Indira Gandhi – India’s first and only woman Prime Minister – was born on this day in 1917 in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her birth anniversary. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by party chief Kharge, paid floral tributes to the Iron Lady at Shakti Sthal, the resting place of Indira Gandhi. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda were also seen paying their respect at the Raj Ghat. Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Bharat Jodo Yarta, also paid floral tribute to the former Prime Minister on her birth anniversary during the march.
PM Modi, who will commence his three-day campaign in poll-bound Gujarat on Saturday, tweeted: “Tributes to our former PM Mrs. Indira Gandhi Ji on her birth anniversary.”
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh had earlier told news agency ANI that to mark 105th birth anniversary of former PM Indira Gandhi, “only women MLAs, MPs, party workers, panchayat members, Bharat Jodo Yatris, will walk in Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi to show ‘mahila shakti’.”
Indira Gandhi – India’s first and only woman Prime Minister – was born on this day in 1917 in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad. She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. Her mother, Kamala Nehru, was also a freedom fighter and leader of the Indian National Congress.
Indira Gandhi was elected as the third prime minister of India in 1966. In her leadership, India went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement in East Pakistan, and the subsequent creation of Bangladesh. Gandhi’s tenure also saw a state of emergency from 1975 to 1977.