(durga das wrote in 1957)
In fact, I disclosed Nehru’s succession plan in my weekly Diary in the Hindustan Times as early as 18th June, 1957. I wrote:
“It is wrong to suggest that Mr. Nehru is trying to build up Mr. Menon, or anyone else, as his successor. If Mr. Nehru is consciously building up anyone, he is building up his daughter.”
That was shortly after Nehru had gone to London for the Commonwealth Prime Minister’s Conference and taken Menon along. Menon was then a member of the Cabinet and the fact that a Minister was accompanying the Prime Minister for the first time to the Conference had encouraged talk that Nehru was building up Menon for succession.
Before writing my column, I checked my impression with Azad the previous Sunday morning. To my welcome surprise, he had independently reached the same conclusion. That was enough for me and I put it down in cold print. Of course, I had good reasons for my surmise on the succession question. A few years earlier, when Dhebar as Congress President made Indira Gandhi a member of the Congress Working Committee, I had begun to sense what was coming. I described the nomination as very significant and I said that this was so because she had been brought into the higher circles of the party from the top like her grandfather and her father.
Nehru did not relish my comment and sent for me. He said that Tandon as Congress President had made Patel’s daughter, Maniben, a member of the Working Committee but I had had nothing to say about it. I replied that Maniben had been an active Congress worker since 1920, when she commanded the women’s corps at the Ahmedabad session of the Congress. She had gone through the mill, whereas Indira had been given a place in the High Command with- out any experience of the organisation. Nehru said Indira had refused a ticket for Parliament. We, however, parted smiling as I said that the publicity she had received through my column would stand her in good stead for a public career.
Nehru was upset by the publication about the paragraph on succession. He again sent for me and inquired about my basis for writing it. I recalled the previous talk I had with him and said this impression was shared by those who were in very close contact with him. Nehru said my comment might hurt his daughter. But I again replied that this might, on the contrary, prove useful as a seed sown in the popular mind. I also pointed out that Nehru might find one day that I had unconsciously done his daughter a good turn. This made him relax. I did not tell him that the paragraph was based on the impression given me by Azad and Pant, his closest associates.
Dhebar resigned from Congress Presidentship after the Nagpur Session and Indira succeeded him, to the great astonishment of all, after an intense drama behind the scenes. But, thereby, hangs another story, told to me by those present and confirmed by Pant, Kamaraj and other friends.
All the leaders present had agreed that S. Nijalingappa be appointed President. At various functions held in connection with the Session, Nijalingappa was thereafter the centre of attention, as the delegates vied with one another to felicitate him. A large crowd even collected at the station to give him a hearty send-off when he left for Bangalore. The same evening, Dhebar called an unscheduled meeting of the Working Committee. When it met, Kamaraj asked what it was about. Dhebar replied that it was about the next President. Kamaraj said: “But the matter has been settled.” Thereupon, Shastri quietly suggested that Indira might be asked to become President.
Pant, unaware of the background moves, was surprised by Shastri’s proposal and said: “But Indiraji is not keeping good health. She must first…” Before he could complete the sentence, Nehru agitatedly interrupted to say: “There is nothing wrong with Indu’s health. She will feel better once she has work to keep herself busy.” That ended the argument and attention was next turned to the tricky question of communicating the decision to Nijalingappa. Nehru entrusted Pant with the job. Pant, in turn, asked Kamaraj to talk to Nijalingappa. Kamaraj suggested that in the circumstances it would be better if Nijalingappa, Sanjiva Reddy and he issued a joint statement proposing Mrs. Gandhi. He then flew to Madras where the three met and issued the statement.
Even before Indira Gandhi became Congress President, Nehru started building her up as a public personality. Whenever he invited a distinguished Indian or visitor from abroad to lunch or dine with him, he would tell Indira to invite such guests to an entertainment of her own. Thus, when Nehru had a formal luncheon for the Nelson Rockefellers and Eleanor Roosevelt, Indira played host to them at an informal coffee party. The aim of this policy was twofold: to give Indira the confidence she lacked in meeting outsiders and to estab- lish her as a hostess in her own right.
Once she became a member of the Congress Working Committee, other members on the body began to utilise her as a channel of communication with her father, treating her as a means of conveying their ideas and wishes on particular matters to him. This function gave her a position of great importance in the eyes of others as well as in her own. When she became Congress President in 1959, Nehru planned her tours, and saw to it they proved rewarding. Later, under his patient and watchful guidance Indira grew into an important figure on the national scene, particularly after the Chinese attack, when he appointed her the Chairman of the Citizens’ Central Council.
Discerning readers saw in Nehru’s publication towards the end of 1958 of “A Bunch of Letters” a subconscious attempt to identify his family with the nation. These letters, written to Nehru or by him, are given in chronological order except for the opening letter “written on the birth of my daughter Indira (now Indira Gandhi)” by Sarojini Naidu from Madras on 17th December, 1917. It con- gratulated him on the birth of “my new niece” and ended with “a kiss to the new Soul of India.”