Fresh insights from a massive public archive have shed new light on the delicate and often evaded question of political succession during the final years of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Documents reveal a leader consistently deflecting queries about who would follow him, even asserting "My life is not ending so very soon" at a press conference a mere five days before his passing.
The Final Deflection: A Press Conference in Delhi
On May 22, 1964, Nehru faced journalists in what would be his final press conference in Delhi. With his health a subject of public discussion, a reporter pointedly asked if it would not be in the national interest for him to "solve this problem of succession in your lifetime in a democratic manner," specifically referencing talk about his daughter, Indira Gandhi. The Prime Minister dismissed it as a "leading question," drawing laughter. When told the topic was "on everybody's lips," Nehru's now-historic reply was: "They may be talking like that. My life is not ending so very soon." He passed away on May 27, 1964.
This detailed account is part of 77,000 pages and 35,000 documents made freely available online by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF) on The Nehru Archive, a 100-volume project launched for his 136th birth anniversary.
Mounting Pressure and Political Manoeuvres
Questions about succession were not confined to the press. In Parliament on April 18, 1964, Nehru was reminded of a past promise to designate an official deputy for when he was away. He replied that he did not recall any previous occasion requiring such special arrangements.
Correspondence from the time shows a stream of suggestions. On April 16, 1964, one M.P. Bhargava wrote urging the appointment of a Deputy Prime Minister to improve coordination. Nehru evaded, replying he saw "no particular benefit" in it at that stage. Earlier, on March 25, 1964, former UP Congress chief Ajit Prasad Jain had similarly suggested nominating a clear number two in the cabinet.
The chatter had begun much earlier. In a letter dated July 13, 1962, a Punjab National Bank deputy general manager, Mohan Singh, wrote to Nehru that the question of his successor had become a dominant topic in drawing-room conversations across India, with many speculating that Indira Gandhi would take over. Nehru's reply two days later expressed bafflement at the "gossip," stating his faith in the Indian people and the many competent leaders available.
Interestingly, historical political discourse suggests that the famous Kamraj Plan of the last quarter of 1963—where senior Congress leaders resigned to work for the party—was designed, among other objectives, to facilitate Indira Gandhi's eventual rise by clearing the political landscape.
The Path of Succession and a Lasting Legacy
Ultimately, Nehru's succession did not follow a pre-ordained path. After his death, Gulzarilal Nanda served as interim Prime Minister for two weeks before Lal Bahadur Shastri took over on June 9, 1964. Following Shastri's sudden demise in 1966, Nanda again stepped in briefly before Indira Gandhi finally assumed the office on January 24, 1966.
The archival revelations underscore how the question of leadership transition, which would become a recurring theme in Indian politics, was being navigated even at the highest levels of the nascent republic. The documents provide a raw, unfiltered look at the pressures on a foundational figure who preferred to focus on the present, publicly expressing confidence in the country's democratic future while private political calculations swirled around him.
