In the general elections held in India in 1977, Indira Gandhi faced defeat, but within four months she came out of the shock of defeat. The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Even though the Janata government got the best opportunity, they left no stone unturned to squander it. Mararji Desai, Jagjivan Ram and Charan Singh all joined in taking this government in opposite directions and they gave Indira Gandhi the chance to come to the government as if on a plate.
Indira Gandhi’s first chance to return to the political arena came in May 1977 when over 10 Dalits were killed by upper-caste landlords in Belchi village in Bihar.
Initially, the incident attracted few people’s attention, but in July, Indira Gandhi visited the Dalit community to express her sympathy.
Neerja Chowdhury, author of the recently published book How Prime Ministers Decide, says, “It was raining heavily throughout Bihar at that time. The entire path of the shovel was covered with mud and flood water.
Indira Gandhi had to leave her car on the way in these circumstances but she did not stop her journey. She rode an elephant to reach the flood-ravaged Belchi village. The picture of Indira Gandhi riding an elephant in the newspapers conveyed the message that she was still fighting.
A three and a half hour journey on the back of an elephant
The Dalits of Belchhi took hands with Indira Gandhi on her arrival. Indira Gandhi sat there and listened to their worries and reassured them by saying ‘I am not.’
The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Renowned journalist Janardhan Thakur has also mentioned his shovel yatra in his book ‘Indira Gandhi and the Power Game’.
Thakur writes that Kedar Pandey, Pratibha Singh, Saroj Khaparde and Jagannath Mishra also went with Indira Gandhi. Congress leader Kedar Pandey said that no car can reach Balchichi. Indira Gandhi said that we will go on foot, even if we have to walk all night.
As expected, Indira Gandhi’s jeep got stuck in the mud. A tractor was brought to remove it, but it also got stuck in the mud.
Indira Gandhi lifted her sari to her ankles and started walking through the waterlogged streets when someone from the area sent an elephant there for her.
Indra mounted on this elephant. Being scared Pratibha Singh also climbed behind him and held Indira’s waist tightly.
Indira Gandhi traveled three and a half hours from there to Balchi on the back of an elephant. He returned from there at midnight, during which Indira also gave a speech in a school built on the side of the road.
The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Met JP in Patna
The next day, Indira Gandhi went to meet JP at his residence in Kadamkuanpatna. At that time Indira was wearing a white fringed saree.
The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Sarvodya leader Nirmala Deshpande was with her. JP took them to his small room where there was a bed and two chairs. In this meeting, Indira neither discussed politics with JP nor mentioned the problems he was facing in those days.
Before Indira met JP, Sanjay Gandhi’s wife Manika had met JP. They expressed fear that their phones are being tapped and their mails are also being opened and read.
Hearing this, JP was very angry. After Manika’s departure, a colleague of JP could not stop himself from saying that Indira Gandhi had done the same to her opponents. JP’s reply was ‘But now democracy has been restored in the country.’
JP’s meeting with Indira lasted for 50 minutes. “JP came to the steps to see off Indira Gandhi,” says Neerja Chaudhary.
The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
When journalists standing outside asked Indira Gandhi what was discussed in the meeting, Indira smiled and replied that it was a private meeting.
When reporters contacted JP to find out about the meeting, he said. I told Indra that the brighter your past, the brighter your future will be.
As soon as this news got out, many leaders of the Janata Party became anxious. An angry Kuldeep Nair asked JP’s aide Kumar Prashant that ‘How did JP say this about Indira? His past was a dark chapter, not bright at all.
The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
When Kumar Prashant conveyed this message to JP, he asked, “Does the guest who comes to the house pray or bless him?”
“JP’s comment should also be seen in the context that by then JP was disillusioned with Janata Party leaders and resented them more than Indira Gandhi,” says Neerja Chowdhury.
Series of meetings between Rajnarayan and Sanjay Gandhi
Indira Gandhi got her third chance to return to central politics when Rajnarain, who defeated her in the elections, felt that she was not getting the place she deserved in the Janata Party government.
He never forgave Mr. Desai for firing him. The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Rajnarain expressed his desire to meet Indira Gandhi. Indira himself did not meet him but sent his son Sanjay Gandhi to meet him.
He went for a meeting at the Pusa Road house of Kapil Mohan, the owner of Mohan Meekness. Kamal Nath or Akbar Ahmed Dumpy would take Sanjay Gandhi in their car to meet Rajnarayan. The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
In these meetings, the strategy of overthrowing Murarji Desai’s government and making Chaudhry Charan Singh the Prime Minister was discussed.
Both knew that the Janata Party would have to be broken to make Charan Singh the Prime Minister. The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Neerja Chowdhury writes that ‘one day to please Rajnarayan, Sanjay Gandhi told him, you too can become the Prime Minister. Rajnarayan nodded his head in the affirmative but he did not fall for Sanjay Gandhi’s jhansa and said yes it may be but for now let Chaudhary be the Prime Minister.
Jagjivan Ram’s son’s sex scandal
In late 1978, fate again favored Indira Gandhi. On 21 August 1978, a car accident took place outside the Mohan Meckens factory in Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad. It was a Mercedes car that ran over a man who died at the scene of the accident.
The man inside the car, fearing that people would start beating him, pushed his car inside the gate of Mohen Meekness. The watchman at the gate went inside and reported the accident.
When Kapil Mohan’s nephew Anil Bali came out, he recognized the person sitting in the car.
He was Suresh Ram, son of Defense Minister Jagjivan Ram. Suresh Ram tells Bali that his car is being chased. On the back seat of the car sat two disciples of Rajnarain and Janata Party activists KC Tyagi and Ompal Singh.
Anil Bali sent Suresh Ram back to his house in his company car. The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
The next day, Suresh Ram filed an FI at the Kashmiri Gate police station and told a completely different story than the one he told Anil Bali.
He said that on August 20, he was abducted by about a dozen people who forcibly took him to Modi Nagar and forced him to sign some documents. When he refused to do so, he was subjected to torture which rendered him unconscious.
On regaining consciousness, he was told that he had been photographed in a questionable state with a woman sitting in a car. The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Rajnarayan got the pictures
Neerja Chaudhary says, “Ompal Singh and KC Tyagi had been following Suresh Ram for several days and they knew that the Delhi college student was Suresh Ram’s girlfriend. Of whom he was making nude pictures.
“Both of them tried their best to keep the objectionable pictures of Suresh Ram and his girlfriend available. They found these pictures in Suresh Ram’s car which he was driving.”
As soon as they got the pictures, they both took them to their leader Rajnarayan. That night, Jagjeevan came to Kapil Mohan’s house to meet Ramraj Narayan. There was a conversation between the two for about 20 minutes.
However, it did not yield any meaningful result and Jagjeevan Ram returned to his home at around 12:00. After they left, Rajnarayan told Kapil Mohan, “He is under our control now.”
The next day, Rajnarain gave details of the entire incident in a press conference. The sex scandal that affected the political career of Indian leaders including Indira Gandhi.
Journalists Farzand Ahmed and Arul Lewis wrote in the 15 September 1978 issue of ‘India Today’ that ‘Raj Narayan was asked how Ompal Singh got those pictures?’
Raj Narayan said that Ompal Singh asked Suresh Ram for a cigarette. When he opened the dashboard of his car to smoke, the pictures fell down along with the cigarette pack.
“Ompal Singh took possession of the pictures and did not return them despite Suresh Ram’s demands, even though Suresh Ram offered money to get them back.”
