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India - Be in the Rendezvous land of color,
culture and fauna |
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![]() Road to Fame In 1959, Gandhi became the fourth woman elected president of the Indian National Congress. Five years later in 1964, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri appointed Indira Gandhi as minister of information and broadcasting. As minister, she most importantly encouraged the making of inexpensive radios and started a family planning program. |
![]() After Shastri's death in 1966,
Indira Gandhi served as prime minister until India held the next
election. She won that election, and in 1967, became the first woman
ever elected to lead a democracy. In 1971, Gandhi was re-elected by
campaigning with the slogan "Abolish Poverty." |
To
control population growth, Gandhi implemented a voluntary sterilization
program. As a result, adversaries criticized her and her administration
in general. To secure her power and because of escalating riots, on June
26, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency which limited the
personal freedom of Indians. Also, she ordered the arrests of the main
opposition leaders. In 1977, she was voted out of office but regained
her position as prime minister in 1980.On October 31, 1984, on the unfateful day, Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards assassinated her. They did so to avenge the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Gandhi ordered the storming in June because of terrorist activity. As prime minister, Gandhi tried to improve the lives of Indians. Her main accomplishments were improving relations with the Soviet Union and victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan. Also in 1971, India sent its first satellite into space. Economically, Indira Gandhi led India to one of the fastest growing economies in the world toward the end of her time as prime minister.
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