THE REPUBLICwho had prepared a contingency plan for this event well in advance. This
played into the hands of Sikh extremists who wanted to forestall any
compromise that would jeopardise their plan for a Sikh state, ‘Khalistan’.
The daunting task of achieving this compromise was left to Indira
Gandhi’s son and successor, Rajiv Gandhi.
The rise of Rajiv GandhiRajiv Gandhi’s brother Sanjay had died in the summer of 1980 by
indulging in a daring stunt in his private plane. Rajiv, a pilot with Indian
Airlines, had never approved of his brother’s way of flying nor of his way
of conducting politics. After Sanjay’s death a reluctant Rajiv was enlisted
by his mother, who had obviously made up her mind that she must be
succeeded by her son; her tragic death then accomplished what she could
not have easily achieved had she remained alive. President Zail Singh,
himself a Sikh and very much aware of the immediate problems facing the
nation, knew that no other Congress leader could emerge as a symbol of
national integration in this crucial hour. He therefore set aside all
parliamentary conventions and immediately installed Rajiv Gandhi as
prime minister, so that this news could be announced to the nation almost
simultaneously with the sad message of his mother’s assassination.
Rajiv Gandhi’s induction into Congress politics had at first been avidly
expected by Sanjay’s followers, who needed a new patron or godfather, as
he might be called in keeping with the style of Sanjay’s operations. They
were soon disappointed in this. Rajiv became known as ‘Mister Clean’ and
kept Sanjay’s men at arm’s length. When he prepared for the elections
which he announced very soon after his assumption of office, he saw to it
that most of Sanjay’s men did not get a ticket: he rather looked for new
candidates instead. The way in which he conducted the elections raised
hopes among the people. The opposition parties were almost completely
obliterated, with the exception of the regional party, Telugu Desam, which
captured twenty-eight seats in the new Lok Sabha. The Janata Party lost
heavily, even in Karnataka where it had formed the government. Dr
Hegde, the Janata chief minister, immediately resigned when he came to
know of the election result, but Rajiv Gandhi encouraged him to stay on as
caretaker and did not mind that the subsequent state elections ended in
victory and state power for Dr Hegde. At that time this seemed to be a
wise recognition of the value of federalism in Indian politics. Unlike his
mother, Rajiv was not bent on toppling state governments which did not
belong to his party. But later events showed that helplessness rather than
wisdom determined Rajiv Gandhi’s behaviour in this respect.
The overwhelming victory of the Congress Party also paved the way for
another important step which had been contemplated several times in the
past: changing party allegiance while retaining one’s mandate was