The Indian government today would like to emulate Indira Gandhi's populist policies and her focus on the country’s poor. In the 1970s she introduced left-wing economic policies such as nationalizing banks and started the Green Revolution to grow more food. Her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi and grandson Rahul Gandhi now lead the Congress party, and often evoke her memory to win votes.

“Her call of ‘Stop Poverty!’ was successful. Poverty levels did come down and there was more food. But she should have brought in globalization in her time, which the government did a decade later. That way poverty could have been reduced much more,” believes New Delhi resident Shekhar Sharma.

Indira Gandhi also made controversial decisions. Fearing a legal challenge on her powers, she declared a state of emergency in 1975 and imposed martial law in India for two years. In 1984, she ordered the Indian Army to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar to clear it of Sikh fundamentalists.

Ironically, her attack on the holiest Sikh shrine led directly to her death a few months later. Incensed by her action, two of her own Sikh bodyguards decided to take revenge and gunned her down in her residence.

Her death sparked riots that engulfed the capital and led to the death of over 3,000 Sikhs. Her assassination was a turning point in the nation’s politics, and 25 years on, her image as a strong and decisive leader is what most people remember her for.