In “Indira Gandhi and the Years That Transformed India,” historian Srinath Raghavan explores the authoritarian shift during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule in the 1970s, revealing efforts to centralize power through a proposed presidential system inspired by Charles de Gaulle’s France. Key advisors, including BK Nehru, advocated for diminished judicial powers and direct presidential authority, leading to the controversial Forty-second Amendment in 1976, which expanded Parliament’s powers and weakened checks and balances. Although these ideas never fully materialized, they significantly influenced India’s political landscape, fostering a powerful executive and marginalizing the judiciary.
