Indira made Congress a one-woman party: CIA

‘She surrounded herself with a largely incompetent Cabinet,’ said CIA report.

in law, Maneka. Ambitious and ruthless—some Indian political observers say she is much like the PM—Maneka has increasingly become the focus for Congress party dissidents who were selected by her deceased husband for office and since his death have been cast aside. We believe Maneka is not a serious threat to Rajiv’s succession, but she represents a possible obstacle to him. To become a serious rival to Rajiv, Maneka would have to join the Congress party and serve as a member of parliament. US embassy officers in New Delhi believe that Maneka could erode public support for Rajiv by making as issue of his wife Sonia’s refusal to become an Indian citizen. Indian journalists also ask how a prime minister privy to national security information could be married to an Italian citizen.”

According to these declassified documents, which were posted on the CIA’s online database, Indira Gandhi, “fears that delegating authority will lead to challenges to her control of party and government affairs. Gandhi clearly wants to dominate party affairs and control appointments of central and state legislative party elites. She has aggressively intervened in the affairs of the state units of her party. Gandhi has broken the hold of the state Congress party bosses and has suppressed the emergence of independent regional power centers. Their place has been taken by Congress chief ministers without a state power base who hold office solely to Gandhi’s good graces.”

The assessment further goes on to say that “the prime minister has surrounded herself with a largely incompetent Cabinet that rubber stamps her policies more than it weighs and advises on policy options. Gandhi has directly controlled, at various times, some key portfolios such as defence and atomic energyand she has supervised key government functions such as security and intelligence to monitor the opposition as well as dissidents in her Congress party.”

The CIA report then dwells on her succession plans, states, “Gandhi’s actions since the accidental death of her son Sanjay on 1980 have left no doubt that she wants her elder son Rajiv to succeed her as Prime Minister… and she was making every effort to make sure that they choose her son.”

The report further stated that “few challengers to Rajiv exist within the Congress because Gandhi has systematically weeded out experienced politicians with a national constituency who could become a possible alternative to Rajiv” and “most Congress party members seem to have already accepted the notion of Rajiv’s succession.”

The report also included a paragraph on how some of the Congress workers were doubtful of Rajiv’s “abilities and political instincts”. “In our view, a number of these restless and unhappy politicians—most of whom do not hold important positions within the party—see the grooming of Rajiv as further weakening the party by suppressing the talent within it.”

“Rajiv lacks both his mother’s flair and an insight for politics and may prove incapable of defending his leadership after Gandhi’s departure from politics. His sole credential may be the fact that he is Indira’s son… Rajiv has shown a palpable lack of talent in political affairs and his performance as MP has been lacklustre.”