mere footnotes and nothing more.
2. Perhaps, Gandhi wanted both Nehru and Patel to provide leadership to the country. He used his veto power in favour of Nehru because he feared Nehru could cause problems in the way of India’s independence if he was not given the chance to become Prime Minister.
"Why Gandhi opted for Nehru and not Sardar Patel for PM?"
According to this official history, Jawaharlal Nehru was elected as the first Prime Minister of India and Sardar Patel became his deputy and it was all done purely on merit.
"The official history has always downplayed the grave injustice that was done to the ‘Iron Man of India’ – Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. It’s not that the official history does not mention the emergence of Sardar Patel and not Jawaharlal Nehru as the overwhelming choice of the Congress party to lead India after independence but it has been reduced to mere footnotes and nothing more" .
REVISIT :
The entire rank and file of the Congress looked at Sardar Patel as the most deserving candidate to be sworn in as independent India’s first Prime Minister, given his proven track record of being an able administrator and a no-nonsense politician. Then what really went wrong? To find out the answer, we need to rewind back to 1946.
By 1946, it had become quite clear that India’s independence was only a matter of time now. The Second World War had come to an end and the British rulers had started thinking in terms of transferring power to Indians.
An interim government was to be formed which was to be headed by the Congress president as Congress had won the maximum number of seats in the 1946 elections. All of a sudden, the post of Congress president became very crucial as it was this very person who was going to become the first Prime Minister of independent India.
At that time, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was the president of Congress party. In fact, he was the president for the last six years as elections could not be held for the Congress president’s post since 1940 due to Quit India movement, the Second World War and the fact that most of the leaders were behind bars.
Azad was also interested in fighting and winning election for the Congress president’s post as he, too, had ambitions to become the PM, but he was told in no uncertain terms by Mahatma Gandhi that he does not approve of a second term for a sitting Congress president and Azad had to fall in line ,albeit reluctantly. Not only this, Gandhi made it very clear to everybody that Nehru was his preferred choice for the Congress president’s position.
The last date for the nominations for the post of the President of Congress, and thereby the first Prime Minister of India, was April 29, 1946.
And the nominations were to be made by 15 state/regional Congress committees. Despite Gandhi’s well-known preference for Nehru as Congress president, not a single Congress committee nominated Nehru’s name.
On the contrary, 12 out of 15 Congress committees nominated Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. The remaining three Congress committees did not nominate any body’s name. Obviously, the overwhelming majority was in favour of Sardar Patel.
*ACHARYA J.B.KRIPALANI WITH NEHRU AND SARDAR
It was a challenge to Mahatma Gandhi as well. He instructed Acharya J B kripalani to get some proposers for Nehru from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) members despite knowing fully well that only Pradesh Congress Committees were authorized to nominate the president.
In deference to Gandhi’s wish, Kripalani convinced a few CWC members to propose Nehru’s name for party president.
It’s not that Gandhi was not aware of the immorality of this exercise. He had fully realized that what he was trying to bring about was wrong and totally unfair.
In fact, he tried to make Nehru understand the reality. He conveyed to Nehru that no PCC has nominated his name and that only a few CWC members have nominated him. A shell-shocked Nehru was defiant and made it clear that he will not play second fiddle to any body.
A disappointed Gandhi gave into Nehru’s obduracy and asked Sardar Patel to withdraw his name. Sardar Patel had immense respect for Gandhi and he withdrew his candidature without wasting any time. And it paved the way for the coronation of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru as India’s first Prime Minister.
But why did Gandhi overlook the overwhelming support for Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel? Why was he so enamoured with Nehru?
When Dr Rajendra Prasad heard of Sardar Patel’s withdrawal of nomination, he was disappointed and remarked that Gandhi had once again sacrificed his trusted lieutenant in favour of the ‘glamorous Nehru’.
Was it the ‘glamour’ and ‘sophistication’ of Nehru that floored Gandhi so much that he did not hesitate in doing a grave injustice to Patel?
The answer to this question is not that simple. But a closer analysis of Gandhi’s approach towards Patel and Nehru throws light over a few facts that can decipher the mystery.
There is no denying the fact that Gandhi had a ‘soft corner’ for Nehru since the beginning and he had preferred Nehru over Sardar Patel at least twice before 1946 for the post of Congress president. It
happened in 1929 as well as in 1937.
Gandhi was always impressed with the modern outlook of Nehru. In comparison to Nehru, Sardar Patel was a little orthodox and Gandhi thought India needed a person who was modern in his approach.
But more than anything, Gandhi always knew that Sardar Patel would never defy him. He was not so convinced about Nehru. Gandhi’s apprehensions came true when Nehru made it clear to him that he was not willing to play second fiddle to anybody.
"Perhaps, Gandhi wanted both Nehru and Patel to provide leadership to the country. He used his veto power in favour of Nehru because he feared Nehru could cause problems in the way of India’s independence if he was not given the chance to become Prime Minister."
"Some analysts have also claimed that Nehru threatened to split the Congress in case he was not made Prime Minister."
"According to these analysts, Nehru coerced Gandhi into supporting him by saying that if he split the Congress, the entire independence plan would go awry as the British would get an excuse in delaying independence by raising the question as to who should be handed over the reins of power, Congress with Nehru or Congress minus Nehru."
"Gandhi must have thought that it would be safe to ask Sardar Patel for making the sacrifice than to reason with a power-smitten Nehru. In fact, he had commented that Nehru had gone power-mad."
So, we can conclude that Gandhi chose Nehru over Patel because of two main reasons:
1. Gandhi believed a foreign educated Nehru with modern thoughts had an edge over Patel who, according to him, was orthodox in his thoughts.
2. "Gandhi feared Nehru would revolt in case he was denied PM’s post and that would give the British an excuse to delay transfer of power. On the other hand, he was fully convinced of Sardar Patel’s loyalty. He knew Sardar Patel was a true patriot and would never play a spoilsport."
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"But Gandhi’s decision proved too costly for the nation." :
1. First of all, Gandhi introduced the concept of forced decisions by the so-called ‘high-commands’ that usually means overruling state units. This practice, now being followed across the political spectrum, has negated the very concept of inner party democracy. Nehru’s follies on Kashmir and China proved beyond doubt the fact that Gandhi committed a mistake in backing Nehru by showing utter disregard to overwhelming support from the majority of PCCs for Sardar Patel.
2. Even two known critics of Sardar Patel conceded the point that Gandhi’s decision to chose Nehru over Patel was erroneous.
3. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad confessed in his autobiography that was published posthumously in 1959, “It was a mistake on my part that I did not support Sardar Patel. We differed on many issues but I am convinced that if he had succeeded me as Congress President he would have seen that the Cabinet Mission Plan was successfully implemented. He would have never committed the mistake of Jawaharlal which gave Mr. Jinnah an opportunity of sabotaging the Plan. I can never forgive myself when I think that if I had not committed these mistakes, perhaps the history of the last ten years would have been different.”
*C. Rajgopalachary WITH NEHRU
4. Similarly, C Rajgopalachary who blamed Sardar Patel for depriving him of the first president ship of independent India, wrote, “Undoubtedly it would have been better if Nehru had been asked to be the Foreign Minister and Patel made the Prime Minister. I too fell into the error of believing that Jawaharlal was the more enlightened person of the two… A myth had grown about Patel that he would be harsh towards Muslims. This was a wrong notion but it was the prevailing prejudice.”
1. But questions can be raised over Sardar Patel’s surrender as well.
2. Who was he more loyal to? To an individual, to an organization or to his motherland? When he was convinced that Nehru was not fit enough to give the much-needed guidance that a nascent country so desperately wanted, why did he not object even once to the foisting of Nehru as India’s first Prime Minister?
3. History has proved it beyond doubt that had Patel been the PM in place of Nehru, the country would not have faced the humiliation of 1962 war.
4. Days before his death, Patel had written a letter to Nehru warning him about China’s nefarious designs but Nehru didn’t pay any attention to that letter. Even Kashmir would not have become a thorn in the flesh for India, had Patel and not Nehru been the first prime minister of India.
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Ref : 2. AFTER NEHRU DEATH IN 1964 - INDIRA CAPTURED POWER, BY PUSHING BACK VERY SENIOR CONGRESS MAN MORARJI DESAI WITH THE HELP OF KAMARAJ - A REVOLUTIONARY UNDEMOCRATIC BEGINNING NEXT GEN-INDIRA GANDHI IN 1966.
In the 1950s, Indira, now Mrs Indira Gandhi after her marriage, served her father unofficially as a personal assistant during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India.
Towards the end of the 1950s, Indira Gandhi served as the President of the Congress. In that capacity, she was instrumental in getting the Communist led Kerala State Government dismissed in 1959. That government had the distinction of being India's first ever elected Communist Government.
*MORARJI DESAI AND INDIRA
After her father's death in 1964 she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and served in Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting. In January 1966, after Shastri's death, the Congress legislative party elected Indira Gandhi over Morarji Desai as their leader. Congress party veteran K. Kamaraj was instrumental in achieving Indira's victory. Because she was a woman, other political leaders in India saw Gandhi as weak and hoped to use her as a puppet once elected:
*Congress President Kamaraj orchestrated Mrs. Gandhi's selection as prime minister because he perceived her to be weak enough that he and the other regional party bosses could control her, and yet strong enough to beat Desai [her political opponent] in a party election because of the high regard for her father...a woman would be an ideal tool for the Syndicate.
*First term as Prime Minister between 1966 and 1977
The first eleven years of Indira's position as prime minister saw her evolving from the perception of Congress party leaders as their puppet to a strong leader with the iron resolve to split the party for her policy positions or to go to war with Pakistan to liberate Bangladesh. At the end of this term in 1977, she was such a dominating figure in Indian politics that Congress party president D. K. Barooah had coined the phrase "India is Indira and Indira is India."
First year :
Indira formed her government with Morarji Desai as deputy prime minister and finance minister. At the beginning of her first term as prime minister, Indira was widely criticized by the media and the opposition as a "Goongi goodiya" (Hindi word for a dumb doll or puppet) of the Congress party bosses who had got her elected and tried to constrain her.
1967–1971 :
The first electoral test for Indira was the 1967 general elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The Congress Party won a reduced majority for the Lok Sabha in these elections owing to widespread disenchantment over rising prices of commodities, unemployment, economic stagnation and a food crisis. Gandhi herself was elected to Lok Sabha from the Raebareli constituency. Indira Gandhi had started on a rocky note after agreeing to a devaluation of the rupee, which created much hardship for Indian businesses and consumers, and the import of wheat from the United States fell through due to political disputes.
The party also for the first time lost power or lost majority in a number of states across the country. Following the 1967 elections, Indira Gandhi gradually started moving towards socialist policies. In 1969, she fell out with senior Congress party leaders on a number of issues. Chief among them was the decision by Indira to support V. V. Giri, the independent candidate rather than the official Congress party candidate Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for the vacant position of President of India.
*Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
The other was the announcement by the prime minister of Bank nationalization without consulting the finance minister, Morarji Desai. These steps culminated in Party president S. Nijalingappa expelling her from the party for indiscipline.
Gandhi, in turn floated her own faction of the Congress party and managed to retain most of the Congress MPs on her side with only 65 on the side of Congress (O) faction. The Indira faction, called Congress (R), lost its majority in the parliament but remained in power with the support of regional parties such as DMK. The policies of the Congress under Indira Gandhi, prior to the 1971 elections, also included proposals for the abolition of Privy Purse to former rulers of the Princely states and the 1969 nationalization of the fourteen largest banks in India.
1971–1977 : A LOAD OF BLUNDERS AND BAD GOVERNANCE
1. Garibi Hatao (Eradicate Poverty) was the theme for Gandhi's 1971 political bid. (* NEVER ACCOMPLISHED TILL THE END OF UPA-2 )
The Garibi Hatao slogan and the proposed anti-poverty programs that came with it were designed to give Gandhi an independent national support, based on rural and urban poor. This would allow her to bypass the dominant rural castes both in and of state and local governments; likewise the urban commercial class. And, for their part, the previously voiceless poor would at last gain both political worth and political weight. The programs created through Garibi Hatao, though carried out locally, were funded and developed by the Central Government in New Delhi. The program was supervised and staffed by the Indian National Congress party. "These programs also provided the central political leadership with new and vast patronage resources to be disbursed... throughout the country."
The biggest achievement of Indira Gandhi after the 1971 election came in December 1971 with India's decisive victory over Pakistan in the liberation war, that led to the formation of independent Bangladesh. She was hailed as Goddess Durga by opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee at that time. In the elections held for State assemblies across India in March 1972, the Congress (R) swept to power in most states riding on the post-war "Indira wave".
Jayaprakash Narayan
*Jayaprakash Narayan
Despite the victory against Pakistan, the Congress government faced numerous problems during this term. Some of these were due to high inflation which was in turn caused by war time expenses, drought in some parts of the country and more importantly, the 1973 oil crisis. The opposition to Gandhi in 1973–75 period, after the Indira wave had receded, was strongest in the states of Bihar and Gujarat. In Bihar, Jayaprakash Narayan, the veteran leader came out of retirement to lead the protest movement there.
Verdict on electoral malpractice :
*Indira Gandhi with Richard Nixon, 1971
On 12 June 1975, the Allahabad High Court declared Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha in 1971 void on grounds of electoral malpractice. In an election petition filed by her 1971 opponent, Raj Narain (who later on defeated her in 1977 parliamentary election from Raebareli), alleged several major as well as minor instances of using government resources for campaigning. Gandhi had asked one of her colleagues in government, Ashoke Kumar Sen to defend her in court. Gandhi gave evidence in her defence during the trial. After almost four years, the court found her guilty of dishonest election practices, excessive election expenditure, and of using government machinery and officials for party purposes. The judge, however, rejected more serious charges of bribery against her.
The court ordered her stripped of her parliamentary seat and banned from running for any office for six years. As the constitution holds that the Prime Minister must be a member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, the two houses of the Parliament of India, this would have effectively removed her from office. However, Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. Gandhi insisted that the conviction did not undermine her position, despite having been unseated from Lok Sabha. She said: "There is a lot of talk about our government not being clean, but from our experience the situation was very much worse when [opposition] parties were forming governments". And she dismissed criticism of the way her Congress Party raised election campaign money, saying all parties used the same methods. The prime minister retained the support of her party, which issued a statement backing her.
After news of the verdict spread, hundreds of supporters demonstrated outside her house, pledging their loyalty. Indian High Commissioner BK Nehru said Gandhi's conviction would not harm her political career. "Mrs Gandhi has still today overwhelming support in the country," he said. "I believe the prime minister of India will continue in office until the electorate of India decides otherwise".
State of Emergency (1975–1977) :
Gandhi moved to restore order by ordering the arrest of most of the opposition participating in the unrest. Her Cabinet and government then recommended that President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare a state of emergency because of the disorder and lawlessness following the Allahabad High Court decision. Accordingly, Ahmed declared a State of Emergency caused by internal disorder, based on the provisions of Article 352(1) of the Constitution, on 25 June 1975.
Rule by decree :
Within a few months, President's rule was imposed on the two opposition party ruled states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu thereby bringing the entire country under direct Central rule or by governments led by the ruling Congress party. Police were granted powers to impose curfews and indefinitely detain citizens and all publications were subjected to substantial censorship by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Finally, the impending legislative assembly elections were indefinitely postponed, with all opposition-controlled state governments being removed by virtue of the constitutional provision allowing for a dismissal of a state government on recommendation of the state's governor.
Indira Gandhi used the emergency provisions to change conflicting party members:
Unlike her father Jawaharlal Nehru, who preferred to deal with strong chief ministers in control of their legislative parties and state party organizations, Mrs. Gandhi set out to remove every Congress chief minister who had an independent base and to replace each of them with ministers personally loyal to her...Even so, stability could not be maintained in the states...
President Ahmed issued ordinances that did not require debate in the Parliament, allowing Gandhi to rule by decree.
Rise of Sanjay :
The Emergency saw the entry of Gandhi's younger son, Sanjay Gandhi, into Indian politics. Sanjay wielded tremendous power during the emergency without holding any Government office. According to Mark Tully, "His inexperience did not stop him from using the Draconian powers his mother, Indira Gandhi, had taken to terrorise the administration, setting up what was in effect a police state."
It was said that during the Emergency he virtually ran India along with his friends, especially Bansi Lal. It was also quipped that Sanjay Gandhi had total control over his mother and that the government was run by the PMH (Prime Minister House) rather than the PMO (Prime Minister Office).
1977 election and opposition years :
In 1977, after extending the state of emergency twice, Indira Gandhi called elections to give the electorate a chance to vindicate her rule. Gandhi may have grossly misjudged her popularity by reading what the heavily censored press wrote about her. In any case, she was opposed by the Janata alliance of Opposition parties. The alliance was made up of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Congress (O), The Socialist parties, and Charan Singh's Bharatiya Kranti Dal representing northern peasant and farmers. Janata alliance, with Jai Prakash Narayan as its spiritual guide, claimed the elections were the last chance for India to choose between "democracy and dictatorship."
The Congress Party split during the election campaign of 1977: veteran Indira supporters like Jagjivan Ram, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna and Nandini Satpathy were compelled to part ways and form a new political entity, CFD (Congress for Democracy), primarily due to intra-party politicking and also due to circumstances created by Sanjay Gandhi. The prevailing rumour was that Sanjay had intentions of dislodging Gandhi and the trio stood between that. Gandhi's Congress party was crushed soundly in the elections.
The public realized the statement and motto of the Janata Party alliance. Indira and Sanjay Gandhi both lost their seats, and Congress was cut down to 153 seats (compared with 350 in the previous Lok Sabha), 92 of which were in the South. The Janata alliance, under the leadership of Morarji Desai, came into power after the State of Emergency was lifted. The alliance parties later merged to form the Janata Party under the guidance of Gandhian leader, Jayaprakash Narayan. The other leaders of the Janata Party were Charan Singh, Raj Narain, George Fernandes and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In opposition and return to power :
*Since Gandhi had lost her seat in the election, the defeated Congress party appointed Yashwantrao Chavan as their parliamentary party leader. Soon afterwards, the Congress party split again with Gandhi floating her own Congress faction.
She won a by-election from the Chikmagalur Constituency to the Lok Sabha in November 1978 after Janata Party's attempts to have Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar to contest against her failed when he refused to contest elections saying he wanted to remain apolitical. However, the Janata government's Home Minister, Choudhary Charan Singh, ordered the arrest of her and Sanjay Gandhi on several charges, none of which would be easy to prove in an Indian court. The arrest meant that Indira Gandhi was automatically expelled from Parliament. These allegations included that she "had planned or thought of killing all opposition leaders in jail during the Emergency". In response to her arrest, Indira Gandhi's supporters hijacked an Indian Airlines jet and demanded her immediate release. However, this strategy backfired disastrously.
Her arrest and long-running trial gained her great sympathy from many people. The Janata coalition was only united by its hatred of Gandhi (or "that woman" as some called her). The party included right wing Hindu Nationalists, Socialists and former Congress party members. With so little in common, the Morarji Desai government was bogged down by infighting. In 1979, the government started to unravel over the issue of dual loyalties of some members to Janata and the RSS. The ambitious Union Finance minister, Charan Singh, who as the Union Home Minister during the previous year had ordered arrest of Gandhi, took advantage of this and started courting the Congress. After a significant exodus from the party to Charan Singh's faction, Desai resigned in July 1979. Charan Singh was appointed Prime Minister, by President Reddy, after Indira and Sanjay Gandhi promised Singh that Congress would support his government from outside on certain conditions. The conditions included dropping all charges against Indira and Sanjay. Since Charan Singh refused to drop the charges, Congress withdrew its support and President Reddy dissolved Parliament in August 1979.
GREAT BLUNDER :
*Before the 1980 elections Gandhi approached the then Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Abdullah Bukhari and entered into an agreement with him on the basis of 10-point programme to secure the support of the Muslim votes. In the elections held in January, Congress returned to power with a landslide majority.
1980 elections and third term :
The Congress under Gandhi swept back to power in January 1980. In this election, Gandhi was elected from the Medak constituency. Elections soon after to legislative assemblies in States ruled by opposition parties brought back Congress ministries to those states. Indira's son, Sanjay Gandhi selected his own loyalists to head the governments in these states. On 23 June, Gandhi's son Sanjay was killed in an air crash while performing an aerobatic manoeuvre in New Delhi. In 1980, as tribute to her son's dream of launching an indigenously manufactured car, Gandhi nationalized Sanjay's debt ridden company called Maruti Udyog for Rs. 4.34 crore and invited joint venture bids from automobile companies around the world. Suzuki of Japan was selected as the partner. The company launched its first Indian manufactured car in 1984.
Gandhi, by the time of Sanjay's death, trusted only family members, and therefore persuaded her reluctant son, Rajiv, to enter politics.
Her staff at the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) included H.Y.Sharada Prasad as her information adviser and speech writer.
Operation Blue Star : GREAT BLUNDER
In the 1977 elections, a coalition led by the Sikh-majority Akali Dal came to power in the northern Indian state of Punjab. In an effort to split the Akali Dal and gain popular support among the Sikhs, Indira Gandhi's Congress helped bring the orthodox religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to prominence in Punjab politics. Later, Bhindranwale's organisation Damdami Taksal became embroiled in violence with another religious sect called the Sant Nirankari Mission, and he was accused of instigating the murder of Jagat Narain, the owner of Punjab Kesari newspaper.
After being arrested in this matter, Bhindranwale disassociated himself from Congress and joined hands with the Akali Dal. In July 1982, he led the campaign for the implementation of the Anandpur Resolution, which demanded greater autonomy for the Sikh-majority state. Meanwhile, a small section of the Sikhs, including some of Bhindranwale's followers, turned to militancy after being targeted by government officials and police in support of the Resolution. In 1982, Bhindranwale and approximately 200 armed followers moved into a guest house called the Guru Nanak Niwas, in the precinct of the Golden Temple.
By 1983, the Temple complex had become a fort for a large number of militants. The Statesman later reported that light machine guns and semi-automatic rifles were known to have been brought into the compound. On 23 April 1983, the Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General A. S. Atwal was shot dead as he left the Temple compound. The following day, after the murder, Harchand Singh Longowal (then president of Shiromani Akali Dal) confirmed the involvement of Bhindranwale in the murder.
After several futile negotiations, Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian army in June 1984 to enter the Golden Temple in order to remove Bhindranwale and his supporters from the complex. The army used heavy artillery, including tanks, in the action code-named Operation Blue Star. The operation badly damaged or destroyed parts of the Temple complex, including the Akal Takht shrine and the Sikh library. It also led to the deaths of a large number of Sikh fighters and innocent pilgrims. The number of casualties remain disputed with estimates ranging from many hundreds to many thousands[82]
Gandhi was accused of using the attack for political ends. Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer stated that Indira Gandhi attacked the temple complex to present herself as a great hero in order to win general elections planned towards the end of 1984. There was fierce criticism of the action by Sikhs in India and overseas. There was also incidents of mutiny by Sikh soldiers in the aftermath of the attack.
Assassination : RESULT OF BLUNDERS AND MISRULE -BAD GOVERNANCE
The day before her death (30 October 1984), Gandhi visited Orissa where she gave her last speech at the then Parade Ground in front of the Secretariat of Orissa. In that speech, she strikingly associated her blood with the health of the nation: "I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow...I shall continue to serve until my last breath and when I die, I can say, that every drop of my blood will invigorate India and strengthen it... Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood... will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic."On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi's bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, shot her with their service weapons in the garden of the Prime Minister's residence at 1 Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. The shooting occurred as she was walking past a wicket gate guarded by Satwant and Beant. She was to be interviewed by the British actor Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television. Beant Singh shot her three times using his side-arm and Satwant Singh fired 30 rounds. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh dropped their weapons and surrendered. Afterwards, they were taken away by other guards into a closed room where Beant Singh was shot dead. Kehar Singh was later arrested for conspiracy in the attack. Both Satwant and Kehar were sentenced to death and hanged in Delhi's Tihar Jail.
Indira Gandhi was brought at 9:30 am to the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences where doctors operated on her. She was declared dead at 2:20 pm. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a team of doctors headed by Dr. Tirath Das Dogra. Dr Dogra stated that as many as 30 bullet wounds were sustained by Indira Gandhi, from two sources, a Sterling submachine gun and a pistol. The assailants had fired 31 bullets at her, of which 30 had hit; 23 had passed through her body while 7 were trapped inside her. Dr Dogra extracted bullets to establish the identity of the weapons and to match each weapon with the bullets recovered by ballistic examination. The bullets were matched with respective weapons at CFSL Delhi. Subsequently, Dr Dogra appeared in the court of Shri Mahesh Chandra as an expert witness (PW-5), and his testimony lasted several sessions. The cross examination was conducted by Shri Pran Nath Lekhi, the defence counsel. Salma Sultan gave the first news of the assassination of Indira Gandhi on Doordarshan's evening news on 31 October 1984, more than 10 hours after she was shot. She died two weeks and five days before her 67th birthday.
Gandhi was cremated on 3 November near Raj Ghat. The site where she was cremated is today known as Shakti Sthal. After her death, the Parade Ground was converted to the Indira Gandhi Park which was inaugurated by her son, Rajiv Gandhi.
*Her funeral was televised live on domestic and international stations, including the BBC. Following her cremation, millions of Sikhs were displaced and nearly three thousand were killed in anti-Sikh riots. Rajiv Gandhi on a live TV show said of the carnage, "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes."
#On 31 October 1984, the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi's mother Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, which led to violent riots against Sikhs. At a Boat Club rally 19 days after the assassination, Gandhi said, "Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little".
#According to Verinder Grover, the statement made by Gandhi was a "virtual justification" of the riots.
#Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar wrote, "Did it constitute an incitement to mass murder?" He also criticised Gandhi for his reluctance to bring the army from Meerut to handle the mob.
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Ref : 3. DYNASTY RULE CHANGED TO 3RD GEN RAJIV GANDHI - INEFFICIENT INEXPERIENCED IN POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE
On the morning of 31 October 1984, his mother was assassinated by one of her bodyguards; later that day, Rajiv Gandhi was appointed Prime Minister. His leadership was tested over the next few days as organised mobs ( Congress men lead by Rajiv cose aides ) rioted against the Sikh community, resulting in riots in Delhi. That December, Congress party won the largest Lok Sabha majority to date, 411 seats out of 542.
A CHAIN OF BLUNDERS FROM DYNASTY RULE OF 3RD GEN:
*Rajiv Gandhi's period in office was mired in controversies; perhaps the greatest crises were the #Bhopal disaster and the #Shah Bano case.*In 1988 he reversed the coup in Maldives, antagonising militant Tamil groups such as PLOTE, intervening and then sending peacekeeping troops to Sri Lanka in 1987, leading to open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
*In mid-1987 the Bofors scandal damaged his corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 election.
Gandhi remained Congress President until the elections in 1991. While campaigning for the elections, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. His widow Sonia became the president of the Congress party in 1998 and led the party to victory in the 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections. His son Rahul Gandhi is a Member of Parliament and the current President of Indian National Congress.
In 1991 the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. At the India Leadership Conclave in 2009, the Revolutionary Leader of Modern India award was conferred posthumously on Gandhi.
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PRESENT 4TH GEN DYNASTY AMBITION FOR POWER BY HOOK OR CROOK :
NOTE : The free Congressman’s burden: Party that brought down the world’s greatest empire is in servitude to the Nehru-Gandhis : May 30, 2019 : Ravi Shanker Kapoor : TOI.
Defeat, as John F Kennedy said, may be an orphan but it is a fecund parent: it generates a thousand accusations. After Congress’s two successive defeats in general elections, in 2014 and 2019, all the blame is being heaped at the door of the Nehru-Gandhi family. A Martian landing in India after May 23 may come to the conclusion that the grand old party, which has played a seminal role in the history of modern India, has been willfully taken over by an unscrupulous, scheming family.
Nothing could be further from the truth. For Congress leaders and activists, enchained though they are, love their chains; the family obliges rather than torments them by keeping them in thralldom.
This situation brings to mind a scene from V Shantaram’s classic Do Aankhen Barah Haath. The film’s protagonist, played by Shantaram, is an idealist jailor who wants to rehabilitate six dangerous prisoners in an open prison. He wants to reform them through a life of toil, freedom and virtue. But this makes them uncomfortable; more than toil and virtue, they find freedom unbearable.
Having spent years in jail and accustomed to a shackled existence, they are unable to sleep without being chained in the new set-up; so they chain themselves up to sleep properly. This scene is a metaphor for Congress’s relationship with the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Having got accustomed to shepherding by the first family, they feel disoriented without the stewardship of a Gandhi. P Chidambaram is recently said to have become “emotional” while appealing to Rahul not to step down. Fifteen years ago, when Sonia Gandhi announced that she won’t stake claim for the post of prime minister, many senior party members wept and made poignant appeals to reconsider her decision. How could a non-family member take the top office?
It’s not that the party or the nation has not been properly led by a non-Gandhi Congress president or prime minister. Lal Bahadur Shastri did pretty well in his short tenure on the national security and economic fronts; PV Narasimha Rao was surely a great, if not the greatest, prime minister. But not from the perspective of Congress leaders; for them, only a Gandhi deserves to be at the helm of affairs.
2014 defeat by NDA LEAD BY BJP
What is astonishing is that all leaders, including the most educated and competent ones, share this perspective. Such is their love for servitude that they don’t feel ashamed of taking orders from a less experienced and talented person so long as that person is from the family.
This love has suppressed even a most primal human instinct – to reach the top. It’s worse than that: they can’t even imagine one of them on top. For them, it is an axiomatic truth that the GOP would be ruled by a Gandhi. Period.
That the current leadership has failed the party is clear as day; Congress couldn’t get a single seat in 18 states and Union territories. Except for the party’s performance a few months ago in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and a few successes on and off, the GOP has fared pretty badly in the last few years.
Yet, Congress leaders can’t think beyond the Nehru-Gandhi family. Won’t the induction of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra a little earlier have been better? Or even won’t she have been a better inheritor of the family?
It would, however, be too harsh to blame only Congress for promoting dynasty politics; almost every party is a family enterprise in India. The exceptions are too large and too small: the Bharatiya Janata Party and communist parties.
While there are offspring of BJP leaders who have risen, none of them has reached the top by virtue of pedigree. That dynastic succession doesn’t happen in the parties on the opposite sides of the ideological spectrum has to do with the ideas and ideals they uphold – howsoever perfunctorily. Ideas and ideals matter more than men and women do.
Yet, the GOP’s case is spectacular, of astonishing transmogrification – a political party that successfully fought against the world’s greatest empire longs to be perpetually in the service of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The transmogrification shows that if there is a freethinker and a rebel in every person, there is also a slave in them. It is the objective conditions and climate of opinion that determine who gets power – the rational arguer, the rebel, or the slave. The last one emerged victorious after Nehru in Congress.
*GRAND ALLIANCE FAILED, NDA LEAD BY BJP RETURN TO POWER -2019 HONEST WAY
While the conditions and prevalent ideas – which are dirigisme-generated – made the GOP a handmaiden of the Nehru-Gandhi family, they have also affected the saffron party. It has proved to be immune to the dynasty infection, but genuflection is the defining feature of the ruling party’s culture – indeed of all parties. The Anti-Defection Law of 1985 played the most critical role in making the representatives of people subservient to the bosses and managers in all parties. Obeisance replaced argumentation.
The consequences are for all to see. Jawaharlal Nehru had his admirers; Indira Gandhi, sycophants; Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bhakts. It took some time, though: in the Vajpayee-Advani era, there was a ‘high command’; now there are commanding heights of politics.
Meanwhile Congress leaders are striving hard to keep themselves in servitude. In folklore, a knight in shining armour rescues the damsel in distress. But can any knight save a damsel who has fallen in love with her chains?
4th GENERATION DYNASTY MANIPULATE ALL TRICKS TO GAIN POWER THROUGH ABUSAL PROGRAM OF HONEST MODI JI - RESULT MISERABLY FAILED;
SOON CONGRESS SHOULD DISAPPEAR, WITH FALLING/ FAILING DYNASTY BY THEIR OWN DISHONESTY, SCAMS, LIES, BAD GOVERNANCE, BLUNDERS, SINS, ABUSAL ON GOOD GOVERNANCE OF MODI JI ...
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*Most surprising lost in Election 2019 was Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, BJP's Smriti Irani won the Congress bastion.
OPINION : INDIA TODAY
BJP's historic win decimates Opposition: 10 things to know about Lok Sabha Election Results 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, while Opposition was left decimated.
*Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP has stormed back into power
HIGHLIGHTS :
*BJP has stormed back into power with a 300-plus seats in Lok Sabha, decimating Opposition;
*NDA's vote share has surged to an unprecedented level, with BJP scoring above 50% in some states;
*Most surprising lost in Election 2019 was Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, BJP's Smriti Irani won the Congress bastion.
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"Read 10 points that sum up Lok Sabha Election Results 2019"
1) Historic win for BJP:
The Bharatiya Janata Party has achieved the rare feat of returning to power at the Centre with an even bigger majority. In 2014, BJP had scored on 282 on its own. This year, it may storm to victory on 302. With an established majority in Rajya Sabha, the Modi government is looking at an easy sail through the next five years of policy making.
2) Opposition's existential crisis:
Rahul Gandhi-led Congress has been wiped out from 18 states. Big losers in Congress include eight former Chief Ministers and party's leader of Opposition Malikarjun Kharge. Barring Kerala where Congress won 15 seats, the party has not reached double figures in any other state. Among regional parties, the biggest setback has befallen N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, which failed to open an account, while BJP-inclines YSR Congress cleaned house in Andhra Pradesh. In West Bengal, BJP was able to shake Mamata Banerjee's ground by stealing 18 seats, up by 17 from 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Left parties may see themselves limited to three seats after the final results.)
BJP's vote share surges:
In its landslide victory, the BJP has seen its vote share soar past 50 per cent in at least 13 states and Union territories, a feat which the rival Congress could manage only in Puducherry. Besides, the main opposition party's voting percentage has remained in single digits in politically important states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, as per the latest data from the Election Commission. As per the preliminary estimates, the BJP has significantly improved its national vote share from 31.34 per cent in 2014 to a new record high, while there appeared to be only a marginal change in case of the Congress from its 19.5 per cent score of the last elections.
4) PM Modi's cabinet sails back into power:
Riding the Modi wave, a record number of Union ministers marched to Lok Sabha. Notable victories among cabinet ministers are Textile Minister Smriti Irani, who emerged as a giant-killer against Congress president Rahul Gandhi defeating him in family bastion Amethi; Giriraj Singh, who was fielded against CPI candidate Kanhiya Kumar in Bihar Begusarai; and Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was making en electoral debut against his former party colleague Shatrughan Sinha in Patna Sahib.
5) Bigwigs bite dust:
The Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 threw some big surprises. Some of the biggest names in Indian politics faced defeat at the hands of electoral. Biggest shock was Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's defeat in family bastion Amethi. Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP's Smriti Irani by a margin of over 55,000 votes. Jyotiraditya Scindia lost his royal family's bastion Guna, Madhya Pradesh to an ex-Congress leader. The seat had been in his family since its formation. Congress leader Malikarjun Kharge faced first ever defeat in his political career. He has consecitively won 10 elections [9 assembly, 1 general] since 1972. Other surprises in Congress's dock included Ajay Maken, Sheila Dikshit, Digvijay Singh and Shatrughan Sinha. In BJP camp, the party was stunned by the loss of Union ministers Hardip Puri and KJ Alphons.
6) Surprise winners:
While there were some shocking losses, the Lok Sabha elections 2019 also gave some surprising wins. Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has become a Member of the Parliament. Samajwadi Party leader, known for provocative remarks, Azam Khan has also sailed to victory by defeating BJP's Jaya Prada by a margin of over one lakh votes. These candidates stoked controversy during the high-voltage campaign spread over two months, at times forcing the Election Commission to bar some of them from campaigning or inviting scrutiny from their own party's leadership.
7) BJP retains Hindi heartland:
Proving skeptics wrong, the BJP repeated it superlative performance in five key Hindi-speaking states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, as the party along with its allies not only bagged or was leading in 165 out of 185 Lok Sabha seats, but also enjoyed a massive vote swing in its favour. The NDA's strike rate of nearly 90 per cent was similar to 2014 when it won 166 of 185 seats, including 73 (BJP 71, Apna Dal 2) out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh.
*PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah at BJP headquarters (Photo: India Today)
8) PM Modi promises inclusive growth:
The euphoria of the BJP victory was capped by a sombre speech by PM Narendra Modi in which he promised to devote "every moment of my life and every fibre of my body" to the welfare of the nation. He also vowed that he will never do anything with ill-intention, nor will he do anything to enrich himself. "Whenever you judge me, judge me on these three parameters. If I fall short on these, curse me. But I assure my countrymen that what I have said in public I will do my best to fulfil," he said. Striking a conciliatory political tone, he also reached out to his rivals, urging everyone to put the rancour of the bitter and often nasty campaign behind them. What's past is past, he said. "We have to move ahead. We have to take everyone with us, even our opponents. We have to work for the benefit of the country," he said. "You have filled this fakir’s bag with a lot of hope. All your hopes, dreams, ambitions are dependent on it," he said.
9) World leaders congratulate PM Modi:
Indian elections, which are deemed as the biggest democratic process in the world, were closely watched ny international powers. As soon as the trends signalled a clear majority for the Narendra Modi-led BJP, the Prime Minister was flooded with congratulatory messages. Among the first were preimiers of Israel, Russia, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Italy, Bangladesh and United States. Pakistan PM Imran Khan as congratulated PM Modi on Twitter.
10) Pak media on Indian election results:
The results of the Lok Sabha elections in India made headlines in Pakistan. Several Pakistani media platforms provided a comprehensive coverage of the results of the polls, which resulted in a landslide victory for PM Narendra Modi-led BJP. The results of India's general elections are very significant for Pakistan as the formation of the next government in New Delhi will determine the course of Indo-Pakistan ties, which were pushed to a new low after the Pulwama terror attack.
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LAST WORDS :
1. BJP DOMINATED POLITICAL DISCOURSE; ALL OTHERS ( PARTIES )DECAYED, DEAD
2.Eight pillars of political continuity
"That Modi has returned to power with a greater majority, despite several media speculations to the contrary, shows the country is seeking political continuity. This continuity stands on eight pillars."
*One, consolidation of what was an alternative to the Congress – the BJP – becoming the key driver of Indian politics.
*Two, a forceful ejection of entitlement-driven, the Gandhi family-dominated politics to one that, looks at the rise of an average person, Narendra Modi, to the top. This is a story of hope.
*Three, the rise of a party, the BJP that thinks, governs and articulates itself in Hindi.
*Four, delivering a sense of a rising India across the world and a citizenry that basks in that warm-fuzzy idea.
*Five, the rebirth of nationalism and patriotism, a sense of going beyond the family, the community and the region to meld into the nation. The tukde-tukde idea is in tukdas.
*Six – possibly the visible veto – the birth of national security as a political issue. That India can and will use kinetic force to protect itself is now an irreversible political conversation. More on this below.
*Seven, the unresolved discourse of no-jobs and undependable-data notwithstanding, a political economy narrative that has been driven by low inflation – this is the only economic indicator that influences the behaviour of the voter.
*And eight, a corruption-free, family-free, encumbrances-free man – Modi – as brand driver.
All of these will continue through 2024.
3. Policy stability through six touchpoints with electorate
We may like to think that only companies and markets seek policy stability. Verdict 2019 shows that to be an incomplete reading of India’s democracy. Policy stability is a virtue down the line too. Over the past five years, as part of delivering economic governance, the Modi government has made several and regular touchpoints with the electorate, of which the following six are key:
*The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana delivered bank accounts to 355 million unbanked Indians.
*The Swachh Bharat Mission has built 92.7 million toilets, with more than 560,000 villages and 617 districts that are open defecation free.
*The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana aims to deliver secondary and tertiary healthcare to 100 million poorest and the first flush of 1.8 million beneficiaries are visible to all.
*Demonetisation seems to have hit the commentators more than those on whose behalf they debunk it.
*Close to 72 million households in 714 districts now have access to LPG as cooking gas that has freed women in these households of smoky choolhaas, under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
*More than 100 million individuals have availed of small loans of between Rs 50,000 and Rs 10 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana.
*Backed by an intense communications outreach, these regular touchpoints, benefits and entitlements delivery over the past five years have been a reminder of the political face – Modi – behind the governance. Expect Modi 2.0 to deliver more such governance touchpoints.
4. Minoritarianism doesn’t work anymore:
5. Opposition needs a narrative, ABUSING BJP, MODI JI AND SUNDRIE ARE OPPOSITION NARRATIVE :
6. After Pulwama, national security is a definite electoral issue :
"BJP SUCCEEDED IN ALL COUNTS, AND WAS VERY CLOSE TO PEOPLE, PEOPLE RETURNED THEIR LOVE TO BJP BY VOTES"
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JAY HIND
JAY BHARATHAM
VANDE MATARAM
BHARAT MATA KI JAY
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