June 22, 1980 was the date when Indira Gandhi had to reach Palampur to visit Chamunda Devi.
Sanjay Gandhi was held responsible for the defeat of Indira Gandhi in 1977. All the excesses of the Emergency were also Sanjay’s responsibility. After the Janata wave, it was assumed that the sun had set for the Nehru-Gandhi family. Both Indira and Sanjay were targets of the government. At first Indira was very disappointed. But Sanjay chose the path of fighting. Then Indira took over the leadership. The contradictions of the Janata government made their work easier.
In 1980, Indira made a strong comeback with 353 seats in the Lok Sabha. Among them were around 150 MPs who had entered politics thanks to Sanjay. They were people who used to move at Sanjay’s behest. After seizing power at the Centre, Indira dismissed the governments of nine non-Congress states. Apart from Tamil Nadu, other states also fell to the Congress in the assembly elections.
Sanjay wanted to become Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
By 1980, Sanjay Gandhi had become omnipotent again. Everyone was looking at their next role. No one could have imagined that Indira would be able to stop anything said by Sanjay. Interestingly, in this entry, Sanjay was gearing up to play an important role not at the Center but in Uttar Pradesh. He wanted to become Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. His close collaborator Akbar Ahmed Dumpy arrived in Lucknow on May 31, 1980 to carry out this work. The message was conveyed to the MLAs. At the legislative party meeting, further procedures to elect him as leader had not yet been completed. Union Minister Shivshankar was appointed observer. On June 4, in his presence, the MLAs approved Sanjay Gandhi’s name. The final decision was left in the hands of Indira ji.
Indira Gandhi
Indira’s refusal, if she insists I will resign.
Dumpy arrived in Delhi in the afternoon on a military plane along with Minister of State for Defense CPN Singh. He sent the proposal to Indira Gandhi. The answer was no. Dumpy tried to say that the MLAs choice is Sanjay Gandhi. Indira raised the question of experience. Dumpy said: What could be better than Uttar Pradesh taking responsibility for this? This time he refused irritably.
In those days, Dumpy had the constant support of the Gandhi family. During dinner, Dumpy made another failed attempt. Indira Gandhi said: choose someone else. I will accept it. Indira HKL Bhagat was also told to tell his friend (Sanjay) that he cannot become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Still, if you insist on this, I will resign. Sanjay, whose wishes were fulfilled by Indira, did not insist this time.
Sanjay proposed the name Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Indira gave her consent. Had Sanjay realized how little time he had left to live?
Chamunda darshan could not be performed
June 22, 1980. This was the date when Indira Gandhi had to reach Palampur to visit Chamunda Devi. There was a havan and langar program after the darshan of the goddess. Immediately after returning to the government, he was advised to visit Chamunda Devi. Busy Indira had asked for a few months’ time. This moment had already arrived. Anil Bali and Pankaj Mohan had arrived there and were busy preparing their personal programmes. The state Congress government did not want to leave any leeway in the arrangements. The then Chief Minister of Himachal, Ram Lal, along with his cabinet, was camping in Palampur. Preparations were being finalized when information suddenly reached there on the afternoon of June 20 about the cancellation of the Prime Minister’s programme.
The priest said that the goddess will not forgive!
When the temple priest received information about Indira Gandhi’s absence, his reaction was disgust. In a gruff tone he said, “Go and tell Indira Gandhi. This is Chamunda Devi. The mother can forgive if there is no common man. But if any ruler disobeys, his mother will not forgive him. You can’t disrespect the goddess.
Neerja Chaudhary, mentioning this incident in detail in her book ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’, wrote that Anil Bali had tried to pacify the priest by telling him that there would be a lot of coercion, so the Prime Minister had to cancel the programme. I would have had to do. Indira could not reach. But on the fixed date of June 22, in his absence, his colleagues had duly performed all the predetermined rituals in the temple.
And then Sanjay died the next day.
On the morning of June 23, Anil Bali and Pankaj Mohan left Chamunda. As soon as they reached the Jwalamukhi temple, fifty kilometers away, Bali’s secretary came running and told them that Sanjay Gandhi’s plane had crashed, in which he had died. Anil and Pankaj immediately set off for Delhi. He reached Indira Gandhi’s residence at half past two in the afternoon. The saddened Indira Gandhi, who was sitting near Sanjay’s dead body, immediately took Bali aside and asked him: Is the reason for this accident that I did not reach Chamunda for darshan? Bali tried to console him and told him not at that moment. I’ll tell you later.
Who did not allow Darshan to come and why?
The death of Sanjay Gandhi severely devastated Indira Gandhi. The Chamunda incident dominated his mind and heart. On the fourth day, I was sitting with Sunil Dutt and Nargis. By that time Anil Bali had reached there. Indira Gandhi immediately took Bali to the shore and asked him to tell her now. After receiving the news of his show’s cancellation, Bali gave information about the entire incident including the reaction of the priest there. Did Indira Gandhi try to remember who canceled her show?
At that time she was on a trip to Jammu. Sanjay was with him. On his return, Sanjay also had to go with him for darshan and worship of Chamunda. But they told us that the weather in Chamunda is very bad. It’s raining a lot. It will not be possible to land a helicopter there. On receiving this information, he decided to return to Delhi a day early. An astonished Bali, who was present at the Chamunda temple area that day, told Indira Gandhi that the weather was absolutely fine and there was no rain that day. Indira Gandhi considered herself responsible for Sanjay’s death. He had told Pupul Jayakar, “Sanjay died because of my mistake. “I couldn’t do the rituals and prayers that I wanted to do.”
Don’t cry, there are sixty million sons and daughters.
A few months later, following the instructions of Indira Gandhi, Anil Bali again scheduled her darshan and worship at the Chamunda temple. He arrived there on December 13, 1980. The pandit who conducted the ritual recalled: “He said he was a staunch Hindu. He recited mantras. He gave complete sacrifice. He bowed in the sanctum sanctorum and his postures during Kali puja. He did everything perfectly.”
According to the Pandit, she cried continuously while doing all this. He was crying even when he got there. While consoling him, Pandit told him that you have sixty million sons and daughters. Look at them. Don’t cry after today. Then Indira took the prasad. He circled the temple. Plant trees outside. He had brought in fielder Jagannath Sharma. Home Minister Buta Singh and Chief Minister Ram Lal were also with him on this occasion. He also built a Chamunda memorial ghat in memory of Sanjay. Sukhram, who later became a Union minister, arranged his expenditure of eighty lakhs.
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