India in the Indira Gandhi Years (1966–1984) — Power, Democracy and a Nation Transformed

One leader. Nearly two decades of transformation. A republic tested by war, poverty, political upheaval and extraordinary concentrations of power.

India in the Indira Gandhi Years presents a wide-ranging history of India between 1966 and 1984, the period dominated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Drawing on official records, parliamentary debates, government publications, constitutional and judicial materials, Election Commission records, economic data, academic scholarship, archival research and studies available through Shodhganga, SB Luwang examines the period beyond simple narratives of admiration or condemnation.

The book explores Indira Gandhi’s consolidation of political power and the transformation of the Congress; the Green Revolution and Garibi Hatao; bank nationalisation and the expanding developmental state; the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and India’s emergence as a major regional power; Pokhran and India’s nuclear ambitions; the Emergency of 1975–77 and the struggle over democracy and civil liberties; the historic 1977 election and Indira Gandhi’s return in 1980; women’s movements, environmental policy, science and the space programme; Assam, Kashmir and Centre–State relations; the Punjab crisis and rise of militancy; Operation Blue Star; and the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the anti-Sikh violence of 1984.

Rather than treating Indira Gandhi as either a national icon or an authoritarian caricature, the book asks a larger question:

How did India itself change during the Indira Gandhi years?

The result is a history of a country becoming more powerful, more politically mobilised and more self-reliant—while simultaneously confronting some of the gravest challenges to democratic institutions in its history.