Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh pay tribute to Indira Gandhi on birth anniversary

Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday paid tribute to late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her birth anniversary at Shakti Sthal here.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee and several other party leaders also paid homage to the late Prime Minister.

"On her birth anniversary, we pay homage to India's first female Prime Minister, the Late Smt Indira Gandhi. Her will and determination led our country to great heights. Her contributions to India's national security, economy & foreign policy will always be cherished," Congress tweeted.

Born on November 19, 1917, to India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala Nehru, she served as the first and only woman prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984.

She was the second longest-serving Prime Minister after Nehru and was well-known for path-breaking economic and social reforms, including the nationalisation of banks. She also abolished privy purses of the erstwhile princely states.

Indira Gandhi, who was hailed as one of the tallest world leaders, was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards at her residence on Akbar Road on October 31, 1984. This came after Operation Bluestar was executed at Amritsar's Golden Temple, wherein Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to confront Sikh separatists who had taken shelter at the holy shrine.