WikiLeaks: Defence Minister Bansi Lal pledged loyalty to Indira Gandhi, not her office
New Delhi: During the Emergency that was declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, many of her ministers and party-men were competing to display total loyalty to her. Congress President Dev Kant Baruah’s assertion, “Indira is India”, is famous. A cable sent by US diplomats in India to their home office in Washington illustrates the sycophancy of then Defence Minister Bansi Lal. The cable, part of WikiLeaks’ latest release, is dated January 19, 1976.
It notes that Bansi Lal declared at a public rally in Haryana that he was “loyal to Mrs Gandhi personally and not to the office of Prime Minister. He said he would remain loyal to her all his life. All his strength came from the ‘blessings’ of Mrs Gandhi.”…