Word: nehru
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...temple town of Bhubaneswar, 220 miles southwest of Calcutta, where 10,000 delegates, officials, newsmen and hangers-on were gathered for the Congress Party's 68th annual convention. Bhubaneswar had worn a festive air. Green, white and saffron party flags fluttered from hundreds of flagpoles, and pictures of Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi adorned shop windows. On his arrival, Nehru was so weak that aides had to lift him from a helicopter, and when he finally was able to walk, he shuffled away with back bent and head bowed. At a flag-raising ceremony, his words were almost inaudible...
From Delhi, four doctors, including a heart specialist, were flown to his bedside. The first medical bulletins were evasive, referred to overwork and his need for rest. At last the doctors let it be known that Nehru had lost the feeling in his "left limbs," finally admitted that his whole left side was affected. It was, friends admitted, paralysis...
Fearing the political consequences of the Prime Minister's disability, Nehru's closest aides seemed bent on minimizing its seriousness. Indira Gandhi showed up at Congress meetings, announced airily that her father was already sitting up in bed and reading, remarked that he had even disobeyed doctors' orders by taking a bath...
...dais in the main conference hall, the single empty easy chair set aside for Nehru's use symbolized the big problem that now faced India: Who will succeed its stricken leader...
Congress Party has been racked with internal dissension ever since Nehru last fall asked a number of top Cabinet officers-including Food Minister S. K. Patil, Home Minister Lai Bahadur Shastri, and Finance Minister Morarji Desai -to resign, ostensibly to reorganize the party and revitalize its strength among the masses. But it is generally felt that Nehru actually intended the move as a ruse to shake out of the Cabinet all potential contenders for his post. Wise to the scheme, the ousted ministers set about building up personal followings for a succession fight...