1917-1984. Indian politician. Prime minister
of India 1966-77 and 1980-84, and leader of
the Congress Party 1966-77 and subsequently
of the Congress (I) party. She was
assassinated 1984 by members of her Sikh
bodyguard, resentful of her use of troops to
clear malcontents from the Sikh temple at
Amritsar. Her father, Jawaharlat Nehru, was
India's first prime minister. She married
Feroze Gandhi in 1942 (died 1960, not related
to Mahatma Gandhi) and had two sons, Sanjay
Gandhi (1946-80), who died in an aeroplane
crash, and Rajiv Gandhi. In 1975 the validity
of her re-election to parliament was
questioned, and she declared a state of
emergency. During this time her son Sanjay
was implementing a social and economic
programme (including an unpopular
family-planning policy) which led to her
defeat in 1977, although he masterminded her
return to power in 1980.