Editing Indira Gandhi (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|List of things named after Indira Gandhi}}
American veteran politician [[Henry A. Kissinger]] had described Indira Gandhi as being an "Iron lady",<ref name="Sharma 1988 p. ">{{cite book | last=Sharma | first=R.A. | title=Indira Gandhi and Congress Party | publisher=Northern Book Centre | year=1988 | isbn=978-81-85119-44-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXpuAAAAMAAJ | quote=Henry A. Kissinger had described her as an "iron lady" and her personality as "charismatic" and tough. | page=190 | access-date=19 November 2023 | archive-date=19 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119031013/https://books.google.com/books?id=vXpuAAAAMAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="R.M. Lala 1979 p.">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7yzmAAAAMAAJ |title=Himmat |publisher=[[R. M. Lala]] |year=1979 |page=8 |quote=Few cast so low, so ignominiously, have the courage and belief to return. Mrs Gandhi is the real iron lady. |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119023006/https://books.google.com/books?id=7yzmAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live |issue=v. 16}}</ref><ref name="Institute of Asian Studies">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNNNxx-rEHMC |title=Asian Studies |publisher=Institute of Asian Studies, University of the Philippines |year=1982 |page=82 |quote=Indira Gandhi, is "charismatic" and tough. She is described as an "iron lady". |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119023006/https://books.google.com/books?id=rNNNxx-rEHMC |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live |issue=v. 19-21}}</ref> a nickname that became associated with her tough personality.<ref name="R.M. Lala 1979 p." /><ref name="Institute of Asian Studies" /><ref name="Sharma 1988 p." /> After leading India to victory against Pakistan in the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] in 1971, President V. V. Giri awarded Gandhi with India's highest civilian honour, the [[Bharat Ratna]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Padma Awards Directory (1954–2007) |url=http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/PadmaAwards1954-2007.pdf |publisher=Ministry of Home affairs |access-date=26 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304070427/http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/PadmaAwards1954-2007.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2009 }}</ref><ref>Shankar, A. (1987). Indira Priyadarshini. Children's Book Trust, page 95.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Awards earned, awards fixed?|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2003/01/19/stories/2003011900251600.htm|access-date=24 January 2015|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=19 January 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015235739/http://www.thehindu.com/2003/01/19/stories/2003011900251600.htm|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2011, the [[Bangladesh Freedom Honour]], Bangladesh's highest civilian award for foreign nationals, was posthumously conferred on Gandhi for her "outstanding contributions" to Bangladesh's Liberation War.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/bangladesh-honours-indira-gandhi-with-highest-award/article2293016.ece|title=Bangladesh honours Indira Gandhi with highest award|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=21 July 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010075735/http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/bangladesh-honours-indira-gandhi-with-highest-award/article2293016.ece|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Indira Gandhi wax figure from london madame tussauds.jpg|thumb|upright|Gandhi's wax statue at [[Madame Tussauds]] in [[London]]]]

Gandhi's main legacy was standing firm in the face of American pressure to defeat Pakistan and turn East Pakistan into independent Bangladesh.<ref name="ahsgjxajtu0c244" /> She was responsible for India joining the group of [[countries with nuclear weapons]].<ref name="Smiling Buddha" /> Although India being officially part of the Non-Aligned Movement, she gave Indian foreign policy a tilt towards the [[Soviet bloc]].<ref name="British Academic Press" /> In 1999, Gandhi was named "Woman of the Millennium" in an online poll organised by the BBC.<ref name="BBCPOLL">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/543743.stm|title=BBC Indira Gandhi 'greatest woman'|work=BBC News|access-date=19 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010122338/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/543743.stm|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2012, she was ranked number seven on ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook India's]]'' poll of [[the Greatest Indian]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/a-measure-of-the-man/281949| title=A Measure of the Man| date=5 February 2022| access-date=16 January 2019| archive-date=1 May 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501020655/https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/a-measure-of-the-man/281949| url-status=live}}</ref>

Being at the forefront of Indian politics for decades, Gandhi left a powerful legacy on Indian politics. Similarly, some of her actions have also caused controversies. One of the criticisms concerns her rule to have damaged internal party democracy in the Congress party. Her detractors accuse her of weakening State chief ministers and thereby weakening the federal structure, weakening the independence of the judiciary, and weakening her cabinet by vesting power in her secretariat and her sons.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jannuzi|first1=F. Tomasson|title=India in transition : issues of political economy in a plural society|date=1989|publisher=[[Westview Press]]|location=Boulder|isbn=978-0-8133-7723-0|page=9|url={{Google books|R7IMtFL5kdMC|page=PR9|keywords=indira|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=14 September 2017}}</ref> Gandhi is also associated with fostering a culture of [[nepotism]] in Indian politics and in India's institutions.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Câmpu|first=Adina|year=2009|title=History as a marker of otherness in Rohinton Mistry's "A fine balance"|url=http://but.unitbv.ro/BU2009/BULETIN2009/Series%20IV/BULETIN%20IV%20PDF/08_Campu_A.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brașov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies|volume=2|issue=51|page=47|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812234207/http://but.unitbv.ro/BU2009/BULETIN2009/Series%20IV/BULETIN%20IV%20PDF/08_Campu_A.pdf|archive-date=12 August 2011|access-date=27 May 2011}}</ref> She is also almost singularly associated with the period of emergency rule, described by some as a "dark period" in Indian democracy.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rajgarhia|first1=Mahak|title=40 years on, 7 things you need to know about Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-39-years-on-7-things-you-need-to-know-about-emergency-imposed-by-indira-gandhi-1997782|access-date=1 July 2015|work=[[Daily News and Analysis]]|date=25 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626142844/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-39-years-on-7-things-you-need-to-know-about-emergency-imposed-by-indira-gandhi-1997782|archive-date=26 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India]] which was adopted during the emergency can also be regarded as part of her legacy. Although judicial challenges and non-Congress governments tried to water down the amendment, the amendment still stands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/new-book-flays-indira-gandhis-decision-to-impose-emergency/706495.html |title=New book flays Indira Gandhi's decision to impose Emergency |publisher=[[IBN Live News]] |date=30 May 2011 |access-date=23 November 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131123164002/http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/new-book-flays-indira-gandhis-decision-to-impose-emergency/706495.html |archive-date=23 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

She was the only woman to occupy the office of the prime minister of India<ref>{{cite web|title=This day in history: Jan 19 1966 Indira Gandhi becomes Indian prime minister|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/indira-gandhi-becomes-indian-prime-minister|website=history.com|date=9 February 2010 |access-date=1 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701210752/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/indira-gandhi-becomes-indian-prime-minister|archive-date=1 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 2020, Gandhi was named by [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine among the world's 100 powerful women who defined the last century.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|date=5 March 2020|title=Indira Gandhi, Amrit Kaur named by TIME among '100 Women of the Year'|newspaper=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/indira-gandhi-amrit-kaur-named-by-time-among-100-women-of-the-year/articleshow/74498165.cms|access-date=24 April 2020|archive-date=5 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305162811/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/indira-gandhi-amrit-kaur-named-by-time-among-100-women-of-the-year/articleshow/74498165.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Time1">{{Cite magazine|date=5 March 2020|title=1976: Indira Gandhi|url=https://time.com/5793650/indira-gandhi-100-women-of-the-year/|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> [[Shakti Sthal]] means a ''place of strength'' and is a monument to her.