My first encounter with her was in 1978 during Janata regime when she was a defeated leader…..

Last updated on November 2, 2021

Mr. Jawhar Sircar : Member, Rajyasabha.

▪️Remembering Indira Gandhi on the day of her assassination.
▪️My first encounter with her was in 1978 during the Janata regime when she was a leader out of power and being hounded.
▪️ She was flying through Kolkata on way to Manipur to face a criminal case there — which was only to harass her.
▪️In her presence at Kolkata’s Airport Hotel, her followers and leaders had fisticuffs (glasses were broken) and newspapers publicised this.
▪️Since I was the SDO of Barrackpur in charge of Dum Dum, I was ticked off for security lapses around the Ex PM.
▪️ So, on her return from Manipur two days later, I attended to her personally at Dum Dum but decided to declare orders under Section 144 to keep the factions of the Congress from fighting against each other in or near the hotel
▪️ Other than select leaders, we allowed no one to enter the hotel but there was a huge crowd outside the hotel, shouting slogans.
▪️Mrs Gandhi questioned my authority as Magistrate to stop her from meeting her people — but we were firm.
▪️ I escorted her to her rest room on the first floor of Airport Hotel and I will never forget how the busiest lady in India had time to stop for a few seconds at the door of her room.
▪️She saw the doormat was askew and she personally straightened it with her toe — before she entered. What precision!
▪️We left her there and went to the lounge on the ground floor, with Pranab Mukhapadhyay, Ghani Khan Chaudhary, Subrata Mukherjee, etc.
▪️ Suddenly, we saw that she had come down and had started walking rapidly out of the hotel security area.
▪️Policemen who were supposed to stop her, got nervous and saluted her.
▪️ Thus, she broke the security barrier and addressed her supporters outside the hotel gate — and she was perched on a stool, holding on to a lamppost.
▪️What a great photo that made in the papers next day.
▪️ We were terrified about her personal security amidst the huge crowd and anything could happen.
▪️Intelligence Officers assured us that our policemen had worn the Congress Khadi dresses and had ‘ringed her’ all around.
▪️Yet, every moment was tense — but suddenly we found her leaving the huge crowd and walking back quite rapidly to the hotel reception.
▪️She picked up the phone but it was ‘dead’.
▪️Once back into safety, we locked the main door of the hotel (thank God!) and I asked what had pulled her away from the crowds to the hotel.
▪️The answer was that someone had whispered that Sanjay Gandhi was on the hotel telephone but by the time she reached the reception, the reception, the call had already been disconnected.
▪️ My IB officer told me quietly that the story of Sanjay’s call was a hoax to get her to come out of unprotected zone to the secured hotel.
▪️She realised this and gave me a dirty look.
▪️In 1979, she had toppled Morarji Desai’s Janata Party government and was back in Barrackpur for campaigning for the new Parliament Elections.
▪️She recognised me and said a few words. Here I am on the right, receiving and escorting her.
▪️The 1980 polls went in Indira Gandhi’s favour and Charan Singh was swept away.
▪️She became PM and I became ADM. That’s life! .