Journey of the Nehru-Gandhi family

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posted on 10 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Jawaharlal Nehru became the first PM of India and remained a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century.

New Delhi: Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 and in the following decades the party became the pivot of the Indian Independence Movement. After Independence in 1947, it became the nation's dominant political party.

Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India and remained a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century.

In 1964 Nehru died after holding the Prime Minister's office for 17 years.

Following Nehru's death, his daughter, Indira Gandhi joined the Cabinet in 1964. In 1966 Indira Gandhi became India's first woman Prime Minister.

In 1975, Indira Gandhi declared emergency and Allahabad High Court order found her guilty of electoral malpractices. In 1977 Janata Party routed the Indira Gandhi led Congress in the general elections.

However, in 1980 Indira Gandhi returned to power. She was assassinated on October 31, 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards to avenge Operation Bluestar.

In 1984 Rajiv Gandhi, her son, took over as the sixth prime minister at the age of 40. However, in 1989 Rajiv Gandhi lost the general elections in the backdrop of the Bofors scam.

In 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. His widow Sonia Gandhi became the chief of the Congress in 1998. However, Sonia Gandhi-led Congress was defeated by the BJP in 1999 general elections.

Sonia Gandhi finally led the party to victory in the 2004 and appointed Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. In the same year, Rahul Gandhi was elected to Parliament for first time.

In 2007 Rahul Gandhi was appointed as General Secretary of the party. In 2009, Congress came back to power and re-elected Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister.

In January 2013 Rahul Gandhi was elevated to the post of Congress Vice President.

Meanwhile, with just few days remaining for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the demand to make Rahul Gandhi the party's prime ministerial candidate has been increasing in the party. However, sources are saying that Rahul Gandhi at the most will be made the face of the party's poll campaign.