1858 - India comes under direct rule of the British crown after failed Indian mutiny.
1885 -
Indian National Congress (INC) founded as forum for emerging
nationalist feeling by A. O. Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dinshaw Wacha,
Womesh Chandra Banerjee, Surendranath Banerjee, Monomohun Ghose, and
William Wedderburn.
Website: http://www.aicc.org.in
1920-22 - Mahatma Gandhi launches anti-British civil disobedience campaign.
1942-43 - Congress launches "Quit India" movement.
1947 - End of British rule and partition into India with a major population of Hindu and Muslim-majority state of Pakistan.
Newly independent1948 - Mahatma Gandhi assassinated by Hindu extremist, Nathuram Godse.
1951-52 - Congress Party wins first general elections under leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Regional tensions1964 -
Death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Gulzarilal Nanda was acting
Prime Minister after Nehru’s death. Then Lal Bhadur Shastri was
appointed as Prime Minister of India.
1966 - Gulzarilal Nanda was acting Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister.
1971 - Twenty-year treaty of friendship signed with Soviet Union.
Democratic strains1975 - Indira Gandhi declares emergency after being found guilty of misusing funds in elections.
1977 - Indira Gandhi's Congress Party loses general elections. Morarji Desai from Janta Party became Prime Minister.
1979 – Janta Party’s Ch. Charan Singh became Prime Minister.
1980 - Indira Gandhi returns to power and formed Congress party splinter group, Congress (I).
1984 - Troops storm Golden Temple to flush out Sikh militants pressing for self-rule.
1984 - Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikh bodyguards. Rajiv Gandhi takes over as PM.
1987 - India deploys troops for peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.
1989 – Defeat of Congress in general election. Vishwanath Pratap Singh of Janta Dal National Front appointed as PM.
1990 -
Indian troops withdrawn from Sri Lanka. A Samajwadi Janata Party
National Front candidate Chandrasekhar was made Prime Minister.
1991 - Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by suicide bomber of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.
1991 – Congress’s PV Narasimha Rao was made Prime Minister.
BJP to the fore1996 -
Congress suffers worst ever electoral defeat and Hindu nationalist BJP
emerges as largest single party. Atal Behari Vajpayee made Prime
Minister.
1 Jun 1996- Janata Dal United Front’s H. D. Deve Gowda made Prime Minister.
1997- Janata Dal United Front’s Inder Kumar Gujral made Prime Minister.
1998 - BJP forms coalition government under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
1999 February - Vajpayee makes historic bus trip to Pakistan and sign bilateral Lahore peace declaration.
2001 July -
Vajpayee's BJP party declines his offer to resign over a number of
political scandals and the apparent failure of his talks with Pakistani
President Musharraf.
Kashmir tensions rise2001 December - Suicide squad attacks parliament in New Delhi, killing several police. The five gunmen die in the assault.
2002 July - Scientist and architect of India's missile programme APJ Abdul Kalam is elected president.
Kashmir ceasefire.
2004 May - Congress Party won the general elections. Manmohan Singh is sworn in as prime minister.
2004 September - India, along with Brazil, Germany and Japan, launches an application for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Nuclear deal
2006 March -
US and India sign a nuclear agreement during a visit by US President
George W Bush. The US gives India access to civilian nuclear technology
while India agrees to greater scrutiny for its nuclear programme.
2007 July - Pratibha Patil becomes first woman to be elected president of India.
2008 July -
Congress-led governing coalition survives vote of confidence brought
after left-wing parties withdraw their support over controversial
nuclear cooperation deal with US.
2009 May – Congress
won in general election but fell short from only 11 seats in absolute
majority and thus form Congress-led alliance of PM Manmohan Singh.
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