India

Shastri himself had offered ‘chair’ to Indira Gandhi before becoming PM, because of this she refused

When Indira turned down the PM’s chair, Shastri urged him that without her he would not be able to form a strong government, so he should at least take the post of minister.

27 May 1964. Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru passed away. After the death of Pandit Nehru, not only did the leadership crisis arise in front of the country, the conflict within the Congress also came to the surface. Although Nehru had taught his daughter Indira Gandhi all the tricks of politics and prepared her to walk on the rocky paths of politics, but destiny had something else approved. After the death of Pandit Nehru, the leaders of the Syndicate faction in the Congress elected Lal Bahadur Shastri as the Prime Minister. especially as. Kamaraj preferred Shastri.

The leaders of the Syndicate faction may have completely ignored Indira and forwarded the name of Lal Bahadur Shastri, but Shastri himself wanted Indira Gandhi to become the Prime Minister. Senior journalist and author Rashid Kidwai has described this incident in detail in his recent book ‘Prime Minister of India: Desh, Dasha, Disha’.

Kidwai writes in quoting Indira Gandhi’s friend and advisor Pupul Jayakar that before taking oath as Prime Minister, Shastri called Indira Gandhi to him and offered her the post of Prime Minister, but Indira Gandhi rejected it.

inWhy did Dira Gandhi reject the chair? Pupul Jayakar has also mentioned this in his book. She writes that Indira Gandhi had rejected Lal Bahadur Shastri’s request because she felt that if she became the Prime Minister from now on, she would be doomed and would do her own harm.

However, Shastri urged him that without him he would not be able to form a strong government, so he should at least take the post of minister. Following Shastri’s request, he took over the responsibility of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

After the death of Shastri, the waist was tight: However, within two years of becoming the Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri died under mysterious circumstances on 11 January 1966 in Tashkent. After his death, the tug of war started once again over the PM.

But this time Indira Gandhi was gearing up. The leaders of a faction of Congress had also indicated this. After all, Indira Gandhi became the first woman Prime Minister of the country on 19 January 1966 after all the efforts.

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