Independent India
After independence, India took a giant leap forward, although they constantly struggled with serious problems. The strength of the government is evidenced by fact, that this country did not become – like many Third World countries – military dictatorship or fell victim to foreign intervention. Economically, India has done a lot, to increase agricultural production, and also the industry has developed enough, that they are among the ten most industrialized countries in the world. Jawaharlar Nehru, India's first prime minister, similar to Tito in Yugoslavia and Sukarno in Indonesia, he tried to pursue a policy of total neutrality. Despite good relations with former colonizers and joining the British Commonwealth of Nations, India moved closer to the Soviet Union. The reasons for this state of affairs were the conflicts with China and the support of the United States granted to Pakistan. W 1965 i 1971 r. there were further conflicts with Pakistan over Kashmir and Bangladesh. W 1962 r. there was a border war with China over the Northeast Border Province (NEFA; today the Northeast Province), which resulted in the loss of the Aksaj Ćin area (Aksai Chin; Ladakh) and other smaller territories in NEFA. Currently, India is questioning the sovereignty of these areas. These events have distracted attention from India's domestic problems, like for example. sharp population boom.
Indie Indiry Gandhi
The cult of leaders turned out to be a difficult political problem in India after independence. Only three prime ministers: Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi (she was not related to Mahatma Gandhi) and her son Rajiv Gandhi can be considered politicians of large format. After winning the elections in 1966 r. Indira Gandhi had to face opposition and social unrest, which she had overcome, by declaring a state of emergency. Many countries would become dictatorships in such a situation. During this period, many more or less correct political decisions were made. Indira Gandhi, without the constraints of the parliamentary system, it has mastered inflation quite successfully, it strengthened the economy, significantly improving its performance. However, the prime minister's political opponents were imprisoned, the courts became available to the authorities, while the press was under constant control. The political influence of Indira's son also increased, Sanjay Gandhi, and his program of compulsory sterilization met with serious opposition. Despite signs of social dissatisfaction, Indira Gandhi thought, that he still enjoys the support of the nation and in 1977 r. has written elections. She did not listen to the right ones – as it turned out later – counsels his son. Mrs. Gandhi and her Party of Congress were stripped of power in favor of the hastily formed Janata People's Party.
It was a coalition created with the sole and sole purpose of stopping Indira Gandhi's Party of Congress. After the victory, it turned out, that it is incapable of pursuing a sound policy. Suffering Janaty, to live-dźi Desaj, he was more interested in cow conservation, prohibition of alcohol consumption and own physiology rather than the problems of the country. Rising inflation, social unrest and a collapsing economy contributed to the collapse of Janata towards the end 1979 r.
Elections, which took place a year later, they restored Indira Gandhi to power, back then with more support than ever.
Years 80.
However, the popularity of Mrs Gandhi's policy continued to decline, especially because of the attempts to resolve social conflicts in several regions with intact attacks. In addition, it was hurt by police brutality, corruption and unrest in the northwest of Punjab. The son of Indira, her political successor, the little popular Sanjayi was killed in a plane crash in 1984 r. Indira Gandhi, on the other hand, was murdered by a Sikh, member of your security, in retaliation for the earlier one, reckless decision to send an Indian army to remove armed Sikh radicals from the Golden Temple in Amritsa. They demanded their own state, which would be called Khalistan. Skipping that fact, that such a country would be in the vicinity of hostile Pakistan and not very friendly India, Mrs. Gandhi's decision to desecrate the Sikh temple was unfortunate. Rebellions broke out, problems arose in the army (in which the majority of the officer corps were Sikhs), hatred and distrust was born, that have survived in the Punjab to this day. At the same time, the son of Indira Gandhi, Radio, pilot in Indian Airlines, he quickly became the "heir to the throne". Brought to power by an amazing majority and with enormous support, although he had no interest in politics before, he ran the country in an amazingly pragmatic manner. Foreign investors and modern technologies appeared. Import restrictions have been reduced, modern industries emerged.
Undoubtedly, the actions of the new prime minister brought India closer to years 90., to break free from isolationism, have changed their hostile stance on world trade, but they were unable to activate the agricultural sector. In addition, the government administration made unsuccessful attempts to suppress unrest in Punjab and Kashmir. It was during the rule of Rajiv that the Indian army was drawn into the events of neighboring Sri Lanka, where Tamil separatists demanded state independence. The supplies for the Tamil Tigers came from their followers on the continent; Police Operations in Tamil Nadu (Tamil Nadu) were aimed at eliminating the Tamil allies and depriving them of their weapons supplies, which contributed significantly to the empowerment of Gandhi. The Bofor affair also hurt the administration of Rajiv. Many members of the government were accused of accepting bribes in exchange for providing the Swedes with a contract to supply the Indian army with artillery weapons. It was even suspected, that the prime minister himself or at least his wife was involved, who was Italian by origin. The matter has never been finally resolved and is a threat to the current administration and Narasimha Rao, who governs it. Recently, because in 1992 r. the minister of foreign affairs had to resign, because it was proved to him, that he urged Swiss lawyers to stop checking bank accounts, in which, as suspected, there was money from the aforementioned bribes. It's fairly possible, to bring the scandal to light, contrary, people in top positions try to cover up this compromising case.
After the elections in 1989 r. Congress party (I) Rajiv Gandhi, although she got the most votes, it was unable to form a government on its own. It was created by the National Government Front, composed of five batches, including the fundamentalists of the Hindu Bharati Janata Party (BJP). As did previous attempts to form a unified national government from smaller groupings of parties with different views, this one did not last long either, and new elections were soon announced. However, there was a misfortune. During the pre-election trip to Tamil-nadu, a bomb, detonated by a Tamil Tigers supporter, killed Rajiv Gandhi, many of his associates and random passers-by. This death was the result of an organized plot. Massive police action led to the shooting and arrest of numerous Tamil leaders on the continent. During this period, leadership in the Congress Party (I) Narasimha Rao, seventy years old, took over, leading to victory in the elections. Immediately after the murder of Rajiv Gandhi, his wife rejected the proposal to lead this party, unofficially, however, it is known, that she retained great political influence.