Everything which I have written in my articles about why Indira Gandhi relaxed the Emergency and called for elections in January 1977 is consistent with what Sonia Gandhi has written in her memoirs Belonging.

By Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada Prasad 

https://openthemagazine.com/special/indira-gandhi-call-elections-january-1977/ 

Everything which I have written in my articles about why Indira Gandhi relaxed the Emergency and called for elections in January 1977 is consistent with what Sonia Gandhi has written in her memoirs Belonging.

In her book, Sonia Gandhi has written:

“More worrying information was to come. Mrs. Gandhi was shocked by

a resolution passed by three State Assemblies in 1976 that Parliament be

turned into a Constituent Assembly. She was told that Sanjay knew of the

proposal, one that carried grave implications for the Constitution—amongst

them a continuation of the Emergency. She reacted strongly, putting an end

to it before it went any further, but she was finally convinced that the

situation was getting out of hand: Actions of serious import were being

taken without her knowledge.

The same year, at the AICC session of the party in Guwahati at the end

of November, Sanjay was hailed as the undisputed leader of the Youth

Congress. The praise heaped on him seemed to have overshadowed some of

his mother’s senior colleagues, who felt alienated and offended by his

brashness. 

The role of Maneka, too, was worrying my mother-in-law, who felt that, rather than being a sobering influence on Sanjay, she was egging him on in his activities, even interfering in them. She had said to Cabinet Secretary P.N. Dhar about her young daughter-in-law: “Uske abhi se par nikalne lage

hain.” (“She has started growing wings already.”)......”

“....Whenever she was upset about work, or felt under pressure, or had a

bad day in Parliament or a setback, she’d look to Rajiv to comfort her,

which he’d do in his own way with a loving hug, reassuring words. She

loved both her sons; but while she looked to Rajiv as her emotional and

moral anchor, she looked to Sanjay as her active defender—now more than

ever before, when he was in the fray as her political champion. Probably

she overlooked Sanjay’s overreach because, in her words, he was the only

one “who had come to her rescue,” which is possibly why she protected

him. Yet over the year following the proclamation of Emergency, she did

come to see that keeping him in check would have prevented much of the

damage that ensued….”

“….However, it became apparent to us that she was now increasingly

disturbed by the reports she was receiving. Deep down she’d never been

entirely at ease with the Emergency but felt compelled to it by the

prevailing havoc of the time. What she had intended as a temporary

measure to contain an assault on a legitimate government had gone too far,

and its unintended consequences were there for her to see. She realised that it had become an imposition on the people, and they had turned against it—

and indeed, against her.

Sometime after Christmas in 1976 she spoke to Rajiv about her doubts.

Rajiv’s presence had a soothing effect on his mother. His effort now was to

encourage her to take the path she seemed inclined to follow. When one

evening we were with her in her study, he felt she wanted perhaps to

unburden herself and asked her, “You look worried, Ma; what’s troubling

you?” She was tired, she declared. She’d had enough. She had carried the

burden for too long; things were not good. Pained to see her so dejected, he

tried to draw her out. “I’ve asked someone to look into the elections,” she

said. “What do you think?” Rajiv answered that elections would have a

pacifying effect, even though in all probability they’d go against the party.

Still, it was the right thing to do. He told her that the sterilisation

programme in particular had caused intense consternation: Rumours had

been spread through northern India that sterilisation meant castration,

leading to a pervasive atmosphere of fear and anger. She looked at him and

said firmly, “Your instinct is right, Rajiv.” She went calmly back to her

papers. We knew then that she’d made up her mind.

Sanjay was convinced that the Emergency shouldn’t be lifted yet. He

warned her that if elections were held then, the Congress could lose. While

others whom she consulted assured her of victory, the intelligence chief, R.

N. Kao, confirmed Sanjay’s view. Cabinet Secretary P. N. Dhar also was of the opinion that the Congress would get only 230 seats, not enough for her

to form a government on her own. Nevertheless, on January 18 she took the whole country by surprise: She announced that political prisoners would be set free, and elections would be held a month later.”

[ End of quotes from Sonia Gandhi book ]

In my articles, I have detailed that:

In the last week of November 1976, after she returned from the Congress party session in Guwahati, she told her principal secretary Professor Prithvi Nath Dhar and my father HY Sharada Prasad, who was her information advisor: "I am going to end the Emergency and call for elections. I know that I will lose, but this is something which I absolutely need to do".

As instructed by Indira Gandhi, PN Dhar invited the chief election commissioner, Thirumalaraya Swaminathan, for tea, and told him to discreetly start preparing for elections.

T. Swaminathan, an ICS officer who had earlier been cabinet secretary, protested: "You are giving me this good news over only a cup of tea? We should celebrate with something much stronger." The two then opened bottles of choice liqueurs.

In mid-December 1976, PN Dhar, who had been strongly against the Emergency from the outset, went to her with the Intelligence Bureau report which forecasted that she would win 340 seats, and remarked: "Surely you are not going to believe this, are you?"

She replied: "Of course not. The IB will tell me what they think I want to hear.”

Read the complete details in my article in Open magazine:

https://openthemagazine.com/special/indira-gandhi-call-elections-january-1977/ 

Shanti Bhushan and Fali Nariman and Lord Meghnad Desai all wrote to me that they totally agreed with my analysis.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada Prasad 

ravi.v.prasad@gmail.com 

+(91) 85 120 196 30

@rvp on Twitter X 

Everything which I have written in my articles about why Indira Gandhi relaxed the Emergency and called for elections in January 1977 is consistent with what Sonia Gandhi has written in her memoirs Belonging.

https://openthemagazine.com/special/indira-gandhi-call-elections-january-1977/ 

Everything which I have written in my articles about why Indira Gandhi relaxed the Emergency and called for elections in January 1977 is consistent with what Sonia Gandhi has written in her memoirs Belonging.

In her book, Sonia Gandhi has written:

“More worrying information was to come. Mrs. Gandhi was shocked by

a resolution passed by three State Assemblies in 1976 that Parliament be

turned into a Constituent Assembly. She was told that Sanjay knew of the

proposal, one that carried grave implications for the Constitution—amongst

them a continuation of the Emergency. She reacted strongly, putting an end

to it before it went any further, but she was finally convinced that the

situation was getting out of hand: Actions of serious import were being

taken without her knowledge.

The same year, at the AICC session of the party in Guwahati at the end

of November, Sanjay was hailed as the undisputed leader of the Youth

Congress. The praise heaped on him seemed to have overshadowed some of

his mother’s senior colleagues, who felt alienated and offended by his

brashness. 

The role of Maneka, too, was worrying my mother-in-law, who felt that, rather than being a sobering influence on Sanjay, she was egging him on in his activities, even interfering in them. She had said to Cabinet Secretary P.N. Dhar about her young daughter-in-law: “Uske abhi se par nikalne lage

hain.” (“She has started growing wings already.”)......”

“....Whenever she was upset about work, or felt under pressure, or had a

bad day in Parliament or a setback, she’d look to Rajiv to comfort her,

which he’d do in his own way with a loving hug, reassuring words. She

loved both her sons; but while she looked to Rajiv as her emotional and

moral anchor, she looked to Sanjay as her active defender—now more than

ever before, when he was in the fray as her political champion. Probably

she overlooked Sanjay’s overreach because, in her words, he was the only

one “who had come to her rescue,” which is possibly why she protected

him. Yet over the year following the proclamation of Emergency, she did

come to see that keeping him in check would have prevented much of the

damage that ensued….”

“….However, it became apparent to us that she was now increasingly

disturbed by the reports she was receiving. Deep down she’d never been

entirely at ease with the Emergency but felt compelled to it by the

prevailing havoc of the time. What she had intended as a temporary

measure to contain an assault on a legitimate government had gone too far,

and its unintended consequences were there for her to see. She realised that it had become an imposition on the people, and they had turned against it—

and indeed, against her.

Sometime after Christmas in 1976 she spoke to Rajiv about her doubts.

Rajiv’s presence had a soothing effect on his mother. His effort now was to

encourage her to take the path she seemed inclined to follow. When one

evening we were with her in her study, he felt she wanted perhaps to

unburden herself and asked her, “You look worried, Ma; what’s troubling

you?” She was tired, she declared. She’d had enough. She had carried the

burden for too long; things were not good. Pained to see her so dejected, he

tried to draw her out. “I’ve asked someone to look into the elections,” she

said. “What do you think?” Rajiv answered that elections would have a

pacifying effect, even though in all probability they’d go against the party.

Still, it was the right thing to do. He told her that the sterilisation

programme in particular had caused intense consternation: Rumours had

been spread through northern India that sterilisation meant castration,

leading to a pervasive atmosphere of fear and anger. She looked at him and

said firmly, “Your instinct is right, Rajiv.” She went calmly back to her

papers. We knew then that she’d made up her mind.

Sanjay was convinced that the Emergency shouldn’t be lifted yet. He

warned her that if elections were held then, the Congress could lose. While

others whom she consulted assured her of victory, the intelligence chief, R.

N. Kao, confirmed Sanjay’s view. Cabinet Secretary P. N. Dhar also was of the opinion that the Congress would get only 230 seats, not enough for her

to form a government on her own. Nevertheless, on January 18 she took the whole country by surprise: She announced that political prisoners would be set free, and elections would be held a month later.”

[ End of quotes from Sonia Gandhi book ]

In my articles, I have detailed that:

In the last week of November 1976, after she returned from the Congress party session in Guwahati, she told her principal secretary Professor Prithvi Nath Dhar and my father HY Sharada Prasad, who was her information advisor: "I am going to end the Emergency and call for elections. I know that I will lose, but this is something which I absolutely need to do".

As instructed by Indira Gandhi, PN Dhar invited the chief election commissioner, Thirumalaraya Swaminathan, for tea, and told him to discreetly start preparing for elections.

T. Swaminathan, an ICS officer who had earlier been cabinet secretary, protested: "You are giving me this good news over only a cup of tea? We should celebrate with something much stronger." The two then opened bottles of choice liqueurs.

In mid-December 1976, PN Dhar, who had been strongly against the Emergency from the outset, went to her with the Intelligence Bureau report which forecasted that she would win 340 seats, and remarked: "Surely you are not going to believe this, are you?"

She replied: "Of course not. The IB will tell me what they think I want to hear.”

Read the complete details in my article in Open magazine:

https://openthemagazine.com/special/indira-gandhi-call-elections-january-1977/ 

Shanti Bhushan and Fali Nariman and Lord Meghnad Desai all wrote to me that they totally agreed with my analysis.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada Prasad 

ravi.v.prasad@gmail.com 

+(91) 85 120 196 30

@rvp on Twitter X