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...
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…
