Editing Indira Gandhi (section)

== Prime minister (1980–1984) ==
[[File:Indira-Gandhi-in-Finland-1983.jpg|thumb|Gandhi on the stairs of the [[National Museum of Finland|National Museum]] in [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]] on 10 June 1983]]

The Congress Party under Gandhi swept back into power in January 1980.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/indira-gandhi-becomes-indian-prime-minister|title=Indira Gandhi becomes Indian prime minister – Jan 19, 1966 – History.com|work=History.com|access-date=5 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119080837/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/indira-gandhi-becomes-indian-prime-minister|archive-date=19 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In this election, Gandhi was elected by the voters of the [[Medak (Lok Sabha constituency)|Medak constituency]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2 April 2019|first=Sribala|last=Vadlapatla|title=Congress loses hold on Medak, once won by Indira Gandhi|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019/telangana/news/congress-loses-hold-on-medak-once-won-by-indira-gandhi/articleshow/68680665.cms|access-date=16 July 2021|website=[[The Times of India]]|language=en|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716100235/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019/telangana/news/congress-loses-hold-on-medak-once-won-by-indira-gandhi/articleshow/68680665.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> On 23&nbsp;June, Sanjay Gandhi was killed in a plane crash while performing an [[aerobatic manoeuvre]] in New Delhi.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/06/23/sanjay-gandhi-killed-in-plane-crash/76d13092-8233-483a-b8e4-54f29dfbd2e6/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828145046/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/06/23/sanjay-gandhi-killed-in-plane-crash/76d13092-8233-483a-b8e4-54f29dfbd2e6/|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 August 2017|title=Sanjay Gandhi Killed in Plane Crash|last=Auerbach|first=Stuart|date=23 June 1980|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=19 July 2017|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> In 1980, as a tribute to her son's dream of launching an indigenously manufactured car, Indira Gandhi nationalized Sanjay's debt-ridden company, [[Maruti Udyog]], for Rs. 43,000,000<!--Western numbering--> (4.34 [[crore]]<!--Indian numbering-->) and invited joint venture bids from automobile companies around the world. [[Suzuki]] of Japan was selected as the partner. The company launched its first Indian-manufactured car in 1984.<ref name="orfonline69">{{cite book |last1=Chikermane |first1=Gautam |title=70 Policies That Shaped India 1947 to 2017, Independence to $2.5 Trillion |date=2018 |publisher=[[Observer Research Foundation]] |isbn=978-81-937564-8-5 |pages=69–70 |url=https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/70_Policies.pdf |access-date=24 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825002533/https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/70_Policies.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the time of Sanjay's death, Indira Gandhi trusted only family members, and therefore persuaded her reluctant son, Rajiv, to enter politics.<ref name="Auerbach-1984" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Rajiv Gandhi {{!}} prime minister of India|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rajiv-Gandhi|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=1 June 2020|archive-date=21 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721075521/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rajiv-Gandhi|url-status=live}}</ref> Her PMO office staff included [[H. Y. Sharada Prasad]] as her information adviser and speechwriter.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baru |first1=Sanjay |title=The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh |date=11 April 2014 |publisher=[[Penguin India]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Prasad |first1=Sharada |title=The Book I Won't Be Writing and Other Essays |date=1 January 2003 |publisher=[[Chronicle Books]] }}</ref>

=== Operation Blue Star ===
{{Main|Operation Blue Star}}

After the 1977 elections, a coalition led by the [[Sikh]]-majority [[Akali Dal]] came to power in the northern Indian state of [[Punjab]]. In an effort to split the Akali Dal and gain popular support among the Sikhs, Gandhi's Congress Party helped to bring the orthodox religious leader [[Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale]] to prominence in Punjab politics.<ref name="Gus2011">{{cite book|author=Gus Martin|title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism|edition=Second|url={{Google books|I_jh4VBi_HYC|page=PA543|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=11 October 2012|date=15 June 2011|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-4129-8016-6|pages=543–545}}</ref><ref name="Christine2008">{{cite book|author1=C. Christine Fair|author2=Sumit Ganguly|title=Treading on Hallowed Ground: Counterinsurgency Operations in Sacred Spaces|url={{Google books|L2E1NpYuOrsC|page=PA39|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=11 October 2012|date=29 September 2008|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-534204-8|pages=39–40}}</ref> Later, Bhindranwale's organisation, [[Damdami Taksal]], became embroiled in violence with another religious sect called the [[Sant Nirankari Mission]] and he was accused of instigating the murder of [[Jagat Narain]], the owner of the ''[[Punjab Kesari]]'' newspaper.<ref name="William2011">{{cite book|author=William Gould|title=Religion and Conflict in Modern South Asia|url={{Google books|K2oexn_mLPIC|page=PA237|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=11 October 2012|date=30 November 2011|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-87949-1|page=237}}</ref> After being arrested, Bhindranwale disassociated himself from the Congress Party and joined Akali Dal.<ref name="Deol2012">{{cite book|author=Harnik Deol|title=Religion and Nationalism in India: The Case of the Punjab|url={{Google books|wKRP1-H8T8AC|page=PA105|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=11 October 2012|date=2 October 2012|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]|isbn=978-0-415-20108-7|page=105}}</ref> In July 1982, he led the campaign for the implementation of the [[Anandpur Resolution]], which demanded greater autonomy for the Sikh-majority state. Meanwhile, a small group of Sikhs, including some of Bhindranwale's followers, turned to militancy after being targeted by government officials and police for supporting the Anandpur Resolution.<ref name="Martin2004">{{cite book|author1=Martin E. Marty|author2=R. Scott Appleby|title=Fundamentalisms Comprehended|url={{Google books|wiBwMJrlMVoC|page=PA454|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=11 October 2012|date=1 May 2004|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=978-0-226-50888-7|page=454}}</ref> In 1982, Bhindranwale and approximately 200 armed followers moved into a guest house called the Guru Nanak Niwas near the [[Golden Temple]].<ref name="itp1">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.india-today.com/itoday/millennium/100people/jarnail.html|title=Prophet of Hate:J S Bhindranwale|last=Singh|first=Tavleen|magazine=[[India Today]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620164214/http://www.india-today.com/itoday/millennium/100people/jarnail.html|archive-date=20 June 2008|access-date=22 December 2009}}</ref>

By 1983, the Temple complex had become a fort for many militants.<ref name="Satish Jacob 1985">Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, Amritsar&nbsp;– Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle (Calcutta: [[Rupa & Co.]] by arrangement with Pan Books, London, 1985)</ref> ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' later reported that [[light machine guns]] and [[semi-automatic rifles]] were known to have been brought into the compound.<ref>Kuldip Nayar and Khushwant Singh, Tragedy of Punjab, Vision Books, New Delhi, 1984, page 79.</ref> On 23&nbsp;April 1983, the Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General [[A. S. Atwal]] was shot dead as he left the Temple compound. The next day, Harchand Singh Longowal (then president of Akali Dal) confirmed the involvement of Bhindranwale in the murder.<ref>Longowal said "Whenever the situation becomes ripe for settlement, some violent incident takes place. I know [[Bhindranwale]] is behind the murder of the DIG", "(The person behind the murder is) The one who is afraid of losing his seat of power"{{cite book| title = Indian Express | date = 27 April 1983 | pages = interview with Longowal | no-pp = true }}</ref> After several futile negotiations, in June 1984, Gandhi ordered the Indian army to enter the Golden Temple to remove Bhindranwale and his supporters from the complex. The army used heavy artillery, including tanks, in the action code-named [[Operation Blue Star]]. The operation badly damaged or destroyed parts of the Temple complex, including the [[Akal Takht]] shrine and the Sikh library. It led to the deaths of many Sikh fighters and innocent pilgrims. The number of casualties remains disputed, with estimates ranging from many hundreds to many thousands.<ref name="Univ. of Michigan Press">{{cite book|editor1-last=Guidry|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Kennedy|editor2-first=Michael D.|editor3-last=Zald|editor3-first=Mayer N. |title=Globalizations and social movements : culture, power, and the transnational public sphere|date=2000|publisher=[[Univ. of Michigan Press]]|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|isbn=978-0-472-06721-3|page=319|edition=Reprint|url={{Google books|Eh0OlJWuh4sC|page=PR7|keywords=bhindranwale|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=14 September 2017}}</ref>

Gandhi was accused of using the attack for political ends. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer stated that she attacked the temple complex to present herself as a great hero in order to win the general elections planned towards the end of 1984.<ref name="Dilg">"Indira Gandhi had since long been planning for an attack on Darbar Sahib..." Harjinder Singh Dilgeer (2012). ''Sikh History in 10 Volumes''. Vol 7, p. 168; 196–197.</ref> There was fierce criticism of the action by Sikhs in India and overseas.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Mandair|editor1-first=Arvind-pal Singh|editor2-last=Shackle|editor2-first=Christopher|editor3-last=Singh|editor3-first=Gurharpal |title=Sikh religion, culture and ethnicity|date=2001|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-136-84634-2|pages=169–171|url={{Google books|D8xdAgAAQBAJ|page=PA161|keywords=1984%20protest%20golden%20temple|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref> There were also incidents of mutiny by Sikh soldiers in the aftermath of the attack.<ref name="Univ. of Michigan Press" />