Indira Gandhi has been at the political helm of India for almost sixteen years, a little less than her father, the first prime minister of an independent country, Jawaharlal Nehru. It came to power when India was still struggling with the enormous difficulties of moving from colonial subjugation to independence. The years of her premiership were marked by major achievements in domestic and foreign policy, as well as serious mistakes that can be explained both by objective reasons, primarily the extraordinary complexity of the processes taking place in the country, and by subjective factors, including the personality of I. Gandhi herself - a strong-willed, sometimes tough political figure.

Under Gandhi, the country with a population of 500 million people, with its ethnic and religious diversity, was faced with the need to ensure its development, create a modern industry, implement agricultural reforms, fight poverty and illiteracy, and establish India as an independent force on the world stage.

BECOMING A POLITICAL LEADER

Her family, especially her father, as well as the circle of people with whom she communicated in childhood, adolescence, youth and maturity played a huge role in shaping the leadership qualities of I. Gandhi.

I. Gandhi (nee Indira Priyadarshani Nehru) was born on November 19, 1917 in Allahabad in the family of Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru. Her father was 28 years old, he was already a professional politician, an active member of the Indian National Congress (INC) party.

Gandhi's parents were married in February 1916 and lived in a large family headed by Jawaharlal's father Motilal Nehru and his mother Swarup Rani (Kalhan Promilla, 1973, p. 5-11). In the same house, Anand Bhavana (Abode of Joy), lived the families of Jawaharlal's sisters Vijayalakshmi Pandit and Krishna (Hutheesing Krishna, Hatch Alden, 1967).

The family was descended from Kashmiri Brahmins. M. Nehru (1861-1931) was a successful lawyer. He adhered to European views and encouraged the Western way of life in everyday life. His daughters were brought up under the care of an English governess. On the advice of Annie Besant, a well-known theosophist and later president of Inc., he invited F. T. Brooks, a home teacher, to teach his only son, Jawaharlal. In 1905, when his son was fifteen, his father sent him to England to attend the aristocratic Harrow School, and then to Cambridge. J. Nehru returned from England in 1912 after receiving a law degree and began working as a lawyer in the High Court of Allahabad. At the same time, he began to participate in political life.

In 1888, three years after the Congress was established, M. Nehru took part in its work. He was first elected president of the party in 1919, and again in 1928.-

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then he approached Mahatma Gandhi with a proposal that the presidency of the party should pass to his son. Thus, in 1929, J. Nehru "inherited" this post [Luce E., 2007, p. 184].

M. Nehru did not adhere to many established norms. He said that he did not recognize untouchability and therefore was a real Hindu (his wife at the same time observed caste requirements).

Their home was a center of attraction for public and political figures. It was visited by various people, including Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (later known as Mahatma Gandhi - the Great Soul), who had a strong influence on the lifestyle and activities of the entire Nehru family. J. Nehru first met M. K. Gandhi in 1916 at an INC session in Lucknow.

The events of the First World War and the Defense of India Act passed by the British authorities, which severely restricted the rights of Indians, had a great impact on the political views of J. R. R. Tolkien. Nehru. Unlike his father, who held moderate views on the colonial regime, he began to fight it, and after the events in Amritsar in 1919, when several hundred civilians were shot on the orders of an English general, he plunged into politics.

J. Nehru writes that his marriage coincided with the struggle for self-government, the introduction of martial law in Punjab, the non-cooperation movement. He became so involved in politics that, without realizing it, he "almost completely abandoned Kamala... just at a time when she particularly needed my support" [Nehru, 1955, p.586].

In 1922, Indira's father and grandfather were tried in Allahabad on charges of encouraging participation in a campaign of civil disobedience against the British authorities. Her grandmother and mother were present at the court hearing, and she, a four-year-old, sat on her grandfather's lap during the entire trial. By a court decision, J. and M. Nehru were sentenced to six months in prison and a fine of 500 rupees each (Tunzelmann, 2007, p. 57; Mathur et al., 1976).

From early childhood, Indu (as Indira was called at home) saw and heard the future leaders of the national liberation movement. Her mother, as a traditional Indian wife, followed her husband in everything and later also began to take part in political activities - she was elected president of the INC in Allahabad. When Mahatma Gandhi called for civil disobedience in 1930, she supported the slogan " purna swaraj "(full independence). On January 26, 1930, the Congress made a solemn commitment to achieve Indian independence [Nehru, 1942, p. 612, 613].

The British authorities launched a crackdown on the participants of the disobedience movement. In April 1930, they arrested J. R. R. Tolkien. Nehru, who was the Congress president at the time. Then he appointed his father acting president of the party. However, in June, M. Nehru was also arrested and ended up in the same prison as his son. Ranjit Pandit, Vijayalakshmi's husband, was also arrested.

After the arrest of her husband and father-in-law, Kamala was appointed a temporary member of the Congress Working Committee. She was enthusiastic about getting women involved in the civil disobedience movement in Allahabad and Delhi. On November 16, 1930, the Congress held "Jawaharlal Day" in the country to protest his conviction and imprisonment. In Allahabad, the rally was attended by all women from the Nehru family, including 13-year-old Indira. Kamala addressed the audience and read out a speech by J. R. R. Tolkien. Nehru, sent by him from prison. Kamala was arrested on January 1, 1931. J. Nehru wrote to his daughter from prison with bitter irony: "It was a pleasant New Year's gift" [A Centenary History..., 1985, p. 226-229].

Later in his Autobiography, Nehru noted: "On New Year's Day, 1931, we received news of Kamala's arrest. I was satisfied, because she was eager to follow many of her comrades to prison" (Nehru, 1955, p. 263).

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INDIRA'S EDUCATION

Parents did not attach importance to the formal education of their only daughter. After being jailed again for anti-British speeches in February 1934, Nehru wrote to one of his friends: "I would like my daughter to work for a year in a factory, along with other employees, so that it becomes part of her education." He later clarified: "My wife and I have to decide on her future. We have no desire to send her to any official university. I don't accept them at all. I had intended to send her to Europe, perhaps to Switzerland, but events took the initiative out of our hands, and for many years we lived in one day, unable to plan for the future. My repeated and frequent "visits" to prisons disrupted our home plans" [Vasudev Uma, 1974, p. 108]. Nehru wrote that he would discuss this issue with his daughter, as such decisions "should not be imposed on a modern girl. It must choose for itself" [Vasudev Uma, 1974, p. 109].

As a result, Indira entered the university founded by Rabindranath Tagore in Shantiniketan (Abode of Peace). The father's attitude to his daughter's education was also expressed in a letter to her future teachers in Shantiniketan. He wanted them to understand the conditions in which Indira grew up and was brought up, her character, inclinations. "From early childhood, Indu was forced to be brought up in the face of political unrest in the country and the domestic problems caused by them. Because of this, her training suffered greatly. For many years, there was no atmosphere of peace and quiet in her home due to the fact that her parents and other relatives were public figures and were often in prison. These events naturally left a deep impression on her soul" [Vasudev Uma, 1974, p. 109].

The parents wanted their daughter to study subjects that would help her successfully engage in socially useful work, as well as become economically independent. In the letter, Nehru noted that he noticed her "vague desire" to engage in social activities, possibly due to"admiration for the work of her parents." Nehru suggested that in addition to the compulsory subjects (English, history, civil law, social service, etc.), Indira should study Hindi (Urdu was spoken in the family), as well as French.

After a year and a half, Indira had to stop studying because of her mother's illness (tuberculosis), since her father was in prison [Nehru, 1955, p. 585]. However, her studies at Shantiniketan left a deep impression on Indira's memory, especially her conversations with Tagore when he spoke of a "whole person" or "a perfect person who belongs to the whole world." Tagore himself in a letter to J. R. R. Tolkien. Nehru noted that Indira "has the power of your character and your ideas" [A Bunch of Old Letters..., 1958, p. 214]. Many years later, the Prime Minister and ex officio Chancellor of the University of Shantiniketan, I. Gandhi, recalled in her speech there: "Tagore wanted every student of his university to become a" man of peace " who knows no boundaries. So that he can say: "The whole world is my home, and all people are my brothers" [Selected Speeches of Indira Gandhi..., 1971, p. 297, 298].

In May 1935, Indira traveled with her mother to Germany, where Kamala was to undergo medical treatment. The British authorities released J. P. Blavatsky. Nehru is out of jail for a few days so that he can say goodbye to his wife and daughter. Along with Indira and Kamala, Feroz Gandhi, who was well acquainted with the Nehru family, also went to Europe. He was on his way to study at the London School of Economics [Frank, 2002, p. 93].

Kamala's health deteriorated sharply, and under pressure from the Indian public, including Tagore, Nehru was released, and he went to Europe to visit his seriously ill wife, who died in February 1936.-

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She was able to participate in the annual session of the Congress (as its president), while Indira remained in Europe.

In 1937, she passed the University of Oxford entrance exam. However, the local climate was completely unsuitable for her health. A year later, she was forced to leave for India, but soon wanted to return to England. The reason for this was most likely Feroz Gandhi, who continued his studies in London. Nehru was opposed to his daughter's trip to Europe, which, after the Munich agreement in 1938, was inevitably heading for war. Later, I. Gandhi recalled that on September 6, 1938, when she was in Germany, her father sent her a telegram asking her to return home [Selected Speeches of Indira Gandhi..., 1971, p. 102].

Nehru believed that before the Second World War, the" extremely reactionary " British government led by Chamberlain repeatedly encouraged fascist and Nazi powers and crushed democracy in Europe. "Until the last moment, it pursued a policy of flirting with Hitler and Mussolini and thereby contributed to their strengthening... The aim of this government was to draw Hitler into the war against Russia, in order to weaken Britain's two main enemies. In no case did it want progressive regimes in Germany or Italy," he wrote in a 1940 letter to Abul Kalam Azad [A Bunch of Old Letters..., 1958, p. 419, 420].

The outbreak of World War II found Indira in Oxford. Despite her father's admonitions, she decided to continue her studies, but instead ended up in a hospital with pleurisy and was forced to leave for a quiet Switzerland, where she underwent a long course of treatment. Only in the spring of 1941. she returned to India. She did not manage to graduate from Oxford University, but during her studies she gained experience in social activities. In the UK, she participated in the activities of the Indian League, which was led by Krishna Menon, later the Minister of Defense of India in the Nehru government.

The League was attended by a large group of Indian students who later became political leaders of the center-left. Among them are Feroz Gandhi, Bhupesh Gupta, Joti Basu, Mohan Kumaramangalam, Parvati Subroyan (Krishnan), Nikhil Chakravarty, Renuka Rai. Minu Masani, who later joined the right wing of Indian politics, was also a member of this group.

Members of the League enthusiastically participated in all actions directed against the actions of reactionary regimes: the Franco dictatorship, the Japanese occupation of China, the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. Later, I. Gandhi recalled that at that time she was most concerned about the events in Hitler's Germany. She also participated in the activities of the committee for assistance to Spain. Among others, she welcomed Passionaria (Dolores Ibaruri) to London when she visited England.

Indira's interests went far beyond the League's activities. She met and got acquainted with many prominent European cultural and political figures. Among them: Romain Rolland, Albert Einstein, Paul Robson, Stafford Cripps and many others.

A significant influence on Indira at this time was provided by Feroz, who had already received a degree from the London School of Economics. He held anti-imperialist views, intended to join the international brigade in Spain, which was prevented by the British authorities. Nevertheless, he managed to get to Spain, and from there went to the USSR.

WEDDING IS ALSO POLITICS

Back in 1935, Feroz told Kamala that he would like to marry Indira. Kamala noticed that it was too early for her daughter to get married. But in March 1941, after her return to India, Indira was determined to join Feroz in her life.

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This was reported to her father, who refrained from commenting, but advised her to meet other young people as well. Indira insisted. Then the father decided to adopt the traditional practice of arranging a daughter's marriage. He told Indira that since her mother was dead and he was in jail, she should get permission from his sisters Vijayalakshmi and Krishna. Both aunts said no. However, this did not change Indira's intentions. Then Nehru, realizing that he could not impose his will on his daughter, agreed to her marriage, but only after his release from prison.

In India, a wedding is an extremely important family and social event, where the presence of the next of kin, especially the father, is mandatory. Nehru's calculation was simple: he still had three years left in prison. But events unfolded in a different scenario. The British authorities decided to agree to a truce with the INC leaders and released Nehru along with other political prisoners shortly after his conversation with Indira. On December 4, 1941, he was released. The question of the wedding was coming to a head. The case was hampered by two obstacles - religion and social status. The Nehru family belonged to the Hindu upper caste of Brahmins, and the Feroza family members were Parsis (Zoroastrians).

For Nehru, the religious aspect was not important. He simply didn't think Feroz was the right husband for Indira and turned to Mahatma Gandhi for advice. He talked to each of the lovers and blessed their union. However, Nehru still had a lot of problems to settle. Depending on the circumstances, hundreds or even thousands of people participate in an Indian wedding. It was necessary to decide whether the wedding ceremony would be performed in Hindu or Zoroastrian style. A civil marriage was out of the question - the Nehru family and public opinion were not prepared for this turn of events.

Marriage between representatives of different religions (extremely rare at that time, if not exceptional) required one of the parties (usually the wife) to renounce their religion and accept the religion of the spouse. This was unacceptable to the Indira and Feroz families. As a result, a Sanskrit professor developed an unorthodox ritual based on ancient Vedic texts and rituals.

The wedding was scheduled for March 26, 1942. Its preparation was the subject of a wide public discussion. Orthodox Hindus opposed the violation of traditional customs of intra-caste marriages. Indira received hundreds of abusive emails. Mahatma Gandhi had to write an article about this in the Harijan magazine on March 8, 1942. After learning that the Nehru family intended to arrange a wedding with only the closest relatives invited, Mahatma Gandhi remarked that the wedding of Indira and Feroz, which caused such a reaction, should be open to the public. So, although it was a small wedding on an Indian scale, it was attended by guests from all over India. Indira was wearing a sari made from cloth that Nehru had woven while in prison in Dehra Dun (Vasudev Uma, 1974, p. 167, 168).

GET OUT OF INDIA!

After returning to India, Indira and Feroz joined a youth movement led by the All India Student Federation, whose members shared the ideas of both the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India. After the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union in June 1941, this federation split into two parts. The Communists took the side of the USSR and its allies, including Great Britain, against fascism. The Congress was committed to continuing the struggle for independence against Great Britain.

On August 8, 1942, the INC passed the "Get Out of India!" resolution, which required Great Britain to grant India independence. Indira and Feroz supported her. The next day, the arrests began. Mahatma was among the first to be jailed

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Gandhi, J. Nehru and other members of the party leadership. They were followed by Congress activists, among them Vijayalakshmi Pandit. Feroz managed to hide for a while, but soon he was arrested as well.

In Ananda Bhavan, Indira was left alone for all the adults and had to take care of Vijayalakshmi Pandit's daughters. At the same time, Indira took part in rallies in support of the INC slogan and was once severely beaten by the police, and in September 1942, she was arrested during a speech and sent to the same Naini central prison where her father was imprisoned for many years, where she remained for more than eight months. There were five other female political prisoners in her cell, including one pregnant woman and a girl of about twelve.

Feroz was arrested a little later and sent to the same prison. At first, the spouses were not allowed to see each other. Its 25th anniversary on November 19, 1942. Indira noted in the conclusion. On this day, she was allowed to see Feroz. May 13, 1943 Indira is out of jail.

On August 20, 1944, her son was born. J. R. R. Tolkien, then in prison. Nehru made a long list of names for his grandson. Indira and Feroz had their own options. As a result, during a special ceremony, the newborn was named Rajiv (one of the names of the lotus, as well as the names Kamala and Indira). Indira wrote in a letter to Feroz, who was in Lucknow at the time and was unable to participate in the naming ceremony, that it also took into account the customs of the Parsis [Gandhi Sonia, 1992, p. 25]. On December 14, 1946, Indira gave birth to her second son, Sanjay.

INDIRA GANDHI GOES INTO POLITICS

After India declared independence on August 15, 1947, Nehru became the country's prime Minister, which dramatically changed his daughter's lifestyle. Given her father's heavy workload, she took on an important job: meeting people who came to Nehru with their problems and complaints. Every day, she talked to them on the lawn outside the Prime Minister's house.

In the summer of 1947, due to the partition of British India into the Indian Union and Pakistan, clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims. Huge masses of Muslims began to leave India for Pakistan. Colonies of Muslim refugees were formed in Delhi and its suburbs. In September 1947, Mahatma Gandhi commissioned Indira to visit them. Together with one of the Congress activists, Indira visited several of them. She talked to Muslims, found out their needs and problems, organized the delivery of food and water. The situation was extremely tense. Hindus considered Muslims responsible for the division of the country, met them with abuse and even threw stones. They couldn't and didn't want to understand why the congregants were helping Muslims. On the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira created the Shanti Dal (Peace Squad), which was dedicated to pacifying both communities.

Indira regularly informed Mahatma Gandhi about the situation in the refugee colonies and their relations with the Hindus. The last time she visited him was on the afternoon of January 30, 1948. In the evening of the same day, Mahatma Gandhi was killed by a Hindu fanatic.

In 1952, India held its first general election. Indira made a strong showing during the election campaign, traveling and speaking in areas that were key to winning the Congress. 170 million rubles. voters, mostly illiterate, had the right to vote, and they could only be influenced by a living word.

By 1955. Indira became a member of the Congress Working Committee along with Nehru and other prominent figures. She was responsible for working among women and young people. A year later, she held senior positions in the Congress party structure in the center and became the party's president in Allahabad.

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At the next general election in 1957. Indira headed the election campaign of Nehru, who was running for Parliament from the Filpur constituency. Every day, she spoke at mass rallies in 10 to 12 villages. She carefully prepared for these meetings with voters, paid attention to her appearance so as not to offend their feelings in any way: she wore bracelets - the traditional decoration of a Hindu woman, covered her head with the edge of a sari (at the same time hiding the short haircut that was not yet accepted by society), and since the elections fell on the spring festival of Vasant Panchami, women at this time wore a yellow sari.

Indira's charismatic abilities were of great help to the Congress in attracting votes. In the elections, the party selected 10% of its list of candidates for women, who won 24 parliamentary seats.

Meanwhile, Feroz was elected to Parliament in 1952 after several years of working for the National Herald newspaper (founded by Nehru in 1937). He was burdened by his status as the Prime Minister's son-in-law and showed a detachment from officials. In real life, it wasn't just on his own initiative. Thus, during a civil reception in honor of Khrushchev and Bulganin in 1955 in Delhi, when Nehru and Indira went to the open stage to receive distinguished guests, Feroz and several other members of Parliament were stopped by security services. This gave Feroz an opportunity to raise the issue of the honor and dignity of members of Parliament at a meeting of the parliamentary faction of the Congress. After being re-elected to Parliament in 1957. In it, he made revelations about corruption in the insurance company of India, which did not bypass the Finance Minister T. T. Krishnamachari, who was a confidant of Nehru. The minister was forced to resign [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feroze_Gandhi].

Feroz held social democratic views and believed that the Nehru-led government was moving away from them. At one time, relations between his son-in-law and father-in-law became so complicated that Feroz even wrote Nehru a letter announcing his intention to resign from the Congress, and gave it to Indira. It is not known whether it was handed over to Nehru, but Feroz remained in Congress as a rebel. In Delhi, he even lived separately - in a house for members of parliament.

Meanwhile, Indira's role in political circles was growing. She'd said herself that she wasn't cut out to be a housewife. Gradually, her social and political responsibilities as an assistant and close associate of Nehru became more multifaceted. She actually began to act as the" first lady", organizing official receptions and meetings of Nehru with foreign statesmen. Indira usually accompanied her father on foreign trips. In 1953. she visited the Soviet Union alone, without Nehru.

Over time, Indira became an independent political figure, remaining a trusted confidant of Nehru, who received reliable and fast information from her. Knowledgeable people said, " It is difficult to get to Nehru. Go and tell Indira about your problems." The Prime Minister often referred local political leaders to Indira, and sometimes advised them to discuss a particular issue in detail with her. Nehru's entourage began to talk about how he was preparing her for the highest political mission [Vasudev, 1974, p. 257, 258].

In January 1959, at the annual session of the All India Congress Committee, Gandhi was elected President of the party. Nehru has taken a detached stance on the issue. Some argued that Indira's nomination would mean a victory for the left in Congress. To this Nehru replied that he did not consider the issue in the "left-right" plane, but believed that the election of his daughter reflected the party's desire to get rid of routine and attract young people to the Congress.

I. Gandhi stated the need for major agricultural reforms, the introduction of restrictions on the size of land ownership, the creation of cooperatives. Speaking of economy-

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She explained: "We accept socialism only as an effective tool for achieving social justice and turning towards greater equality in an unequal society. In India, the word "socialism" means only a generalized expression of the people's demands to produce as much as possible and distribute as fairly as possible in a democracy "[Vasudev, 1974, p. 267].

In her first speech as Congress President, Gandhi said she would make "special efforts" to bring the Congress back to power in Kerala, where a Communist-led government was formed as a result of elections in 1957. Kerala became the only state in the country where the Congress lost power for the first time. As a result of the same elections, the Communist Party of India emerged as the main opposition party to the Congress in Parliament.

Indira launched a broad campaign to eliminate the left-wing government. At the same time, contrary to the previous policy of the Congress, Gandhi agreed to cooperate with such religious and communal parties as the Muslim League and the Kerala Congress. In this case, questions of ideology were secondary to her. Its pragmatism triumphed over its ideology.

Nehru has taken a more cautious stance on this issue. He assumed that the left-wing Government was legitimately democratically elected and that its removal from power and the Congress ' cooperation with religious and communal forces could cause complications. The different approaches of Nehru and Gandhi on this issue were revealed in this episode. One of the correspondents asked Nehru a question: "Do you want to fight the Communists or overthrow their government in Kerala?"To this Nehru replied: "Displace? How? What do you mean? They were also elected." At this time, Indira's voice came from behind him, " Dad, what are you saying! You sound like the prime minister." Then, turning to the reporter, she said: "As President of the Congress, I intend to fight them and overthrow their government "[Vasudev, 1974, p. 276]. And I did it.

On 31 July 1959, the Kerala Presidency was established, and the state Government and Legislative Assembly were dissolved. After the Kerala special election in February 1960, the Congress, in alliance with the Muslim League and other parties, returned to power. Indira Gandhi's victory was short-lived. The myth of the victory of the Congress in Kerala was dispelled by the results of the 1960 elections. In these elections, the leftists in this state received 1,200 thousand more votes than in 1957, and in the parliamentary elections in 1962, they gained 55% of the vote and won 10 of the 18 parliamentary seats. After the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections held in the same year, 1962, the Congress coalition with the Muslim League collapsed, and its government was forced to resign. Another attempt by the Congress to form its own government in Kerala in 1964 failed [Mathur et al., 1976, p. 184, 185]. In early elections in 1965, the Communists won more seats than the Congress, but neither party was able to gain a majority in the legislative assembly. Therefore, the presidential board was introduced [Reginin, 1978, p. 94]. And after the 1967 elections. The Congress was unable to form its own government not only in Kerala, but also in eight other large states, where three-fifths of the country's population lived [Nilov, 1987, p. 16, 17].

It is noteworthy that Feroz Gandhi also spoke out against Indira's policy towards the communist-led government in Kerala. He questioned the constitutionality of her actions.

In 1960, the Gandhi family went through a difficult ordeal: Indira had a kidney removed, and in the same year Feroz died after a second heart attack. In this situation, I. Gandhi refused to nominate her as a candidate for the post of Congress President. However, a year later, she returned to politics.

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On behalf of Nehru, Gandhi made a 12-day trip to Africa, where she met with leaders of States and Governments, including Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Milton Obote (Uganda), and Julius Nyerere (Tanzania). In November 1961, she accompanied Nehru to the United States, where she and her father met with President John F. Kennedy. In early 1962. Indira organized a trip to India by the wife of the American President Jacqueline Kennedy. In March 1962, she visited the United States for a lecture tour, then returned the following April for an eleven-day stay.

In August 1963, Nehru launched a major political maneuver called the Kamaraj Plan (after the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, K. Kamaraj Nadar). The purpose of this plan was to strengthen the party organization of the Congress and eliminate a number of ministers in the center and states, which, in his opinion, became a brake on the development of the party and the country. The plan called for "the return of the party to the people" and the revival of the spirit of "service and self-sacrifice" among the Congressists. In practice, this resulted in the removal of six ministers from the central Government and six chief ministers in the states.

Analysts believed that in this way Nehru got rid of the party leaders he did not like and at the same time changed the situation in it in connection with the possible election of his successor (in 1962, he became seriously ill). Thus, for the first time, the issue of a successor was discussed publicly. In December 1963, a survey was conducted among residents of Bombay, in which they had to answer the question: "Who is after Nehru?". The survey was of a local nature, but the results obtained were of some interest. Among those identified by respondents were Yashwandrao B. Chavan (India's Defense Minister), Morarji Desai, Lal Bahadur Shastri (both resigned from the government under the Kamaraj plan), Indira Gandhi, and Vijayalakshmi Pandit (The Amrita Bazar Patrika, 1964).

During this time, Indira traveled to Kenya and Zanzibar to represent India at the independence celebrations. Then, over the course of 23 days, she visited a number of other countries in Central and East Africa.

It is worth noting here that while Nehru was Prime Minister, he always retained the post of Foreign Minister. When he sent Indira on responsible missions abroad, he probably intended to entrust her with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Events, however, developed according to a different scenario. In January 1964, at the opening of the 68th Congress session in Bhubaneswar, Nehru suffered a stroke. The doctors advised him to rest completely for 4 to 6 weeks. After that, the session continued without Nehru.

The Congress leadership has begun serious discussions about a possible successor to Nehru as the country's leader. At the same session in Bhubaneswar, it was announced that Home Minister Gulzarilal Nanda and Finance Minister T. T. Krishnamachari (who Nehru had reintroduced to the Cabinet under the Kamaraj plan) would jointly serve as day-to-day Prime Minister. It was also proposed to return L. B. Shastri to the Government as a minister without portfolio. He was supposed to assist the Prime Minister after his recovery in all matters within his direct responsibility, including foreign relations. In fact, this excluded Gandhi from the list of candidates for the highest post in the country.

After a while, Nehru started working, and it seemed that he had managed to cope with a serious illness. At his last press conference on May 22, 1964, a reporter asked him a direct question: "It was reported that in an interview with US television, you said that you were not preparing Indira Gandhi for the post of prime minister. Wouldn't it be more appropriate, in the interests of governance and stability in the country, to solve the problem of continuity during your lifetime in a democratic way?" Nehru replied: "That's a leading question," and he laughed. The reporter continued, " But it's on everyone's lips."

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what Nehru said: "You never know what they say. My life will not end so soon " [Jawaharlal Nehru's Speeches..., 1968, p. 228].

Nehru died on May 27, 1964. On the same day, Gulzarilal Nanda, the senior member of the Cabinet, became Interim Prime Minister. On June 9, 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri was unanimously elected leader of the Congress parliamentary group and subsequently sworn in as Prime Minister by the President of India. L. B. Shastri confirmed the government's commitment to the Nehru course. I. Gandhi was given the portfolio of Minister of Information and Broadcasting. Given her social standing and proximity to Nehru, she was ranked fourth in the unofficial hierarchy, after Sastri, Nanda and Krishnamachari.

At the same time, I. Gandhi was first elected as a member of the upper house of Parliament (according to the law, a minister must be a member of one of the chambers, and if he was not, then he must become one within six months). In India, it is more prestigious to be a member of the lower house, since he is elected by the people, and not by the parliamentary curia, as in the upper house. But Vijayalakshmi Pandit has already claimed the lower house seat vacated by Nehru's death from the Filpur constituency and won the election.

In her new role, Gandhi developed a great deal of activity, especially in the party, emphasizing the need to follow the path of democratic socialism, build a planned economy and on its basis - heavy industry, while the private and public sectors should, in her opinion, complement each other. She emphasized Nehru's contribution to the construction of the new India, and rated him as one of the key figures of the twentieth century. "Nehru did not adhere to any ideological doctrine," said I. Gandhi. "He took much of the thought of the East and West, and of the philosophies of the past and present. He was never an orthodox Marxist, but this theory had a profound influence on him" [The Years of Endeavour..., 1975, p. 806-810].

In 1964, Gandhi visited Great Britain and Yugoslavia, and on October 28 of the same year, she arrived in the USSR on an unofficial visit. She met with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A. N. Kosygin and the Minister of Foreign Affairs A. A. Gromyko. Gandhi attached special importance to this visit, since shortly before it, a change of power took place in the country - instead of N. S. Khrushchev, L. I. Brezhnev became the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Soviet leaders reaffirmed the USSR's commitment to developing relations with India [The Hindustan Time, 1964].

In August 1965, the armed conflict between India and Pakistan began. On September 23, under UN pressure, a ceasefire was declared. But peace was not assured. At the initiative of the Soviet Union, a meeting was organized in Tashkent in January 1966 between the Prime Minister of India, L. B. Shastri, and the President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan. With the assistance of A. N. Kosygin, a peace agreement was signed between the two countries on January 10, 1966. On January 11, L. B. Shastri suddenly died in the same place, in Tashkent, from a heart attack.

The news of his death was passed on to Nanda, who informed Gandhi and Finance Minister Sachin Chowdhury. They immediately went to the President of India S. Radhakrishnan. At three o'clock in the morning, Nanda, as the senior minister in the cabinet, was sworn in as Acting Prime Minister, and I. Gandhi and S. Chowdhury as ministers of the new government.

Over the next two weeks, the top leadership of the Congress was engaged in an intense struggle for the post of leader of the parliamentary faction of the party, and, accordingly, for the post of Prime Minister. The main contenders were 48-year-old I. Gandhi and 71-year-old Conservative leader Morarji Desai. Not only the members of the Congressional Working Committee, but also the Chief Ministers of the states and other prominent figures of the party participated in the struggle. Congress President Kamaraj played an important role in it.

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At a joint meeting of members of the Congress parliamentary group in the lower and upper houses of Parliament, Gandhi won by a convincing majority of votes (by secret ballot). She received 355 votes, while her opponent M. Desai received 169.

On January 24, 1966, Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister of India [India..., 1994, p. 914].

IN POWER: ACHIEVEMENTS AND MISTAKES

Gandhi continued Nehru's course, which was based on a commitment to democracy and secularism, and self-reliance. The main instrument of this policy was the application of the concept of a mixed economy, that is, a combination of private entrepreneurship with state control over the leading industries and finances [Selected Speeches of Indira Gandhi, 1971, p. 4-7].

At this time, India managed to get rid of the famine that accompanied it during the colonial period and in the first years of independence, and to create its own industrial base, to carry out agrarian reforms (although very limited). The Government pursued a dynamic foreign policy. Ties with the USSR were strengthened. On August 9, 1971, the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries was signed. India's war with Pakistan in 1971 ended with the victory of India and the formation of an independent Bangladesh, which radically changed the situation in South Asia. In 1974, Gandhi decided to conduct nuclear tests, which followed 10 years after the same tests in China.

Meanwhile, the political situation in the country has sharply worsened. This was caused both by the crisis in the Congress itself and by the actions of the opposition. It declared a "total revolution" and aimed to remove Gandhi from power. Mass protests against the government began, especially in Gujarat. The latest in this chain of events was the decision of the Allahabad High Court on June 12, 1975, which accused Gandhi of violating the electoral law during the parliamentary elections from her district in 1971. The court ruled that her election was illegal, she is not allowed to vote in parliament and hold elected positions for six years, which gave the opposition reason to insist on her resignation.

On June 25, 1975, for the first time in the history of independent India, the Gandhian Government declared a state of emergency. Prominent figures and activists of opposition parties were arrested (according to some sources, about 100 thousand people), press censorship was introduced, the powers of the courts and the basic rights of citizens were restricted. The decision of the Allahabad High Court was overturned by the Supreme Court of India (Nayar, 1977, pp. 1-55, 158).

Simultaneously with the state of emergency, a 20-point program was proclaimed, which provided for a number of activities in the interests of the social lower classes, including: agricultural workers were released from bondage, and former princes were deprived of privileges [Selected Speeches and Writings of Indira Gandhi, 1984, p. 177]. Among the activities undertaken during this period was the amendment of the Constitution of India. In the Preamble of the Basic law describing the structure of the country, the words "socialist, secular" were added to the formula "India is a sovereign democratic republic". Thus, the secular nature of the State was constitutionally affirmed.

At the same time, a kind of "unconstitutional" center of power emerged, headed by Gandhi's youngest son, Sanjay. This group, with the support of the Prime Minister, put forward its own development program for India, which was officially recognized on a par with the 20-point program. In fact, it turned out to be a monstrous violence associated with the restriction of the birth rate by sterilizing hundreds of thousands of men, and

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as well as "restoring" order in the cities, but in essence relocating huge masses of the poor outside their borders [Luce, 2007, p. 186].

During the years of the state of emergency, Congress lost much of its political influence. He substituted populist slogans in support of Gandhi for constructive work among the masses. In November 1975, at a session of the Congress, its President Dev Kant Barua proclaimed the slogan: "India is Indira."

This was the most difficult period in all the years of Gandhi's tenure in power. She herself said that a climate of violence was created in India, which led to the murder of one of the government ministers and an attempt on the life of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Opposition parties have developed a whole program to paralyze the government's activities. They even urged the army not to follow orders. The campaign was scheduled to start on June 29, 1975. There is no doubt, said Gandhi, that this would lead to large-scale violations of public order and irreparable damage to the economy.

The state of emergency was a watershed in the history of independent India. It showed the weakness of democratic institutions, which were opposed by various unconstitutional organizations and formations created in various districts even before the emergency measures were taken, which only worsened the situation, and Gandhi became its hostage. Some Indian researchers even said that the" cult of personality " of I. Gandhi was created, and the myth of the lack of alternatives to the Nehru dynasty, which alone can keep the country within the framework of progressive democratic development [Kothari, 1988, p. 291-2].

Forceful, authoritarian methods did not strengthen, but, on the contrary, weakened the power of I. Gandhi. As a result, the March 1977 elections were won by the opposition parties that formed the Janata Parshi (People's Party) bloc, which won almost two-thirds of the parliamentary seats. INK suffered a crushing defeat. Gandhi herself lost to her socialist opponent, Raj Narain, in the constituency that had always been her mainstay (Nayar, 1977, p. 179).

Gandhi was arrested and spent several days in jail. At this critical time for her, she considered leaving politics altogether. Many of her supporters in Congress have left her. Others declared Sanjay to be the "main villain". A huge blow to his mother was his death in a plane crash in June 1980.

However, subsequent events began to unfold in favor of Gandhi. The government of the Janata Party bloc was unable to hold on to power due to ideological and political differences between its members. I. Gandhi again won the parliamentary elections in 1980. From 1978 to 1984, she was also the permanent president of the Congress [100 Years..., 1985, p. 1].

Soon, the country was faced with separatist movements in a number of regions, most notably in Punjab, where local separatists wanted to create an independent state of Khalistan. These attempts were suppressed by armed forces. During the military operation "Blue Star", tanks were fired at the Sikh shrine of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which caused outrage in the Sikh community.

On October 31, 1984, Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh security guard. She had a premonition of her own demise. In a note found after her death, Gandhi wrote:: "If I die a violent death, which some fear and others are planning to do, I know that the violence will be in the thoughts and actions of the killer, not in my death. Because no black hatred can cast a shadow over my love for my people and my country. No force can turn me away from my goal and my desire to lead the country forward " [100 Years..., 1985, p. 371].

In her speeches, Gandhi repeatedly emphasized the contribution of the Nehru family to the struggle for independence and the construction of a new India. At one of the pre-election events

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rallies she said: "We-the Nehru family-have a long history of self-sacrifice... We don't want anything for ourselves. We want to serve the country... Our family will continue to do this in the future" [Nayar, 1977, p. 172-173].

On the day of Gandhi's death, her son Rajiv was elected leader of the Congress parliamentary group and became the new Prime Minister of the country. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty remained in power. This is the tragedy and triumph of this family.

list of literature

Nehru J. Autobiography, Moscow, 1955.
Nilov F. N. Levodemocratic governments in the states of India, Moscow, 1987.
Reginin A. I. Indian National Congress. Ocherki ideologii i politiki [Essays on Ideology and Politics], Moscow, 1978.

A Bunch of Old Letters. Written mostly to Jawaharlal Nehru and some written by him. Letter from Rabindranath Tagore to Jawaharlal Nehru. April 20, 1935. Bombay, 1958.

A Centenary History of the Indian National Congress (1885 - 1985). Vol. II. All India Congress Committee (I). Vikas Publishing House Ltd., New Delhi, 1985.

Frank Katherine. Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi. Harper Collins Publishers. New Delhi, 2002.

Gandhi Sonia. Rajiv. New Delhi, 1992.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feroze_Gandhi

100 Years of the Indian National Congress. Centenery Commemorative Volume. Congress. Varnika. New Delhi. Vol. 2, N 12, December, 1985.

Hutheesing Krishna, Hatch Alden. We Nehrus. N. Y.: Holt, Rinahart and Winston, 1967.

India 1994 / A Reference Annual. Publication Division. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Government of India. New Delhi, 1994.

Jawaharlal Nehru's Speeches. March 1963 - May 1964 / Publication Division. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Vol. V. New Delhi. 1968.

Kalhan Promilla. Kamala Nehru. An Intimate Biography. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1973.

Kothari Rajni. State against Democracy. In Search of Humane Governance. New Delhi, 1988.

Luce E. In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India. Doubleday. N. Y. - L., 2007.

Mathur D. B., Sharma M. L., Sharma B. D. Kerala. Politics of Polarisation. New Delhi, 1976.

Nayar Kuldip. The Judgement. Inside Story of the Emergency in India. New Delhi, 1977.

Nehru J. An Autobiography. With musings on recent events in India. Bombay, 1942.

Selected Speeches of Indira Gandhi. January 1966 - August 1969 / Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. New Delhi, 1971.

Indira Gandhi. Convocation address at Vishva-Bharati University. Shantiniketan. December 24, 1967.

Selected Speeches and Writings of Indira Gandhi. Broadcast to the Nation, over the Air. New Delhi, June 26, 1975. Vol. III. September 1972 - March 1977. Publication Division... New Delhi, 1984.

The Amrita Bazar Patrika. Calcutta, 01.01.1964.

The Hindustan Time. 01.11.1964.

The Years of Endeavour. Selected Speeches of Indira Gandhi. August 1969 - August 1972. Foreword to the First Volume of Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Publication Division. Government of India. New Delhi, 1975.

Tunzelmann Alex von. Indian Summer. The Secret History of the End of An Empire. N. Y., 2007.

Vasudev Uma. Indira Gandhi. Revolution in Restraint. Delhi, 1974.

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