On Shastri's sudden death in January 1966, Gandhi defeated her rival, Morarji Desai, in the Congress Party's parliamentary leadership election to become leader and also succeeded Shastri as prime minister. Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had succeeded Nehru as prime minister upon his death in 1964, appointed her minister of information and broadcasting in his government the same year she was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. In 1959, she played a part in the dissolution of the Communist-led Kerala state government as then- president of the Indian National Congress, otherwise a ceremonial position to which she was elected earlier that year. Furthermore, Gandhi's cumulative tenure of 15 years and 350 days makes her the second-longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father.ĭuring Nehru's premiership from 1947 to 1964, Gandhi served as his hostess and accompanied him on his numerous foreign trips. Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, and the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded her in office as the country's sixth prime minister. She was India's first and, to date, only female prime minister, and a central figure in Indian politics as the leader of the Indian National Congress. Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi ( Hindi: ( listen) née Nehru 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the third prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.

President of the Indian National Congress

India after gandhi