KEY ADVISERS TO PRIME MINISTER INDIRA GANDHI OF INDIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000200010053-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 2, 2000
• Sequence Number: 53
• Publication Date: October 1, 1975
• Content Type: BR

Adwis~ers ~ ~ z BR=~'S~55
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Secret
NOFORN
(See inside cover)
25X1A
Secret
BR-75-55
October 1975
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NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
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REL - This Information has been Authorized
for Release to . . .
Classified by 004050
Exempt from General Declassification Schoctula
of E.O. 11652, exemption category:
? 50(1), (2), and (3)
Automatically declass:find on:
date impossible to dolormine
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CONFIDENTIAL
Background
On 12 June 1975 the All:'habad High Court convicted Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi of illegal campaign practices in her 1971 election to
Parliament. Her election was inva??',ated, and she was barred from holding
office for 6 years; but a Supreme Court justice granted a constitutional stay
allowing her to remain in office while she appealed the decision. Meanwhile,
Parliament approved a new constitutional amendment that placed election of
a Prime Minister above cha!!enge in the courts. As of I October the Supreme
Court was deliberating on the constitutionality of' this amendment. If the
court decision goes against Mrs. Gandhi, she probably will use her large
parliamentary majority to secure legislation designed to protect her political
position.
On 26 June, claiming that a "deep and widespread conspiracy has been
brewing," threatening the country and its democracy, Mrs. Gandhi declared a
state of emergency that transforr;ed that democracy into an authoritarian
regime. In the following weeks she moved to tighten her political control
further by suspending fundamental personal liberties and rights; ordering
arrests of opposition politicians, including some Member- of Parliament and
her own Congress Party; and imposing press censorship. On I July she
announced a series of new economic measures designed to generate popular
support.
Mrs. Gandhi's legal troubles followed a decline in popularity during
1973-'4, as unprecedented inflation rapidly drove up prices. She claimed that
the situation was due to forces beyond her control, but critics blamed her,
saying that she had tolerated bungling and serious corruption to keep her
party in control and had merely reacted to events rather than shaping them.
In recent years Mrs. Gandhi has become progressively more distant from
her assistants, Cabinet Ministers and other senior party and government
This report was prepared by the Central Reference Service ond was
coordinated within CIA as appropriate. Comments and questions may be
directed to 25X1 A
III
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officials. This trend has been sharply accentuated by her declaration of the
state of emergency and subsequent developments. A C'ahinct-level committee
has hceil formed to oversee the administration of emergency decrees, ht,t its
usefulnos:; to her is reduced by the inCIusio.1 01' two aspirants to the prime
Ministership, Agriculture Minister Ja gjivan Ranl and Foreign Minister V. B.
Chavan.
Sirce the emergency, the Prime Minister hats increasingly rclicd on
members of an inner circle of close advisers. This circle includes some of her
!host loyal and longstanding associates: I). K. I3arooah, the leftist president of
the Congress Party and a Gandhi political protege: R. K. I)hawaln, her
personal sccr&try since 1967; her controversial son, Sanjay: R. N. Kato, a
fellow Kashnliri I3raimlin and India's intelligence chief; Rajni Patel, a
Congress leader from Bombay and another protege; S. S. Ray, her trusted
Chief Minister of West Bengal and a l0llgtlllle family and political associate:
and C. Subramaniatin, the Minister of {finance.
This group of advisers is probably not permanent: its nlcnlhcrship may
change in the months ahead as Mrs. Gandhi reacts to, arld shapes, political
and economic developments in India. The US f nlhassy in New Delhi reported
in late Atlgu ;t that Mrs. Gandhi was incre*singly turning to two conservative
Chief Ministers: Bansi Lal of Haryana and Giani Lail Singh of Punjab. Both
are right of center politically, and both have built re; otation' for ruthlessness
and guile ill running their states. In addition, two technocrats are mentioned
whorl Mrs. Gandhi turns to for advice and recommendations in their
respective fields. One, T. A. Pal, Minister of Industry and Civil Supplies, she
relics on for his economic expertise. The second, K. F. Rustanlji, special
secretary for pol;ce affairs in the I-Ionic Ministry, coordinates police resources
throughout India and con'rols the well-equipped and Nycll-trained
paramilitary Border Security Force and the Central Reserve Police. Ills
loyalty to Mrs. Gandhi is unquestioned.
Mrs. (T ndhi is more po.verful today than ever before, but she is also
more isola she relies !)n her advisers or the technocrat specialists for
counsel and :: c~onlnlcndations. They may advise, urge, or otherwise attempt
to guide her jadgment, but after a Iif'etinle at or near the center of Indian
politics. she will continue to make all major policy and many minor
operational decisions. Her greatest political asset is her willingness and ability
to use her power decisively and dramatically to remain in po\vcr. "Mv father
wa;s a saint who strayed into politics," she has said, "I am not of the same
stu;f.'' Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has said of her: "The lady is
cola-blooded and tough."
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