‘When Indira Gandhi travelled by car, jeep, tractor and rode on an elephant to reach victims’

On former prime minister Indira Gandhi's death anniversary, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday recalled how in 1977 she travelled first by car, jeep, and tractor, and then rode on an elephant to Belchhi in Bihar in an "extraordinary and spontaneous outreach to families devastated by caste atrocities".

The Congress general secretary in-charge communications asserted that Gandhi was a person of uncommon grit, courage, perseverance, and resilience.

Ramesh also pointed out that a day after her visit to the village of Belchchi she met her then-bitterest political critic and adversary Jayaprakash Narayan in Patna.

“Today, the nation recalls the indomitable Indira Gandhi and pays tribute on the 41st anniversary of her martyrdom. She was a person of uncommon grit, courage, perseverance, and resilience," he said.

It was on a rainy day on August 13, 1977 that she travelled first by car, jeep, and tractor and then rode on an elephant to the remote village of Belchhi in Bihar, Ramesh recalled.

"This extraordinary and spontaneous outreach to families devastated by caste atrocities marked her political revival," he said.

Ramesh also shared on X pictures of Gandhi on an elephant visiting Belchhi.

"Incidentally, a day later she met with her then-bitterest political critic and adversary Jayaprakash Narayan in Patna. The two had spent an hour together recalling their deep personal association over a period of four decades," Ramesh said.

The then prime minister was assassinated by her bodyguards here on this day in 1984. Indira Gandhi was India's first woman prime minister. She was born on November 19, 1917.