Indian history has been witness to only one female Prime Minister - Indira Gandhi. She was the third Prime Minister of India and the daughter of the first - Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru. Her charm, intelligence and charisma made her a powerful statesperson, much loved and admired by her people.
Her father had joined the freedom struggle, so little Indira, or Priyadarshani as she was lovingly called, was exposed to politics from the age of 3 or 4 years. Her house was the centre of political activity, as all the important leaders stayed there on visiting Allahabad. Mahatma Gandhi was a frequent visitor to her father's residence and she was greatly affected by his thinking. A visit to the Sabarmati Ashram left an indelible mark on her psyche and she was impressed by the simple, hard life and patriotic feelings that she witnessed there.
She passed her Metric from Pune University and was then sent on to Shantiniketan, formed by Ravindranath Tagore. Here she was made to lead a strict highly disciplined life. From here she went on to study in Switzerland and then to Oxford University in London.
After India gained freedom, Pandit Nehru was elected Prime Minister. After his death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri took over. And then in 1966, Indira Gandhi was elected leader of the Congress.
But on the other hand, the enormity of the problems she faced was the cause of much heartache. There were problems in Assam, Punjab as well as East Bengal. And in 1971, Pakistan attacked India and forced another smaller partition - the creation of Bangladesh.
On June 26th, 1975, Mrs. Gandhi declared an emergency, due to the turbulent political situation in the country at that time. Janta Party leaders like J.P. Narayan were arrested and jailed. But Mrs. Gandhi lost out to them in the next election in 1977 and was re-elected to power in 1980. Later, in Punjab there was a demand for a separate state of Khalistan, and the Sardarji's were up in arms. But their demands were not met and this was the cause of her ultimate assassination.
