Gandhi Leadership

Indira Gandhi can be seen as one of the most representative personalities of the post World War II India for various and numerous reasons. One of the most significant ones relates to her ability to assume a leadership position in order to drive India forward in a time when the country was seen as part of the Third World.

At the same time the controversies surrounding her rule as India's prime minister took into account actions that would have otherwise been impossible unless a strong leadership character would have been visible. The present paper focuses on the leadership of Indira Gandhi from the perspective of theories related to the subject. More precisely, it takes into account several questions. Among them, how does Gandhi's leadership practices follow the trait theory.

What are significant facts that define Gandhi's leadership in terms of the skills approach? What was her followership like? What approach did she use to gain followers? However, in order to better understand the leadership practices of the woman called "the Indian Prime Minister of the Century" it is essential to consider the historical background against which she exercised power because it is defining for her leadership traits and approaches.

It must be pointed out that her leadership practices do not necessarily lack criticism as her actions often included acts condemned by the international community and even by parts of her people. At the same time though it must be underlined that the period of her rule was one of utmost political distress and tensions both inside and outside the country. The rule of Indira Gandhi and consequently her leadership style must be taken into account in the larger context of the Sikh separatist movements.

The pressures and hence Gandhi's stand and position on the matter eventually led to her assassination in 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards. The general view on the events in 1984 was that the Sikh separatists saw in Indira Gandhi a formidable adversary in their attempt to create a Sikh state in the Punjab and assassinated her as a result. However, the situation on the ground was much more complex and included several other aspects of the Indian society Gandhi contributed to through her leadership and approaches.

The Punjab question was a matter that had been inherited on a historical line and dated back to the Indian independence from the British Empire. The basic argument relates to the contribution the Sikhs as well as the Hindu and the Muslims had in the defeat of the British.

The claim for a separate state, Khalistan, was soon taken out of the discussion as subsequent Indian leaders imposed the Hindu language as official language in the region, thus denying any sense of special identity as compared to the rest of India. It must be pointed out however that this measure was one of many that the centralized Indian government had taken against the Sikhs.

The tradition of centralized government had been an important and characteristic trait of post World War II Indian state, a tradition that Indira Gandhi transformed into an art and took it to almost perfection. In this context and with due account for the actions Gandhi took throughout her rule to limit the strive for independence of the Sikh majority in the split Punjab, Indira Gandhi created what would today be called a personal brand, one associated with both positive and negative aspects of her leadership personality.

A definition of leadership points out that "leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal."( Northouse, 2013) This approach is fully acceptable and applicable in the case of Indira Gandhi's. Her leadership practice followed closely the trait theory. Firstly, she proved to be extremely intelligent in terms of the objectives she had set for herself and her people.

Gandhi tried to eradicate poverty and the means to achieve that, she considered, were related to a stricter rule over private property, land owning and personal income. Indeed, this was a practice that came out several political theories of the time, including communism, which was one of the two political approaches during the Cold War. However, she demonstrated intelligence because she managed to connect the need to improve the living standards of the Indians with the aim to keep India united and not prone to division.

Another proof of intelligence, self-confidence and determination was her approach on securing her power internally. It can be argued that she, to some extent, used the Punjab situation to strengthen her influence. She came to power in a time when India was facing pressing issues that were affecting the security of its people. Economically, the Indian middle class did not exist and the situation of the less privileged was becoming desperate. Therefore, she was, or the circumstances determined her to be, a supporter of the socialist way of state organization.

In the attempt to redefine the agricultural and industrial identity of the Indian state, she underwent serious reconstruction efforts that implied drastic cuts of the foreign presence in the national industry and other areas of high interest for the development of the nation. In terms of skills and how these were reflected in Gandhi's leadership, it must be pointed out that she proved to fit into the Three Skill Approach. Better said, during her rule, she exercised numerous skills that fit into the three categories: technical, human, and conceptual.

The technical skills allowed her to be on top of all major issues surrounding the country, from aspects related to economy, to social, to political. The need to control all the aspects of the rule as she had attempted and succeeded throughout her rule determined her to demonstrate full knowledge of the components of a people's life. At the same time though, her technical skills allowed her to prioritize and make use of all means possible to achieve her goals.

In this sense, "her rise to power left her with a penchant for total control. She bolstered her position by using intelligence agencies for political end, by sacking competitive politicians, and by dismissing state governments on flimsy pretexts where opposition parties were building strong bases" (Crossette, 2004). In this sense, while using all means available, her aim to weaken the Punjab political forces was on top of the agenda for the resources at hand.

Her human skills determined her actions and attitudes towards the poor and were clearly reflected in the way in which she defended the unity of the state. Indeed, from this point-of-view, it can be stressed that her human skills were shown in particular to the Hindu, while the Sikh were left outside this understanding because of their aims to break away from the country.

Even so, it is important to consider that she was a leader for her own people and her care for unity and prosperity for India came out of human need to see her country succeed. The political game and her aspirations to a continuous mandate as head of the government influenced her attitude toward the extremist movement that called for the creation of an independent state of the Sikhs (Harnik, 2000). There have been debates over the contacts and the connections Gandhi had with the extremists and with their political party.

A newspaper article, reporting on the issue, stated that "The Akali Dal is in the hands of moderate and sensible leadership...but giving anyone a fair share of power is unthinkable politics of Mrs. Gandhi. Many Hindus in Punjab privately concede that there isn't much wrong with these demands. But every time the ball goes to the Congress court, it is kicked out one way or another because Mrs. Gandhi considers it a good electoral calculation."(The Wall Street Jurnal, 1983).

Therefore, although she was officially ready to discuss the demands of the separatists and opened to negotiations, she considered that an increase in power for the Akali Dal would determine the loss of authority for the central power and implicitly for her own political side. The same aspect is underlined by who argues that Gandhi had supported the extremists in order to undermine the effectiveness of the negotiation team.

He cites her saying that "The Akali party has been always winning, so why shouldn't I put some kind of wedge in this- divide, separate'. So she picks up every religious fundamentalist kind of man who would create some kind of rift" (Crossette, 2004), that attitude coming in somewhat contradiction with the policy lines promoted by her, as she was a big supporter of nationalistic measures and state controlled affairs.

Finally her conceptual skills were a sine qua non-condition taking into account the position of Prime Minister and that of a political figure. She was fully aware of the realities in the territories and at the same time was able to connect ideas and ideals and transform them into policies. This is not to say that she had run the government alone, but rather that she had the necessary skills to lead the people in her organization to follow a common and compact path towards achieving those goals.

An example in this sense is the way in which she considered the weakening of the Sikh party that militated for a separate Sikh state. She decided to support the opposition and adversaries of that party, without directly interfering in the political life of the parties. This approach in theory pays results in years, and in the practical case of India, as well. But this was part of a vision and long-term plan aimed at achieving the goal of maintaining unity. Leadership ensures power.

Proper leadership allows for that person to secure a large number of followers without actually being a part of a specific plan. In the Gandhi case, the historical circumstances allowed her to attract followers particularly because of the nationalist card she played throughout her rule. More precisely, as mentioned previously, Gandhi used every means available to ensure that a new state is not created on the territory of India. Therefore, she even supported what are now called terrorist groups to allow her to destabilize the Sikh party.

In this sense, Bhindranwale had up to a point been used by Gandhi who took advantage of his popularity in order to stear the public opinion against the Akali Dal party and thus succumb in the next elections. But, as stated before, Bhindranwale considered the support a good opportunity for his own political aspirations and, building on his acquired fame, he used all the means possible to reach his goal. An important role in attributing the image of a militant for popular masses was that played by the media.

In support of this idea and as a generalization, Yonah Alexander notes that "terrorists have used the media to, first, enhance the effectiveness of their violence by creating an emotional state of extreme fear in target groups, and thereby ultimately alter their behavior and dispositions, or bring about a general or particular change in the structure of government or society; and, second, to draw forcibly and instantaneously, the attention of the whole world to themselves in the expectation that these audiences will be prepared to act or, in some cases, to refrain from acting, in a manner that will promote the cause they presumably represent" (Alexander, 1990).

Thus, the help of the press was considered to have been crucial in disseminating Bhindranwale's, the leader of the extremist Sikh, messages throughout the Sikh population, and at the same time, contributed to the creation of a united Sikh movement. The initial plan was to make friends with the enemy of one's enemy and it resulted in a very strange association between Gandhi and Bhindranwale.

Eventually, this strategy would not function to the liking of Gandhi, but the initiative proved that Gandhi would still maintain the support of the population despite these choices. The followers of Gandhi were mostly adepts of her political and economic visions. She attracted the population through a nationalistic discourse and through her human skills appealed to the need for national unity and consideration for their standard of living.

A strong government that would be able to deal with the security threats visible at the national unity would attract a lot of followers and would inspire confidence and belief in its leader. This is one of the reasons for which Gandhi ruled with an iron hand that would not allow her adversaries to question her authority, her popular support, or her means.

At the same time, the issue with nationalistic claims such as the Sikhs were not something uncommon at that day especially given the fact that it was a time in which states freed themselves from colonial rule and from.