Today is Saturday, October 31st, 2020.

On this day in 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated outside of her

home in New Delhi, India.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a Spotify original from podcast.

Due to the graphic nature of today's crimes, listener discretion is advised.

Extreme caution is advised for listeners under 13.

Today we're covering the unexpected death of one of India's most prominent political leaders to date.

Let's go back to the morning of October 31st, 1984, to Indira Gandhi's bedroom.

It was not yet 4am when Indian politician Indira Gandhi sat up in her bed.

After a night spent tossing and turning, India's 66 year old Prime Minister rose to find her asthma medication.

She tended to herself, briefly phoned her daughter-in-law and then looked over her schedule for the day.

As it happened, her first meeting was with filmmaker Peter Alexander Yustanov, who was interviewing her for a documentary for Irish television.

So she dressed in particularly formal clothing, wearing a pale orange sorry and black sandals.

She adorned her face with makeup, did her hair, then traipsed to her kitchen.

It was only 7.30am when she sat down to a breakfast of toast, orange juice, eggs and cereal,

fueling up for the long day that awaited her.

But while she ate her food, Indira's mind was elsewhere.

The previous day, she had delivered a particularly intense speech, addressing threats that had been made on her life.

The past years had brought about much political hostility and personal tragedy for Indira,

including the death of her own son and chosen successor, Sanjay Gandhi, a politician himself.

This forced Indira to make an heir of her oldest son, Rajiv, who had no interest in pursuing politics.

But he was hardly prepared to step into his mother's shoes, and Indira knew just how fragile Indira's political state was.

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