Word: gandhis
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...weather in New Delhi was seasonably mild last week, with temperatures mostly in the 70s. If Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had had her way, however, it would have been a lot hotter in the pressroom of the Indian Express (circ. 400,000), the flagship of India's largest newspaper chain. Reason: government officials tried a few weeks ago to rip out the paper's air-conditioning system and auction it off to satisfy a disputed tax bill. Only a last-minute court injunction saved Express workers from a daily steam bath...
Neither do other Indians. Last week Indira Gandhi moved on two fronts to strengthen her powers and continue India's relentless pace toward a more centralized, authoritarian government. The Indian Parliament finally approved a much-debated package of constitutional amendments that limit the powers of the presidency and the courts and enlarge those of Parliament and the Prime Minister. Since Mrs. Gandhi's Congress Party holds an overwhelming majority in both houses, the amendments reinforce the party's already substantial power. Shortly afterward, Parliament approved a government request to postpone once again national elections, originally scheduled...
...word dictatorship is frequently bandied about," answered Mrs. Gandhi during parliamentary debate last week. "Not only our system but our methods of working leave little room for authoritarianism." Thereupon the amendments sailed through the Rajya Sabha (upper house) by a vote of 191 to 0. They are expected to be ratified in short order by a majority of India's 22 state legislatures, most of which are also controlled by the Congress Party...
Caught Off Guard. Although the constitutional changes had been in the wind for months, the delay in elections caught even some of Mrs. Gandhi's supporters off guard. On the surface, there seemed every reason why the Prime Minister should go to the polls in the next few months, if only to reap the political benefits of two consecutive good harvests, the best in India's history. But Mrs. Gandhi is not yet satisfied with the results of her 20-point economic program initiated under emergency rule. Moreover, if she were to allow even the semblance...
...postponement of elections has not slowed down Sanjay Gandhi, 29, a whiz-kid automotive designer and increasingly vocal supporter of his mother's policies. Sanjay, who until the emergency was preoccupied with his automobile factory in New Delhi, flies around the country, talking before mass rallies, giving pep talks to party leaders and calling at family-planning clinics. "The future generation will not judge India just on the basis of one election," he told reporters after the electoral delay. "The future generation will want a strong economy." Perhaps so, but some cynics are beginning to wonder if the grooming...