June 12 should never be forgotten because a judgment on that day some 35 years ago rewrote the Indian history and debarred Indira Gandhi from holding any executive post for six years. Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court was the person who pronounced the verdict on the petition which Raj Narayan, a socialist leader, had filed against Mrs. Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha in 1971.
Sinha held her guilty on two counts. The first was that she had used Yashpal Kapoor, Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister's Office to "further her election prospects." As a government servant, he should not have been put to such use. Although Kapoor had tendered his resignation on January 13, he had continued in government service until January 25. Mrs. Gandhi, according to the judge, had "held herself out as candidate" on December 29 1970, the day she addressed a news conference in New Delhi and announced her decision to stand for election.
The second impropriety was that Mrs. Gandhi had obtained the assistance of UP officials to build rostrums from which she addressed election rallies. The officials had also arranged for loudspeakers and electricity to feed them. This amounted to the misuse of government machinery. Sinha's judgment might have looked like a hammer employed to kill a fly. But the electoral laws are very strict in India and he had no option.
There was such a benumbing effect on the Congress representatives at the court that nobody from among them filed a petition for appeal in the Supreme Court. A relatively unknown lawyer V Khare, who rose to be India's Chief Justice, on his own initiative submitted an application seeking permission to appeal against the judgment.
Sinha gave Mrs. Gandhi a fortnight to file an appeal against the judgment in the Supreme Court. The court in recess had Justice Krishna Iyer as vacation judge. He allowed her to continue as Prime Minister till the disposal of her appeal but forfeited her right to vote in the house.
After the judgment Mrs. Gandhi thought of resigning. My feeling is if she had done so and gone back to the people for a verdict, she should have probably been re-elected. However her adviser, Sanjay Gandhi, her son, ruled out resignation. Siddharth Shankar Ray, then West Bengal chief minister, advised her to impose the internal emergency. India was already under external emergency following the Bangladesh war.
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| Sanjay Gandhi (L) with Indira Gandhi: Sanjay was Mrs. Gandhi's refuge. |
A dropout from Doon School and an apprentice motor mechanic with Rolls Royce in England, Sanjay Gandhi had come a long way in "establishing" himself in politics. What fascinated him was money and power and he was beginning to have both. Sanjay was Mrs. Gandhi's refuge. She was confident that he would help in her hour of need.
In fact, Sanjay Gandhi was credited with having given her the election-winning slogan in 1971 polls. "They say Indira Hatao (oust Indira) but I say Garibi Hatao (oust poverty)." Now he had to do more than coin a slogan. He knew his mother was not the one to give up easily, but at that time she was on the verge of doing just that. And that must not be. Sanjay organized public support, not only to convince her that the country needed her but also to keep her enemies at bay. Yashpal Kapoor was adept in tactics like rent-a-crowd. He rang up chief ministers of neighbouring states to send truckloads of men and women. They did so without a whimper.
At the government-managed June 20 solidarity rally in New Delhi, Mrs. Gandhi said she would continue to serve the people in whatever capacity she could till her last breath. Service had been her family tradition she said. For the first time she mentioned her family at a public meeting. The family was indeed present on the rostrum-Sanjay, Rajiv and Sonia.
Mrs. Gandhi said that "big forces" had been working not only to oust her from office but to liquidate her physically. To achieve their designs, they had spread a wide net she said. Dev Kant Barooah, then Congress president, was at his old job building up the Indira cult. He recited an improvised Urdu couplet: Indira-Tere subah ki jai, tere sham ki jai, tere kaam ki jai, tere naam ki jai (Indira-Victory to your morning, victory to your evening, victory to your action and victory to your name.)
The rally was a success. "It was the biggest in the world," as Mrs. Gandhi put it. But it had not been televised, merely because it was a party rally, not a government rally. And that cost I.K. Gujral, then Information and Broadcasting Minister, his portfolio. Sanjay had a brush with Gujral who had to tell him that he was his mother's minister, not his.
From the public meeting, as many as 13 chief ministers trooped into the Rashtrapati Bhavan to reiterate their confidence in Mrs. Gandhi and to submit a one-page memorandum which said that Mrs. Gandhi's resignation would lead to instability, not only at the national level "but also in various states."
Some of those chief ministers were present in the Supreme Court on June 23, when Justice Krishna Iyer heard Mrs. Gandhi's appeal. Her application had sought "absolute and unconditional" say "in view of the position held by Mrs. Gandhi." It was argued that it was eminently in the national interest that the status quo should not be disturbed while the appeal was still pending.
Iyer heard the arguments of both sides for two days and came to the conclusion that Mrs. Gandhi had not been convicted of "any of the grave electoral vices." The stay was given conditional. But there was no bar on her participation in discussions in parliament. Iyer's judgment upset several people's plans-and ambitions. Meanwhile, the party's parliamentary board also met to warn the nation that "some groups and elements might continue their efforts to mislead the people and exploit the situation for their partisan ends."
Among those who did not share the enthusiasm of other party men were the Young Turks-Chandra Shekhar, Mohan Dharia, Ram Dhan, Krishna Kant and a few others. They held a separate meeting to assess their strength.
It was not much as they could count their supports on the tips of their fingers. What happened in the inner circles of the Young Turks did not concern Sanjay and his group who were now putting into operation the mechanics of their plan. Ray had spelt it out for them.
The time set for action was midnight, 25 June. The rest, as they say, is part of history. |
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