Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s chart – a tough life……

Indira Gandhi was one of India’s strongest and most controversial prime ministers, and also one of the most fascinating. A powerful politician who was the only leader, perhaps, who wore the ‘pants’ in her Cabinet, she was canny, fearless and formidable. Yet she made some mistakes that do not make sense given her experience and political savvy. These mistakes led to her downfall, and also her death. Can astrology explain what made her take those (mis)steps? Let’s take a look at her chart.

 Birth details

• 19/11/1917, 2311 Hours, Allahabad
• Died on 31/10/1984 in New Delhi

Lagna Chart

• ASC Cancer 27-20-56 has Saturn 21-53-28 (Enemy) – Emotional by nature but can hide emotions well and guards them immensely. Would be working hard all her life. Enemies would sometimes give her a bad name due to her enemy-positioned Saturn.
• 2^nd house of Leo has Mars 16-23-06 – Excellent and born into a wealthy family and parents very auspicious for her.
• 5^th house of Scorpion has Mercury 13-14-36 and Sun 04-07-59 – Father very auspicious presence in her life. Lives a life of luxury with all the material comforts and was sophisticated. Also a born leader. Most importantly, this house would mean that despite having Jupiter retrograde and in an enemy position in the 11^th house, she would have children, but would be worried about them.
• 6^th house of Sagittarius has Rahu [R] 10-33-52 and Venus 21-00-39 – Complicated personality and had the tendency to make enemies who would harm her, also an extremely stressful marriage life full of fights and differences. Would be blessed with children only due to her auspicious 4^th house but her children would be the constant source of her worry and married life strained.
• 7^th house of Capricorn has Moon 05-35-20 – Closeness to mother. Extremely tough-minded person. Has an auspicious house of marriage but getting married without careful chart-matching could throw her personal life into turmoil due to placement of Venus and Jupiter. This is the reason why she never officially divorced her husband and continued to love him despite immense differences and fights.
• 11^th house of Taurus has Jupiter [R] 14-58-03 (Enemy) – Worry and trouble in her life from colleagues and enemies, legal trouble and lots of stress. Would be worried sick due to her child(ren). Would achieve fame too but at a great cost due to her Jupiter in the 11^th She became prime minister for the first time in her Jupiter mahadasha in the 1960s but lost her father during this dasha, and was lonely after that.
• 12th house of Gemini has Ketu [R] 10-33-52 – Big believer in tantra, mantra, spirituality and the occult. Would also travel overseas a great deal. Would not be amassing any wealth on her own and be indifferent to money on a personal level. Would be remembered for ages after her passing away, which would be sudden.

Critical Dasha in her life time and beyond

• Saturn mahadasha from 14/11/70 – 14/11/89 was the defining period in her life. This is the time she rose in public life and became prime minister multiple times. She was loved as a leader and even feared, and was never away from controversies due to her enemy-positioned Saturn. Having Jupiter retrograde and enemy-positioned only added trouble regarding legal affairs and child(ren). She was consumed by her work during this time.

• SAT – SAT from 17/11/73 till 26/ 7/76 – She declared Emergency during the start of her Saturn mahadasha and hence made one of the worst political decisions in her life. This controversy would not leave even after her passing.

• SAT – KET from 26/7/76 till 5/ 9/77 – The Emergency was ended during this time. Due to Ketu being in the 12^th house, the decisions made during this time marked her gradual movement away from politics and more into spirituality. The stress of her Saturn was too much for her to tolerate, and it showed.

• SAT – VEN from 5/9/77 till 5/11/80 – This was the time when her younger son Sanjay Gandhi was killed suddenly. This was due to Venus in the 6^th house along with Rahu. Whenever Rahu cast its shadow on her life, it impacted her personally most unexpectedly to a level of destruction, which was what happened with Sanjay Gandhi’s unexpected death.

• SAT – RAH from 26/ 6/84 till 2/ 5/87 (Assassination)– Tricky period due to Rahu in her 6^th There are chances that during this period she would be at great risk from people who were opposed to her ideas and actions which could be controversial. This was due to the impact of her Saturn. There could be a chance of sudden harm to her from enemies due to her 6^th house Rahu; additionally, unexpected events would also topple her world whose impact also would make take her away from the pulse of people.

• Mercury mahadasha from 14/11/89 till 14/11/06 – If she had lasted till May 1987, then the chances of her completing her Saturn mahadasha were very high. That too in good health. She would have lived to become old and would have been in politics for a long time.

Additional Details 

• Her Jupiter and then Saturn mahadasha gave her everything as these were in auspicious houses (11^th and lagna house, respectively) but they also took more than they gave to her – demise of mother, father, husband, and Sanjay. It also led to the war with Pakistan in 1967.
• Her Saturn mahadasha from 1970 – 1989 was a period when she was involved in controversial decisions that cost her politically and also took her life. This was a time of immense stress for her including the 1971 war with Pakistan.
• I can say that for most of her adult life (after 1936) and with the start of her Rahu mahadasha onwards, she had a tough life, despite being born into a good, famous and rich family. This continued till her last breath.
• Her good time was to come from 1990 onwards but she did not make it to her Mercury mahadasha.
• Om Shanti