The Emergency also saw the rise of the real power behind the throne: Sanjay Gandhi.

In her need to confide in someone during this extraordinarily trying period, Mrs Gandhi relied more and more on her younger son, a big advocate of Emergency.

At his behest, she clamped press censorship. Thousands of her Opposition leaders, including veterans like Jayaprakash Narayan, were thrown into jail. The Maintenance of Internal Security Act, under which anyone could be detained indefinitely without the right to appeal, was rampantly used.

Through it all, the heavy hand of Sanjay Gandhi could be seen. He imposed forcible sterilisation drives, ordered slums bulldozed to 'beautify and de-congest' cities, banned industrial strikes, attacked the progressives and crushed any opposition effectively with his trusted band of Youth Congress workers and the police.

Indira Gandhi with her younger son Sanjay.