Why was Babu Jagjivan Ram so important for the Indira Gandhi government?

Actress Kangana Ranaut's production-directorial venture Emergency is getting bigger with the star cast. The last time, it was Milind Soman as Sam Manekshaw, now it is Satish Kaushik as the late politician and former Deputy Prime Minister, Babu Jagjivan Ram. Kaushik is also the last character of the movie announced by Ranaut on  Instagram.

The late politician, popularly known as Babu Jagjivan Ram, was highly revered in Indian politics, and shared closed working relations with former PM Indira Gandhi.

Who was Javjivan Ram: Born in 1908 in Arrah, Bihar, he was a Dalit politician and longtime spokesperson for the Dalits in India.

• In fact, he was the Congress party's Dalit face and it was only when he left the party in 1977 that Congress suffered a defeat in UP elections and severe loss of Dalit votes.
• He had joined the Congress party in 1931.
• He was elected to the Bihar Assembly in 1935 and 1937, after which he organised the rural labour movement.
• In 1935, he also formed the All-India Depressed Classes League.
• In 1946, he was the youngest minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet as the Labour Minister.
• He supported Indira Gandhi in 1966 when she succeeded Lal Bahadur Shastri as Prime Minister.
• He was the Minister of Labour, Employment and Rehabilitation from 1966-67, minister for food and agriculture from 1967-70, and in 1970 he was the Minister for Defence. 
• He left Congress in 1977 with several other politicians and joined the Janata Dal party, which defeated Congress in 1977 elections.

What was his role in Bangladesh Liberation War: Jagjivan Ram was the Defence Minister of India and had a vital role in the Indo-Pak war of 1971, also known as Bangladesh Liberation War.

• He played the role of moderator between Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. 
• In March 1971, Indira Gandhi wanted to go to war for liberating Bangladesh from Pakistan but Manekshaw wasn't ready to listen because he felt that his troops were not ready for it.
• Jagjivan Ram engaged in talks with Manekshaw but he didn't give in. At one point, Ram even said to Manekshaw as "Maan bhi jao (Please give in)," but the Army Chief refused to accept because he knew success was not guaranteed.
• Nevertheless, Ram ensured both Gandhi and Manekshaw remained on board and gave Manekshaw the final go-ahead at a time when he felt was appropriate. 
• Ram ensured that relations between the centre and military didn't turn sour and also ensured smooth functioning of both the government and the armed forces.

His differences with Indira Gandhi: Though Jagjivan Ram supported Indira's candidature as PM and also supported her Emergency, he left the Congress embittered and joined Janata Dal Party in 1977. 

• Indira Gandhi was stunned and she could not understand what went in Ram's mind. She said," I fail to understand why have you resigned, most of the restrictions under Emergency have been relaxed, press censorship has been withdrawn and political prisoners released," Open Magazine quoted Indira Gandhi.
• She said that it was strange that Ram stayed silent all through those months and even didn't mention anything at the AICC meeting in Guwahati.
• The Jan Sangh won 298 seats in 1977 elections and Congress ended up with only 189. He staked claim to become the PM of the country as he said he had the massive support of Dalits across the country.
• Chaudhary Charan Singh, part of Janata Party coalition, also wanted to become PM and he detested Ram. The two also shared sour relations and none wanted the other person to assume power as PM. 
• Jagjivan Ram was also perceived to be corrupt and Charan Singh's popularity outside the Hindi belt was low. Therefore, Morarji Desai was made the PM of the country from 1977-79.
• The Janata Party coaltion government collapsed in 1979 and fresh elections were held in 1980 which the Congress under Indira Gandhi won with a thumping majority of 353 seats.
• Jagjivan Ram left Janata Party in 1979. He was the Defence Minister in this government also.
• He contested as a PM candidate from JP against Congress in 1980 but his party ended up with only 31 sets out of 542.
• In 1981, he formed his own party Congress (J) but it was dissolved after Ram's death in 1986.
• He remained a Parliamentarian from 1952-1986. He died in 1986.

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