India: The Empty Chair

It had been obvious for months that Jawaharlal Nehru was in failing health.

He walked unsteadily, had difficulty getting in and out of automobiles, often dozed off while talking to visitors. His voice was frail, his skin puffy and loose.

More and more, Nehru was forced to take to his bed with internal disorders.

Last week, at 74, he suffered the most serious illness of all, a stroke that left him bedridden and partially paralyzed.

Suddenly India was faced with its most pressing leadership crisis since independence in 1947.

Quiet & Subdued. The blow fell in the ancient Hindu temple town of Bhubaneswar, 220 miles southwest of Calcutta, where 10,000 delegates, officials, newsmen and hangers-on were gathered for the Congress Party's 68th annual convention. Bhubaneswar had worn a festive air. Green, white and saffron party flags fluttered from hundreds of flagpoles, and pictures of Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi adorned shop windows. On his arrival, Nehru was so weak that aides had to lift him from a helicopter, and when he finally was able to walk, he shuffled away with back bent and head bowed. At a flag-raising ceremony, his words were almost inaudible. At the first party sessions, Nehru was quiet and subdued. Then he collapsed.

From Delhi, four doctors, including a heart specialist, were flown to his bedside. The first medical bulletins were evasive, referred to overwork and his need for rest. At last the doctors let it be known that Nehru had lost the feeling in his "left limbs," finally admitted that his whole left side was affected. It was, friends admitted, paralysis.

Fearing the political consequences of the Prime Minister's disability, Nehru's closest aides seemed bent on minimizing its seriousness. Indira Gandhi showed up at Congress meetings, announced airily that her father was already sitting up in bed and reading, remarked that he had even disobeyed doctors' orders by taking a bath.

Internal Dissension. As a result, while world headlines talked of India's leadership crisis, the delegates at Bhubaneswar went about their business almost as if nothing had happened. As was expected in advance, the party overwhelmingly reaffirmed its faith in liquor abstinence, the wearing of simple, homespun clothing, and its belief in socialism (though left-wing amendments calling for nationalization of banks and the rice industry were firmly rejected).

On the dais in the main conference hall, the single empty easy chair set aside for Nehru's use symbolized the big problem that now faced India: Who will succeed its stricken leader? The

Congress Party has been racked with internal dissension ever since Nehru last fall asked a number of top Cabinet officers—including Food Minister S. K. Patil, Home Minister Lai Bahadur Shastri, and Finance Minister Morarji Desai —to resign, ostensibly to reorganize the party and revitalize its strength among the masses. But it is generally felt that Nehru actually intended the move as a ruse to shake out of the Cabinet all potential contenders for his post. Wise to the scheme, the ousted ministers set about building up personal followings for a succession fight.