10 smartest political moves

1. COALITION UNITES AGAINST MRS GANDHI, MARCH 1977
The people had said a resounding 'no' to the tyranny and oppression which had marked 19 months of Congress rule, said India Today.
The Janata Party-led coalition rode into power on a surge of anger.

2. MRS GANDHI REFUSES BAIL, OCTOBER 1977
Mrs Gandhi staged a political comeback when she refused to seek bail after being arrested on corruption charges by the CBI in October 3, 1977.
India Today stated, In the eyes of her nation's illiterate millions, the Janata Party had become the Big Bad Wolf and Mrs Gandhi had acquired the status of the Joan of Arc.

3. CONGRESS CHOOSES RAJIV GANDHI TO REPLACE INDIRA, DECEMBER 1984
They are quick to realise that their only banner is gone. This is the last chance to come back to power on the sympathy wave (India Today, December 1984). Congress won 401 out of the 508 contested seats the highest since Independence.

4. V.P. SINGH PROPS UP DEVI LAL, BECOMES PM, NOVEMBER 1990
In upholding principles, I am not a disaster. In following that, one has to go down a dangerous path, said V.P Singh to India Today in November 1990.
He led the National Front to a euphoric victory in 1989 and proposed Devi Lal's name as prime minister, who refused the nomination and insisted that Singh be the one.

5. CHANDRA SHEKHAR IS PM WITH 56 MPs, DECEMBER 1990
Twenty-eight years after he first walked into Parliament in 1962, Chandra Shekhar became the prime minister with only 56 MPs.
In the process of forming his ministry, Chandra Shekhar demonstrated that he is still an adept player of the double con (India Today, December 1990).

6. AdVANI'S RATH YATRA, DECEMBER 1990
In March 1990, India Today did a story on L.K. Advani that called him a saffron seer.
He undertook the phenomenal Rath Yatra in 1990 that was to change the course of the BJP and make it a strong contender for power.
In May 1991, India Today noted, By unprecedented cadre mobilisation, playing the Ayodhya card and enticing voters to gamble on an untried party, the BJP hopes to dramatically improve its Lok Sabha strength and in L. K. Advani, the party, for the first time, has a national level prime ministerial candidate.
In perhaps the most ambitious grassroots mobilisation that any party has ever undertaken, almost the entire network of RSS-affiliated organisations throughout India is moving into the electoral fray with the well-oiled cohesiveness of a conquering army. Finally, the BJP had arrived.

7. RAO BECOMES PM, JUNE 1991
With no big leader heading the government, no one expects miracles, noted India Today in July 1991. P.V. Narasimha Rao had nearly retired from active politics and it was Rajiv Gandhi's assassination that brought him back.
The opportunity to lead the country came as a surprise not only for him, but for the whole nation. He checkmated his opponents, moulded the Congress into a different animal and emerged as its undisputed leader (India Today, April 1992).

8. RAO CHOOSES MANMOHAN AS FM, JULY 1991
P.V. Narasimha's choice of Manmohan Singh as the finance minister was the biggest surprise of 1991. Here is something Rajiv Gandhi forgot to do as prime minister. He talked about taking India into the 21st century, but forgot all about the present one. Rao and his finance minister got it just right (India Today, August 1992).

9. SONIA REJECTS POST OF PM, MAY 2004
In one smart stroke, Sonia Gandhi managed to silence her opponents and strengthen her dynasty. It was a no that shook India. Sonia's decision not to be the prime minister was a strategic renunciation that blinds the Sangh Parivar's attacks and enhances her stature as a leader (India Today, May 2004).

10. MAYAWATI'S SOCIAL ENGINEERING, 2007
Unlike Kashi Ram, Mayawati realised that embracing the upper castes was the only path towards power. She has shown her political acumen as a master strategist, better than the combined powers of the BJP think-tank and the SP's muscle power (India Today, May 2007).