The Revival Of The Congress

Meanwhile, the Congress experienced both a split and a resurgence. A large number of established Congress leaders, led by Y.B. Chavan and Brahmanand Reddy, turned against Indira Gandhi, believing she was not only a spent force but also a serious political liability. In January 1978, she split the party, with one wing known as Congress (I) (for Indira) and the other later as Congress (U) (for Devraj Urs). Indira Gandhi's political fortunes began to improve after that, and in state assembly elections in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in February 1978, Congress (I) defeated both Janata and the rival Congress. There were two factors that led to this resurgence. 

1.    One was the Janata government's attempt to exact vengeance on Indira Gandhi and hold her responsible for the Emergency's events. Several Commissions of Enquiry were appointed to investigate and pinpoint the malpractices, excesses, abuses, and atrocities committed by Indira Gandhi and her officials during the Emergency, the most famous of which was the Shah Commission. Special courts were established in 1979 to try her for alleged criminal acts committed during the Emergency. 

 

2.    The general public, on the other hand, began to see Indira Gandhi's persecution as revenge and vengeance, as well as an attempt to discredit her. They believed she had already received enough punishment by being voted out of office. Furthermore, the rural and urban poor, Harijans, minorities, and women still held Indira Gandhi in high regard as their saviour, their Indira Amma or Mother Indira.

 

•    However, due to the press's bias against Indira Gandhi, the government was unaware of her growing popularity. In November 1978, she won a parliamentary seat from the Chikamagalur constituency in Karnataka with a large margin, demonstrating her growing popularity. Ironically, Janata used its majority soon after to expel her from parliament for breach of privilege and contempt of the House on a minor charge, and sentence her to a week in jail.

 

•    The elections, held in January 1980, were primarily fought between the Cong (I), Cong (U), Lok Dal, a new party founded by Charan Singh and Socialists, and Janata, now primarily made up of Jan Sangh and a few old Congressmen like Jagjivan Ram and Chandra Shekhar. The CPM and CPI were absent from the picture except in West Bengal and Kerala. 

 

•    People turned to Congress and Indira Gandhi, believing her Congress to be the real Congress, after becoming disillusioned with Janata's non-governance, lack of vision, and incessant mutual quarrels. The main message of the Janata Party was that if Indira Gandhi returned to power, democracy and civil liberties would be jeopardized. 

 

•    The term "peasant raj" was used by Charan Singh. Indira Gandhi focused on the Janata Dal's lack of governance, urging people to vote for "a government that works." The people gave Cong (I) a massive mandate, cutting across caste, religion, and region once again, as they did in 1971 and 1977. Cong (I) received 353 out of 529 seats, or a two-thirds majority. Lok Dal had 41 votes, Janata had 31 votes, and Cong (U) had 13 votes. The CPM and the CPI stood alone against the Congress tide, winning 36 and 11 seats, respectively.

 

•    After the elections, the Janata Party split again, with the old Jan Sangh leaders leaving to form the Bharatiya Janata Party and Jagjivan Ram joining the Cong (U). The Return of Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi was re-elected Prime Minister after a thirty-four-month absence, and the Congress was restored to its former position as the dominant party. 

 

•    The Congress government dissolved the nine state assemblies in opposition-ruled states, following the wrong precedent set by the Janata government in 1977. Except in Tamil Nadu, Congress won all of the seats in the subsequent assembly elections, which were held in June. It ruled fifteen of the twenty-two states at this point. 

 

•    Indira Gandhi was no longer the same person she was from 1969 to 1977, even though she was once again Prime Minister and the only Indian leader with national appeal. She didn't have a firm grasp on politics or administration any longer. Despite her unchallenged power, she was uninterested in pursuing significant new policy initiatives or effectively dealing with a number of troubling issues.

 

•    However, she was still able to achieve some success in the areas of economics and foreign policy. However, there was a general lack of direction and a sense of drift, leading to a perception among the public that little was being accomplished. She was scarred by the Emergency and the Janata years. She was wary of everyone around her and only trusted her son, Sanjay. Her earlier energy, decisiveness, and determination had been replaced by "a cautious and cautious approach." She began to show signs of exhaustion as time went on.

 

•    Indira Gandhi also had few political tools with which to carry out her election promises. During 1977-78, most of the well-known and experienced national and state leaders, as well as her former colleagues, deserted her. With a few exceptions, the political leaders around her, both at the national level and in the states, were raw, inexperienced men and women who lacked a political base of their own and had been chosen more for their loyalty than for their administrative or political abilities. 

 

•    Sanjay Gandhi's death on June 23, 1980, while flying a stunt plane, left her shaken and further weakened. She attempted to replace him with her elder son, Rajiv Gandhi, who was introduced to politics, elected as an MP, and then appointed as the party's general secretary in 1983.

 

•    Indira's second prime ministerial term, like the first, was marred by the Congress's continued organizational weakness and her failure to rebuild and strengthen its structure. This inevitability had an impact on the government's performance and popularity, because a weak party structure meant that channels for conveying popular sentiment to the leadership and explaining the nature and rationale of government policies to the public were clogged.

 

•    Despite Indira Gandhi's total dominance of the party and government, the central leadership of the party was once again confronted with a problem of constant factionalism and infighting—virtually civil war—within the party's state units and state governments. 

 

•    Party organisational elections were repeatedly postponed and, in the end, not held as a result of the infighting and the frequent rise and fall of chief ministers. Another result was a loss of faith in Congress' ability to provide effective state governments. Organizational flaws began to erode the party's support and negatively affect its electoral performance, with dissidents frequently sabotaging the official party candidates' chances.

 

•    The serious electoral defeat Congress suffered in January 1983 in the elections to the state assemblies of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the two states it had ruled continuously since their inception, was an example of this erosion of the party's popularity. 

 

•    In Andhra Pradesh, the Congress party was soundly defeated by the newly formed Telugu Desam party, led by actor-turned-politician N.T. Rama Rao. Against Telugu Desam's 202 seats, the Congress received only 60 votes. In Karnataka, a Janata-led coalition won 95 seats in the 224-seat legislature, while Congress received 81. 

 

•    While facing little opposition at the Centre, Indira Gandhi faced intractable problems arising from communal, linguistic, and caste conflicts from the start of her second prime ministership; none of these were dealt with firmness and insight, and all of them were to drag on for years.

 

•    Similarly, as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes began to assert their social and constitutional rights, atrocities against them continued. In some cases, however, administrative and judicial action was taken against the perpetrators of the atrocities, including long prison sentences. Though hesitantly, India resumed its planning and economic development duties, with increased financial resources allocated to the cause. The government also took note of changes in the global economy and their impact on India, and while working to strengthen the public sector, began taking steps toward economic liberalisation. 

 

•    Indira Gandhi was concerned about the role of multinational corporations in eroding India's self-reliance, so the government moved slowly and cautiously. The government, on the other hand, was able to raise annual economic growth to over 4% thanks to a large increase in agricultural and petroleum crude production, as well as gradually bring inflation down to 7% in 1984.

 

•    In terms of foreign policy, Indira Gandhi's government had some success. In March 1983, India hosted the Non-Aligned Movement's seventh summit, which was chaired by Indira Gandhi. She actively worked for a new international economic order that was fairer to developing countries as the formal leader of the Non-Aligned Movement. 

 

•    Mrs. Gandhi refused to condemn the Soviet Union's decision to send troops into Afghanistan to assist the country's beleaguered government on December 26, 1979, but she did advise the Soviet Union to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible. She, on the other hand, was against the US and Pakistan's indirect intervention in Afghanistan's civil war. Mrs. Gandhi's stance on the Afghan issue was influenced by India's long-standing friendship and "special" relationship with the Soviet Union, as well as India's strategic interest in preventing a hostile administrator in Afghanistan.

 

•    Despite the US's pro-Pakistan stance, Indira Gandhi attempted to improve India's relations with the US. Despite Pakistan's support for terrorists in Punjab, she attempted to normalize relations with China and Pakistan. She did not hesitate, however, to order the army to deploy a brigade at the Siachen glacier along the line of control in Kashmir in April 1984.

 

•    After the rise of the Khalistan movement in India, Operation Blue Star was born. The Khalistan movement was a political Sikh nationalist movement that sought to establish an independent Sikh state within the current Indian North-Western Republic. Despite the fact that the Khalistan movement began in the early 1940s and 1950s, it became popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

 

•    By the early 1980s, some Sikhs were demanding more than just separate provincial statehood; they wanted their own nation-state, an autonomous Sikh Khalistan, or "Land of the Pure." Moderate Sikh leaders, such as Harchand Singh Longowal, who was elected president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party) in 1980, attempted unsuccessfully to avert civil war by negotiating a settlement of Sikh demands with New Delhi's Congress Party leaders. 

 

•    Extremists such as Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale gained the support of many younger devout Sikhs in the Amritsar area, who were armed with automatic weapons and launched a violent movement for Khalistan, seizing control of the Sikhs' holiest shrine, the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), and its sacred precincts in Amritsar.

 

•    Between 1981 and 1983, three prominent leaders of the Khalistan movement – Shabeg Singh, Balbier Singh, and Amrik Singh – each made at least six trips to Pakistan, according to Indian intelligence agencies. Weapons training is being provided at Gurdwaras in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, according to the Intelligence Bureau. The Indian intelligence agency R&AW was reportedly informed by the Soviet intelligence agency KGB that the ISI was working on a Punjab plan. R&AW learned from an interrogation of a Pakistani Army officer that Pakistan had dispatched over a thousand trained Pakistani Army Special Service Group commandos into the Indian Punjab to assist Bhin-dranwale in his fight against the government. Many Pakistani agents followed the smuggling routes in Kashmir and Gujarat's Kutch region with the intention of committing sabotage.

 

•    Indira Gandhi and her government appeared powerless to stop the rising tide of politically motivated murders and terror attacks in Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi. As a result, in 1984, Gandhi gave her generals permission to launch “Operation Bluestar” against the Khalistan terrorists who had taken refuge in the Golden Temple. 

 

•    Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a fundamentalist Sikh preacher, had occupied and fortified the complex where the two were staying, demanding the establishment of Khalistan, a Sikh homeland. The assault came at the end of a gruelling nine-hour battle between the Indian army and Bhindranwale's heavily armed and well-trained followers. The goal of Operation Blue Star was to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple complex and reclaim control of Harmandir Sahib.

 

•    Indira Gandhi ordered the army to launch Operation Blue Star on June 1, 1984, after negotiations with militants failed. On June 3, 1984, the temple complex was surrounded by army and paramilitary forces. To persuade the militants to surrender, the army used loudspeakers. Before the army clashed with the militants, requests were made to allow trapped pilgrims to leave the temple grounds. However, no pilgrims were surrendered or released until 7:00 p.m. on June 5. Skirmishes began on the 5th of June, and the battle lasted three days, ending on the 8th. In addition, a clean-up operation known as Operation Woodrose was launched across Punjab.

 

•    Operation Blue Star, one of the most extraordinary battles in military history, came to a head at 7.30 a.m. on June 6, 1984, when Indian army tanks pounded the Sikh shrine with 105mm high-explosive squash head shells. The army had miscalculated the militants' firepower, which included Chinese-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers with armour-piercing capabilities. 

 

•    The militants retaliated with anti-tank and machine gun fire from the heavily fortified Akal Takht, which was attacked with tanks and heavy artillery. The army took control of the temple complex after a 24-hour firefight. Army casualties totaled 83 deaths and 249 injuries. 

 

•    According to official estimates, 1,592 militants were apprehended, and 493 militant and civilian casualties were reported. Militants using pilgrims trapped inside the temple as human shields were blamed for the high number of civilian casualties.

 

1.    Operation Metal: It was limited to the Golden Temple, but it led to Operation Shop, in which suspects were apprehended on the outskirts of Punjab.

 

2.    Operation Woodrose: The operation was launched across Punjab. The Indian Army used tanks, artillery, helicopters, and armoured vehicles to carry out the operation.

 

•    The abduction of Bhindranwale was planned by the RAW agency, but the mission was aborted.

 

•    Operation Black Thunder was the name given to two operations in India in the late 1980s that used ‘Black Cat' commandos of the National Security Guards to flush out remaining Kharku Sikhs from the Golden Temple. Like Operation Blue Star, these attacks were on Kharku Sikhs based in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab.

 

•    Operation Blue Star sparked widespread outrage and anger among Sikhs across the country. Most of them saw it as sacrilege and a betrayal of the community, rather than a necessary but unpleasant effort to deal with Bhindranwale and the terrorists. 

 

•    While much of the negative reaction to the Operation was an emotional outburst, there was a lot to be said for those who believed that there should have been a better way than the military storming of the Temple. Later critics would point to the success of the well-planned and executed Operation Black Thunder in 1988, which forced the terrorists to surrender to the police in a relatively bloodless manner after reoccupying the Temple in a manner similar to that of 1984. 

 

•    Despite its many negative consequences, Operation Blue Star had some positive aspects. It demonstrated that the Indian state was capable of dealing with secession and terrorism, as well as putting an end to the charismatic Bhindranwale and his gang and restoring law and order. 

 

•    Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, five months after the operation, on October 31, 1984. In the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's death, more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in anti-Sikh riots in 1984.

 

•    Indira Gandhi, India's Iron Lady, died on October 31, 1984. Two of her bodyguards fatally shot her. Her words, spoken at a public rally in Bhubaneswar the day before, had turned prophetic. Indira Gandhi was giving a speech prepared by her information adviser, HY Sharada Prasad. Indira Gandhi spoke about the possibility of a violent end to her life, abandoning the written script for a few moments. 

 

•    Last but not least, Indira Gandhi was ready for her interview with Peter Ustinov by 7.30 a.m. Peter Ustinov was waiting for Indira Gandhi at the Prime Minister's Office, which was then located next to her home at 1 Akbar Road. Indira Gandhi left her home at 9.10 a.m. for the PMO. She was on her way to No. 1 Akbar Road. 

 

•    Indira Gandhi was accompanied by veteran Congress leader RK Dhawan, Constable Narayan Singh, personal security officer Rameshwar Dayal, and personal secretary RK Dhawan. Indira Gandhi was conversing with RK Dhawan when she arrived at the gates of 1 Akbar Road; Narayan Singh was carrying a black umbrella to shield her from the early winter sun. Beant Singh, one of her bodyguards, opened fire with his revolver at her. Her abdomen was hit by the bullet. Two more bullets were fired into her chest by Beant Singh.

 

•    Satwant Singh, another assailant, was standing nearby with his carbine when Beant Singh ordered him to fire at Indira Gandhi. Satwant Singh fired all 25 bullets, the majority of which pierced Indira Gandhi's body. Rameshwar Dayal was also struck and knocked out. “I have done what I had to do,” Beant said after both men laid down their weapons. You do whatever you want.” 

 

•    Border Police officers Tarsem Singh Jamwal and Ram Saran captured and killed Beant in the next six minutes, while Satwant was apprehended by Gandhi's other bodyguards, along with an accomplice attempting to flee; he was seriously wounded. Satwant Singh and his accomplice Kehar Singh were hanged in 1989.

 

•    The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, were a series of organised pogroms in India against Sikhs in response to Indira Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards. Several leaders of the ruling Indian National Congress have been accused of actively collaborating with the mob in the planning of the riots. According to independent sources, between 8,000 and 17,000 Sikhs were killed, while government estimates put the number at around 2,800 in Delhi and 3,350 nationwide.