Indira Gandhi: Interment

Abstract

There was widespread delight when Indira Gandhi was voted out of office in March 1977. Still, unlike other authoritarian rulers, she had relinquished power and submitted to possible political extinction with integrity. In her first post-defeat announcement, she had stated that “the collective judgment of the people must be respected” and later added that she felt “as if tons of weight have been lifted from my shoulders.” Certainly, Mrs. Gandhi now had more time for her family, which had grown considerably. In 1968, Rajiv had married his Italian sweetheart, Sonia Maino, whom he had met at Cambridge. (As seen, Sanjay had married Maneka Arnaud six years later.) Indira was fond of Sonia, unusual for a mother-in-law in India, and she adored Sonia’s two children, Rahul and Priyanka. Pupul Jayakar believed that Sonia helped fill Indira’s need to be with people who were “warm and genial,” and that the time spent in seclusion helped her to heal and reemerge as a major force. Her relationship with Maneka, on the other hand, was troubled and would ultimately lead to an estrangement.¹