Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India from 1966-1977 and 1980-1984, was discussed as a potential prime minister in 1964 after her father (Jawaharlal Nehru, PM from 1947-1964) died, and she was given various half-hearted offers to become PM; however, she refused as she was still in grief from her father's death. She had, during her father's tenure, served the powers which would be traditionally associated with the first lady in most nations - serving as a secretary of sorts and also accompanying him on various trips - and through this she gained a lot of foreign policy experience which made her a potential PM.
Morarji Desai, a longstanding member of the Indian National Congress who was considered relatively right wing for his social conservatism, attempted to become PM in both 1964 and 1966, but both times he was sidelined by the Congress establishment (known as the Syndicate). During Indira's early tenure as PM, Desai tried multiple time to have her removed from power to make way for him, but he failed. Ironically, Indira tossed both Desai and the Syndicate out of power (the Congress party removed Indira from the party in 1969, but she walked out with most Congress MPs so essentially her faction became the real Congress party) and they later joined up with the opposition. in the 1977 elections, the opposition unified as the Janata Party and won in a landslide (after Indira suspended democracy in the Indian Emergency), and Desai became the first non-Congress PM. But then he failed horribly, due to the Janata Party being a little too much of a big tent and also because he was past his prime. It's entirely plausible, of course, that he would become PM in 1964 or 1966. So in effect, he was a plausible PM for 13 years at least.
V.P. Singh was an interesting guy - he was born into aristocracy (as a child, he was the king of a small princely state), but despite this he joined socialist student politics and later joined the Congress party. For most of his career, he was mostly loyal to the leadership. He became a notable name when, as chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh in the early 1980s, he successfully combated the issue of dacoity, and as a cabinet minister later on, he launched large campaigns against corruption. He was later defence minister, but he broke away from the Congress party in 1987 after revealing the Bofors scandal, of massive corruption dealing with kickback schemes in the purchase of fighter jets, and in the two years between 1987 and 1989 he made himself the leader of the opposition. Running under the slogan Raja nahin fakir hai/desh ki taqdeer hai (He is not a king but a fakir/he is the destiny of the nation), he then became PM in 1989 to 1990, for one very chaotic year in power. He was not a "plausible" PM until 1987, as before that he was just a Congress member, but then suddenly in 1987 he became as such.
Morarji Desai, a longstanding member of the Indian National Congress who was considered relatively right wing for his social conservatism, attempted to become PM in both 1964 and 1966, but both times he was sidelined by the Congress establishment (known as the Syndicate). During Indira's early tenure as PM, Desai tried multiple time to have her removed from power to make way for him, but he failed. Ironically, Indira tossed both Desai and the Syndicate out of power (the Congress party removed Indira from the party in 1969, but she walked out with most Congress MPs so essentially her faction became the real Congress party) and they later joined up with the opposition. in the 1977 elections, the opposition unified as the Janata Party and won in a landslide (after Indira suspended democracy in the Indian Emergency), and Desai became the first non-Congress PM. But then he failed horribly, due to the Janata Party being a little too much of a big tent and also because he was past his prime. It's entirely plausible, of course, that he would become PM in 1964 or 1966. So in effect, he was a plausible PM for 13 years at least.
V.P. Singh was an interesting guy - he was born into aristocracy (as a child, he was the king of a small princely state), but despite this he joined socialist student politics and later joined the Congress party. For most of his career, he was mostly loyal to the leadership. He became a notable name when, as chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh in the early 1980s, he successfully combated the issue of dacoity, and as a cabinet minister later on, he launched large campaigns against corruption. He was later defence minister, but he broke away from the Congress party in 1987 after revealing the Bofors scandal, of massive corruption dealing with kickback schemes in the purchase of fighter jets, and in the two years between 1987 and 1989 he made himself the leader of the opposition. Running under the slogan Raja nahin fakir hai/desh ki taqdeer hai (He is not a king but a fakir/he is the destiny of the nation), he then became PM in 1989 to 1990, for one very chaotic year in power. He was not a "plausible" PM until 1987, as before that he was just a Congress member, but then suddenly in 1987 he became as such.
Last edited: