Indira Gandhi: Her First Term

8/22/2019 Indira Gandhi: Her First Term

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Her First Term


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Indira Gandhi was chosen to be the rst woman Prime Minister of the Cong


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Translation of Indira Gandhis speech in H

at the Congress Party meeting following h

election as leader, January 19, 1966.

My heart is full today and I do nknow how to thank you. As I stbefore you, my thoughts go to tgreat leadersMahatma Gandat whose feet I grew up;Pandit Pant who brought meinto politics after Independencand persuaded me to continuewhenever I wanted to quit poliThese leaders have shown us tway, and I want to go along thesame path. Shri Bahadur Shastgave his life for peace. It shouldour effort to advance the causepeace and, at the same time, mthe country strong and safeguaits security.

I have always considered myself a desh sevika

[servant of the nation] even as my father regarde

himself as the irst servant of the nation. I also co

myself a servant of the great people of this count

Ours is an ancient country with a great traditio

and heritage. There is something in this country

which enables its people, for all their illiteracy an

backwardness, to rise to the occasion when face t

with mighty challe

I have every hope

with unity we shall be able to tackle the dificult

problems facing us.I want to thank Shri Morarji Desai in particular

for pledging himself to work for unit. Elections a

a normal feature in politics. Once elections are ov

however, it is only it and proper that differences

forgotten and all of us work together, especially a

time when the country is facing so many dificult

I hope it will be possible for me to fulill the tru

you have reposed in me. I thank you all once agai

ndia in 1966 when Prime Minister Lai Bahadur Shastri died of a heart attack.


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January, 1966

Being sworn in as Prime Minister.


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March, 1966

With General Ne Win, Chairman of the

Revolutionary Council of Burma during his visit.


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April, 1966

With the British Prime Minister in London.


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July, 1966

At the Lenin Mausoleum during her visit to the

Soviet Union.


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October, 1966

With President Nasster of the U.A.R.

and President Tito of Yugoslavia at the

Tripartite Meeting between India, U.A.R.

and Yugoslavia in New Delhi.


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Speech on re-election as Leader of the

Congress Party, New Delhi, March 12, 196

I am overwhelmed by the

conidence which all of you hav

placed in me at this extremely

dificult period of our history. I

that of the many challenges we

face, we have already met the i

challenge, and that is the challe

which threatened the unity of o

party. We have taken the irst st

in unison, and I hope and pray,

and indeed I am conident, that

the other steps will also be take

in unity. Unity has meaning only

it goes with understanding of th

objectives and methods of work

together towards a common

goal. The congress has had high

objectives before it. Many times

have faltered and made mistake

We have many shortcomings. B

it has been and should be our

endeavour to work towards our

objectives. We do not want to b

caught up

any whirlp

of isms.When we use the word socialism, we use it to mprimarily the welfare of the entire Indian people

the vast masses who live in the villages, of those

are called landless labour and who, perhaps bear

heaviest brunt of poverty. We must do our best to

work for their welfare and that of those who wor

in factories. But at the same time, we must not cu

ourselves off from the growing youth of the coun

Indira Gandhi won the re-election by a slim majority in 1967.


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and from the intelligentsia. We must also look to the

problems of those who work in government ofices andother ofices, of those who man our essential services;

all these are the people of India. Towards all these we

must direct our attention, and see how we can ind

quicker solutions to the many problems and dificulties

which they face.

Today, no responsible person or party can make

very spectacular statements. In the years since

Independence we have made much progress. But

problems have also been mounting up and today the

demand is not only for right policies but for quick

and eficient implementation of those policies and for

quick results. We must realize that it is not possible

to provide overnight solutions, no matter how muchwe may desire to do so. It is a question of hard work,

of discussing together and of being in tune with the

masses and all sections of the people. If we can regain

this mass contact and if we can retain a contact among

ourselves, then we will lay the foundation of our

future work.

We face a changed situation. I am told, and I hope this

igure is correct, that since 1952 there has been only a

5 per cent luctuation in the voting and yet it has

created a tremendously changed picture. We are today

not only in the Government but, in some States, in the

Opposition. We have to create, and we have to show,

good standards of democratic functioning. We have todeal and work with the Opposition wherever they work

for the good of the country, wherever we feel that they

are going in the right direction. We must not oppose

them merely for the sake of opposition, as sometimes

we ourselves have been opposed.

In our organization, we must renew our faith in

the path of democratic socialist functioning. I do not

want to go at this time into matters of policy. We

shall have many occasions to discuss these matters.

Today I should like to welcome all those who are new

members. We welcome them here and hope that they

will make valuable and interesting contributions to

Lok Sabha and that their being here will enrich ourparty. At the same time, I should like to give my good

wishes to those who will no longer be with us. They

have been valued colleagues. They have played a very

signiicant part in the debates in the House and in the

functioning of the party. We shall miss these familiar

faces, and we hope that no matter where they are or

what work they are doing, their advice will always be

available and that they will keep up their interest in

the affairs of the party. Much work has to be don

only in the legislature but at all levels. And this, ais something which we must all work out under t

guidance of the Congress President and other lea

When I got up, I had many things to say to you.

I must confess I am so moved that I have no word

really except to thank you once again for the con

which you have placed in me. I should like to tell

you that this burden is a tremendous burden. An

it is a burden which cannot be borne by one pers

alone, not even by one person and a few colleagu

in the Cabinet, but by the entire party here and th

entire party all over the country. We must treat th

problems as our problems. As I said, we have ma

good beginning Let us continue in this way; let ushesitate to give advice or suggestions; let no one

isolated. There should always be opportunity for

express themselves. I know in the last session, m

were a little unhappy that, although we had long

meetings, everyone did not get the chance to spe

But there are many ways of expressing thoughts

of conveying suggestions. My plea to you is that y

should never feel that we are not interested in yo

advice or suggestions, and even if you are not cal

you should take the irst step and come and place

your views before us. I assure you that your view

suggestions will always receive serious consider

Once again I thank you all. I thank Shri Kamaramade, in spite of his ill-health, such a tremendou

towards this irst step of unity. I thank Shri Mora

who also contributed to that unity. Today, if we h

had any misunderstandings, let them be a thing o

past. Let us open a new page and try to work tog

in mutual trust and conidence. Only thus will we

be able to build up the strength of the party. This

necessary, as Shri Morarjibhai said, not for the sa

the party, but for the sake of our country and the

ideals for which the Congress has stood. As Gand

often said, in the midst of darkness there is light.

we do see darkness, but in the midst of darkness

much vitality, we see much that gives hope, muchgives opportunity for work. Let us look at the bri

side, and I am sure that we shall be able to show,

merely through our talk or decisions or resolutio

but by our achievement and performance, that th

Congress is a party that is alive, and that is undau

by defeat or setbacks, that will always march forw

for the welfare of the country and the people of I


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March

In the lawns of her house at Safdarjang Road,

at a press conference after her re-election.


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This book was created by Abby Pribble i n Fall 2012 as a biography pr

for Visual Information at Washington University in St. Louis.

Sources

Gandhi, Indira. The Years of Challenge. (New Delhi): Publ.Div., 1973. P

Vasudev, Uma. Indira Gandhi. Gurgaon: Shubhi Publications, 2011. Pr


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Indira Gandhi: Her First Term

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