ABSTRACT
Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi who held the office of prime minister for a combined period of twenty-one years after Nehru's death lacked Nehru's self-discipline, his vision for India, and his commitment to true democracy. At Nehru's death in 1964, an informal caucus of five regional party bosses, organized by Kamaraj, the president of the Congress selected Lal Bahadur Shastri as the interim prime minister. Shastri had a mild, self-effacing personality and the Syndicate, no doubt, chose him on the presumption that he would be amenable to Kamaraj's 'collective leadership' approach. Indira Gandhi was added to Shastri's cabinet as minister for information and broadcasting. The death of Shastri created another crisis for the Syndicate. The Congress parliamentary party, influenced by the Syndicate and other Congress leaders, and equally by the fact that Indira Gandhi was Nehru's daughter, chose her over Desai by a vote of 355 to 169. Indira Gandhi's record as a national leader was a mixed one.
