A young Indira with Mahatma Gandhi (no relation) in 1924

 Indira Gandhi in 1966

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was a key 20th century stateswoman, a central figure of the Indian National Congress party, and to date the only female Prime Minister of India.

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Indira Gandhi was the only child of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She served as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, making her the second longest-serving Prime Minister after her father.

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Gandhi served as her father's personal assistant and hostess during his tenure as prime minister between 1947 and 1964. She was elected Congress President in 1959. Upon her father's death in 1964, Gandhi refused to enter Congress party leadership contest and instead chose to become a cabinet minister in the government led by Lal Bahadur Shastri.

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In Congress' party parliamentary leadership election held in early 1966 upon the death of Shastri, she defeated her rival, Morarji Desai, to become leader and thus succeed Shastri as the Prime Minister of India.

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She surprised her father’s old colleagues when she led with a strong hand, sacking some of highest ranking officials. Gandhi subsequently brought about great change in agricultural programs that improved the lot of her country’s poor. For a time, she was hailed as a hero.

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As the Prime Minister of India, Gandhi was known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralisation of power. She went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan, which resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh, as well as increasing India's influence to the point where it became the regional domineering force of South Asia.

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Gandhi also led a movement that became known as the Green Revolution. In an effort to address the chronic food shortages that mainly affected the extremely poor Sikh farmers of the Punjab region, Gandhi decided to increase crop diversification and food exports as a way out of the problem, creating new jobs as well as food for her countrymen.

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During the 1980s, a Sikh separatist movement developed in India, which Gandhi attempted to repress. Sikh extremists held a campaign inside the Golden Temple, and Gandhi ordered some 70,000 soldiers to purge the sacred space. More than 450 people died.

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On October 31, 1984, a trusted bodyguard, who was a Sikh,

pulled out revolver and shot her at point blank range.

Another Sikh bodyguard then shot 30 rounds into her body.

Gandhi died on the way to the hospital.

Photo: Unknown/Wikimedia • Believed to be in the Public Domain (Age - Copyright expired)

Photo: U.S. News & World Report/Library of Congress/Wikipedia • Believed to be in the Public Domain