During 1974-75, she was involved in a major controversy. The Sarvodaya movement was at the crossroads on the issue of the crisis of democracy in Bihar. Jaya Prakash Narayan had decided to lead a public movement to root out the corrupt Bihar government. The matter was discussed in the Sarva Seva Sangh, the national body of all-India Sarvodaya workers. Vinoba Bhave was of the opinion that people should not confront the state as the time was not opportune and the country faced external threats. JP stood his ground and there was a divide among Sarvodaya workers. Nirmala Deshpande firmly stood beside Vinoba Bhave.

In the years to come, she grew close to Indira Gandhi and it was said that she had become her conscience keeper. It is true that during and after Emergency, she enjoyed tremendous confidence of Indira Gandhi. I met her during the last one year on many occasions, but I did not see any remorse in her with respect to this subject. She had arrived at her own truth and she stuck to it.

Nirmala Deshpande should be remembered, particularly by the younger generation, for her efforts in making peace in conflict situations. She organised peace marches in Punjab in 1983 and 1984, and led the Peace Mission in Kashmir in 1994. She organised a ‘Sarva Dharm Sambhav Sammelan’ in various parts of India and the Indo-Pak Amity Meet in May 1996. In militancy-ridden Punjab, she took thousands of peace activists, mainly women, to help the local people in keeping peace and communal harmony. She led by example, travelling in a jeep without security. “God is with me”, she said.

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