Published 09:05 IST, November 19th 2019
PM Modi pays tribute to PM Indira Gandhi on her 102nd birth anniversary
On the occasion of 102nd birth anniversary of the first and only woman Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, PM Narendra Modi took to Twitter to pay homage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took to Twitter and paid tributes to the first and only woman Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi on her 102nd birth anniversary. "Tributes to our former PM Smt. Indira Gandhi Ji on her birth anniversary" wrote Prime Minister Modi on the microblogging site.
Meanwhile, interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Former President Pranab Mukherjee and several other Congress leaders paid homage to the late Prime Minister at Shakti Sthal in New Delhi.
Indira Gandhi was the first woman PM of India
Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917, to the man who would go on to become India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and his wife Kamala Nehru. She completed her initial education from Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal and later moved to Somerville College, Oxford. During Jawaharlal Nehru's tenure as the Prime Minister from 1947 to 1964, Indira Gandhi was among her father's closest aides and also grew as a politician in her own right, and went on to head the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Indira Gandhi served as the PM for three consecutive terms (1966–77) and a fourth term from 1980 until she was assassinated in 1984. Gandhi who held the office for 11 years, was the second-longest-serving Prime Minister after Nehru. Her tenure ended with Emergency being declared in India for the first and only time. Indira Gandhi gave her last speech on October 30, 1984, in Odisha, a day before her assassination in her garden in New Delhi. She was succeeded as PM by her son Rajiv, who served until 1989. Indira Gandhi was well known for her path-breaking economic and social reforms, including the nationalisation of banks. She also abolished privy purses of the erstwhile princely states.
Updated 10:03 IST, November 19th 2019