Rajiv Gandhi

Early life and career

Rajiv Gandhi was born into India's most famous political family. His grandfather was the Indian independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru, who was India's first Prime Minister after independence. Rajiv Gandhi was not related to Mahatma Gandhi, although they share the same surname. His father, Feroze, was one of the younger members of the Indian National Congress party, and had befriended the young Indira, and also her mother Kamala Nehru, while working on party affairs at Allahabad. Subsequently, Indira and Feroze grew closer to each other while in England, and they married, despite initial objections from Jawaharlal due to his religion

Education
At the time of his father's death, Rajiv was away at a private boarding school for boys: initially at the Welham Boys' School and later The Doon School, both located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He was sent to London in 1961 to study his A-levels. In 1962, he was offered a place at Trinity College, Cambridge, to study engineering. Rajiv stayed at Cambridge until 1965. In 1966, he was offered and took up a place at Imperial College London, but after a year left that course also without a degree.

Entry into politics

Following his younger brother's death in 1980, Gandhi was pressured by Indian National Congress party politicians and his mother to enter politics. He and his wife were both opposed to the idea, and he even publicly stated that he would not contest for his brother's seat. Nevertheless, he eventually announced his candidacy for Parliament. His entry was criticised by many in the press, public and opposition political parties. Rajiv also became member of the Asian Games Organizing Committee in 1982 with his close friend and then sports Minister Sardar Buta Singh as president of the committee He fought his first election from Amethi Loksabha seat.

Economic policy He increased government support for science and technology and associated
industries, and reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and telecommunications. In 1986, he announced a National Policy on Education to modernise and expand higher education programs across India. He founded the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System in 1986 which is a Central government based institution that concentrates on the upliftment of the rural section of the society providing them free residential education from 6th [ till 12 grade.

Security policy
Rajiv authorised an extensive police and army campaign to contain terrorism in Punjab. A state of martial law existed in the Punjab state, and civil liberties, commerce and tourism were greatly disrupted.
[17]

There are many

accusations of human rights violations by police officials as well as by the militants during this period. It is alleged that even as the situation in Punjab came under control, the Indian government was offering arms and training to the LTTE rebels fighting the government of Sri Lanka. The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed by Rajiv Gandhi and the Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene, in Colombo on 29 July 1987. The very next day, on 30 July 1987, Rajiv Gandhi was assaulted on the head with a rifle butt by a young Sinhalese naval cadet named Vijayamunige Rohana de Silva,
[18][19]

while receiving the honour guard

V. P. Singh
Early life >He was born in the Rajput Gaharwar (Rathore) Royal Family of Manda to Raja Bhagwati
Prasad Singh of Daiya and was later adopted by Raja Bahadur Ram Gopal Singh of Manda in 1936, whom he succeeded in 1941. V. P. Singh studied at Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun for five years, and entered local politics in Allahabad during the Nehru era. He married Rani Sita Kumari, born 1936 in Deogarh, Udaipur, daughter of RawatSangram Singh II of Deogarh on 25 June 1955. He soon made a name for himself in the state Congress Party for his unfailing rectitude, a reputation that he would carry with him throughout his career. General Elections of 1989 The National Front fought the elections in 1989 after coming to an electoral understanding with Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Left Front that served to unify the anti-Congress vote. The National Front, with its allies, earned a simple majority in the Lok Sabha and decided to form a government. The Left Front (under E. M. S. Namboodiripad and Indrajit Gupta) and the BJP (under L. K. Advani) declined to serve in the government, preferring to support it from outside.

Election as Prime Minister

In a dramatic meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament on 1 December, V. P. Singh proposed the name of Devi Lal as Prime Minister, in spite of the fact that he himself had been clearly projected by the anti-Congress forces as the 'clean' alternative to Rajiv and their Prime Ministerial candidate. Devi Lal, a Jat leader from Haryana stood up and refused the nomination, and said that he would prefer to be an 'elder uncle' to the [9][10] Government, and that Singh should be PM. This last part came as a clear surprise to Chandra Shekhar, the former head of the erstwhile Janata Party, and Singh's greatest rival within the Janata Dal. Shekhar, who had clearly expected that an agreement had been forged with Lal as the consensus candidate, withdrew from the meeting and refused to serve in the Cabinet.

Cabinet Minister for Finance and Defence

Called to the Centre following Rajiv Gandhi's massive mandate in the 1984 General elections, he was appointed to the pivotal post of Finance Minister, where he oversaw the gradual relaxation of the license Raj as Rajiv had in mind. During his term as Finance Minister, he oversaw the reduction of gold smuggling by reducing gold taxes and the excellent tactic of giving the police a portion of the smuggled gold that they found. He also gave extraordinary powers to the Enforcement Directorate of the Finance Ministry, the wing of the ministry charged with tracking down tax evaders, then headed by Bhure Lal. Following a number of high-profile raids on [1] suspected evaders including Dhirubhai Ambani and Amitabh Bachchan Rajiv was forced to sack him as Finance Minister, possibly because many of the raids were conducted on industrialists who had supported the Congress financially in the past. However, Singh's popularity was at such a pitch that only a sideways move [2] seemed to have been possible, to the Defence Ministry.

Death
V. P. Singh died after a long struggle with multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer) and renal failure at Apollo [35][36] Hospital in Delhi on 27 November 2008. It is also noted that he died during the26/11 attacks. He was cremated at Allahabad on the banks of the River Ganges on 29 November 2008, his son Ajeya Singh lighting the funeral pyre.

Books on V. P. Singh G. S. Bhargava: Peristroika in India: V. P. Singh's Prime ministership, Gian

publishing house, New Delhi, 1990. Madan Gaur: V. P. Singh: portrait of a leader, Press and Publicity Syndicate of India, 1990. Seema Mustafa: The lonely prophet: V. P. Singh, a political biography , New Age international, 1995. Ram Bahadur Rai: Manjil se jyada safar (in Hindi), 2005.

Charan Singh
Early Years Pre Independence India
Charan Singh's ancestor was the prominent leader of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabhgarh (in present day Haryana). Maharaja Nahar Singh was sent to the gallows in Chandni Chowk, Delhi. In order to escape the oppression from the British Government following their defeat, the Maharaja's followers, including Charan Singh's grandfather moved eastward to district Bulandshaher in Uttar Pradesh. Charan Singh was born on 23 December 1902 in the village of Noorpur, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh. He was a good student, and received a Masters of Arts degree in 1925 and Law degree in 1926 from Agra University. He started practice as a Civil Lawyer at Ghaziabad in 1928. In February 1937 he was elected Chhaprouli (Baghpat) to the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (United Provinces) at the age of 34. In 1938 he introduced an Agricultural Produce Market Bill in the Assembly which was published in the issues of The Hindustan Times of Delhi dated 31 March 1938. The Bill was intended to safeguard the interests of the farmers against the rapacity of the traders. The Bill was adopted by most of the States in India, Punjab being the first state to do so in 1940. Charan Singh followed Mahatma Gandhi in non-violent struggle for independence from the British Government, and was imprisoned several times. In 1930 he was sent to jail for 6 months by the British for contravention of the salt laws. He was jailed again for one year in November 1940 for individual Satyagraha Movement. In August 1942 he was jailed again by the British under DIR and released in November 1943.

Independent India
In 1952, he became the Revenue Minister of state of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in independent India. He was dedicated to enforcing and implementing the provisions of the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act of which he was the major architect. It has been argued by leading political scientists that success of Indian Democracy lies in successful implementation of this reform. Pakistan on the other hand did not have similar reforms, and the power is concentrated amongst the few powerful landlords or Zamindar who run their lands as their private fiefdom, and use their influence to further their wealth. Charan Singh opposed Nehru on his Soviet Style Economic reform. Charan Singh was of the opinion that cooperative farms would not succeed in India. Being a son of a farmer, Charan Singh opined that the right of ownership was important to the farmer in remaining a cultivator. Charan Singh's political career suffered due to his open criticism of Nehru's economic policy. Charan Singh left the Congress party in 1967, and formed his own political party. With the help and support of Raj Narain and Ram Manohar Lohia, he became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1967, and later in 1970. In 1975, he was jailed again, but this time by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, daughter of his former rival Nehru. She had declared the state of 'Indian Emergency (1975-1977)' and jailed all her political opponents. The Indian populace voted her out, and the opposition party, of which Chaudhary Charan Singh was a senior leader came into power. He served as Deputy prime minister and home minister in Janata government headed by Morarji Desai.

Charan Singh has written several books. Some of them are:

India's Economic Policy The Gandhian Blueprint Economic Nightmare of India Its Cause and Cure Cooperative Farming X-rayed

Manmohan Singh
Early career
After completing his DPhil, Singh returned to India until 1966 when he went to work for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD) from 19661969. In 1969, Dr Singh returned to India becoming Professor of International Trade at the Delhi School of Economics. A technical survey of mainstream Indian economic thinking done by his colleagues Jagdish Bhagwati and Sukhamoy Chakravarty. published in the American Economic Review of 1969, made footnote references to his book in context of planning and protectionism, but not in the main discussion of Indian exports which at the time had to do with exchange-rate overvaluation

Economic policy Following the advice of International Monetary Fund in 1991, Singh as Finance
Minister, freed India from the Licence Raj, source of slow economic growth and corruption in the Indian economy for decades. He liberalised the Indian economy, allowing it to speed up development dramatically. During his term as Prime Minister, Singh continued to encourage growth in the Indian market, enjoying widespread success in these matters. Singh, along with the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, have presided over a period where the Indian economy has grown with an 8 9% economic growth rate. In 2007, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and became the second fastest growing major economy in the world. Singh is now a strong supporter of globalisation, seeing India's immense labour capacity as a path to delivering Indian goods in a worldwide market and eventually relieving large-scale poverty.

Family and personal life

Singh married Gursharan Kaur in 1958. They have three daughters, Upinder Singh, Daman Singh and Amrit [55] Singh. Upinder Singh is a professor of history at Delhi University. She has written six books, [56] including Ancient Delhi (1999) and A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India (2008). Daman Singh is a graduate of St. Stephen's College, Delhi and Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat, and author of The [57] Last Frontier: People and Forests in Mizoram and a novel Nine by Nine, she is married to an I.P.S official Ashok Patnaik who is on deputation to Intelligence Bureau. Amrit Singh is a staff attorney at the American Civil [58] Liberties Union. Singh has undergone multiple cardiac bypass surgeries, the most recent of which took [59] place in January 2009. Singh and his wife both belong to the Kohli clan,
[60][61]

though neither uses the name as their surname.

Singh's personal assets amount to five crore rupees (approx 1 million USD). He has property worth Rs 1.8 crore, a Rs 90 lakh house in Chandigarh and a Rs 88 lakh apartment in Vasant Kunj in Delhi. His bank deposits [62] amount to Rs 3.2 crore.

15th Lok Sabha

India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. The [38] results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009. Strong showing in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Uttar Pradeshhelped the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) form the new government under the incumbent Singh, who became the first prime minister [39] sinceJawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to win re-election after completing a full five-year term. The Congress and its allies were able to put together a comfortable majority with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. These included those of the UPA and the external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other minor parties

Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (Kannada: , born 18 May 1933) was the 11th Prime Minister of India(19961997) and the 14th Chief minister of the state of Karnataka (19941996). He is an influential leader of the Vokkaliga community and is popularly known as "Mannina maga" (Son of the soil) for espousing the cause of the farmers.He is not only mannina maga, but he is neerina maga too. He is instrumental in implementing upper krishna project and hemavathi project in karnataka. These are two biggest irrigation projects implented in karnataka post independance. When he was a prime minister he solved the Ganges river dispute between India and Bangladesh. He suggested to build a reservoir near Mekedhatu across cauvery as a joint venture project with tamilnadu and proposed to share excess water from cauvery and share hydroelectricity generated from the project equally between Karnataka & Tamilnadu. But the proposal was turned down by Mr.Karunanidhi. Mr.Devegowda is a strong advocate of interlinking of the rivers in India. He has immense knowledge about cauvery river dispute.He is the National President of the Janata Dal (Secular) party.
[3][4]

Early life and education

Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda was born on 18th May, 1933 in Haradanahalli village of Holenarasipura taluk, Hassan District, Karnataka. He earned his Diploma in Civil Engineering from Smt.L.V. [6] Polytechnic, Hassan, Karnataka. He married Smt. Chennamma and the couple have 4 sons and 2 daughters. His parents, Shri Dodde Gowda and Smt. Devamma were from a middle class agricultural [7] background. Hence, he was exposed to the hardships of farmers, early in his life and later became a champion of the farmers cause.

Political career
Deve Gowda joined the Indian National Congress party in 1953 and remained its member until 1962. During that period, He was the President of Anjaneya Cooperative Society of Holenarasipura and later became a Member of the Taluk Development Board, Holenarasipura taluk, Hassan. In 1962, Deve Gowda was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Holenarasipura constituency as an independent candidate. Later, He was elected from the same constituency to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for six consecutive terms from 1962 to 1989. He joined theCongress(O) during the Congress split and served as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly from March 1972 to March 1976 and again fron November [10] 1976 to December 1977. During the Emergency (197577), he was imprisoned in the Bangalore Central Jail.
[9]

Janata Dal (Secular)

The Janata Dal (Secular) traces its roots back to the Janata Party founded by Jayaprakash Narayan who united all the opposition parties under one banner for the 1977 national elections. The Janata Dal was formed with the merger of the Janata Party with smaller opposition parties in 1988. In 1996, the party reached its pinnacle when Deve Gowda became Prime Minister of India, heading the United Front (UF) coalition government. In 1999, when some senior leaders of the party decided to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA, the party split into many factions. Many secular leaders including the Late Madhu Dandawate joined the Janata Dal (Secular) faction headed by Deve Gowda who became the National president of the this faction.

Morarji Desai Early career life and Morarji Desai was born into an Anavil Brahmin family in
Bhadeli, Valsad in Bombay Presidency (now in Gujarat). His schooling life of Primary section is in Saurashtra The Kundla School, Savarkundla. It's now actual name is J.V.Modi School.After he joined Bai Ava Bai High School, Valsad. After graduating from Wilson College, Mumbai, he join ed the civil service in Gujarat. Later, he left the service of the British in 1924 and joined the civil disobedience movement against British rule in India in 1930. He spent many years in jail during the freedom struggle and owing to his sharp leadership skills and tough spirit, he became a favourite amongst freedom-fighters and an important leader of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat. When provincial elections were held in 1934 and 1937, Desai was elected and served as the Revenue Minister and Home Minister of the Bombay Prime minister ;Main article: Premiership of Morarji DesaiMorarji Desai became the prime minister after the landslide victory of the Janata coalition in 1977. The coalition, later the janata party, was full of personal and policy friction and thus failed to achieve much owing to continuous in-wrangling and much controversy. With no party in leadership of the coalition, rival groups vied to unseat Desai. Controversial trials of prominent Congress leaders, including Indira Gandhi over Emergency-era abuses worsened the fortunes of his administration. Desai worked to improve relations with neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan and restored normal relations with China, for the first time since the 1962 war. He communicated with Zia-ul-Haq and established friendly relations. Diplomatic relations were also re-established with China. His government undid many amendments made to the constitution during emergency and made it difficult for any future government to impose national emergency. Since India's first nuclear test in 1974, Desai kept India's nuclear reactors stating "they will never be used for atomic bombs, and I will see to it if I can help it". [2] In 1977, the Carter administration sold India, heavy water and uranium for its nuclear reactors but required American on-site inspection of nuclear materials. Desai declined, seeing the American stance as contradictory, in light of its own nuclear arsenal Retirement and death: In 1979, Raj Narain and Charan Singh pulled out of the Janata Party, forcing Desai to resign from office and retire from politics at the age of 83. The chief reason for the collapse was the demand by the duo and other left leaning members like Madhu Limaye, Krishan Kant and George Fernandes that no member of the Janata party could simultaneously be a member of an alternative social or political organisation. This attack on dual membership was directed specifically at members of the Janata party who had been members of the Jan Sangh, and continued to be members of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Jan Sangh's ideological parent.[3]Desai campaigned for Janata Party in 1980 General Election as a senior politician but did not contest the election himself. , In retirement, he lived in Mumbai, and died at the age of 99. He had been honoured much in his last years as a freedom-fighter of his generation. Morarji Desai was a strict follower of Mahatma Gandhi's principles and a moralist. He was a vegetarian both by birth and by conviction.[4]

Chandra Shekhar Singh Early life and education;Chandra Shekhar Singh was born in a Hindu Rajput farming
family on 1 July 1927 in Ibrahimpatti, a village in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh. He was awarded a Master of Arts degree at Allahabad University. He was known as a firebrand in student politics. After graduation, he became active in socialist politics.[1]

Political life:He joined the socialist movement and was elected secretary of the district Praja
Socialist Party (PSP), Ballia. Within a year, he was elected joint secretary of the PSPs State unit in Uttar Pradesh. In 195556, he took over as general secretary of the party in the State. His career as a parliamentarian began with his election to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in 1962. He came under the spell of Acharya Narendra Dev, a fiery Socialist leader in the beginning of his political career. From 1962 to 1967, Shekhar belonged to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper house of the Parliament of India. He had a nationwide padayatra in 1983 to know the country better, which he claimed gave the jitters to Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister. He was called a "Young Turk".[2] Chandra Shekhar was a prominent leader of socialists. He joined Congress in 1964. From 1962 to 1967, he was a member of the Rajya Sabha. He first entered the Lok Sabha in 1967. As a member of the Congress Party, he vehemently criticised Indira Gandhi for her activities. This led to a split in the Congress in 1975. Chandrashekhar was arrested during the emergency and sent to prison.After the emergency, he became the President of Janata Party. In the parliamentary elections, Janata Party did very well and formed the coalition government headed by late Morarji Desai. In 1988, his party merged with other parties and formed the government under the leadership of V.P. Singh. Again his relationship with the coalition deteriorated and he formed another party, Janata Dal socialist faction. With the support of Congress (I) headed by Rajiv Gandhi, he replaced V.P. Singh as the Prime Minister of India in November 1990.

Prime Minister of India:After his predecessor V.P. Singh resigned, he led a breakaway
faction of the Janata Dal, known as the Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya). He became the eighth Prime Minister of India on 10 November 1990 as Congress decided to extend outside support to his government. The relationship crumbled quickly, as the Congress party accused him of spying on Rajiv Gandhi, their leader at that time.[3] The Congress Party then boycotted Parliament and as Shekhar's faction only had 64 MPs, he resigned in a nationally televised address on 6 March 1991. He remained in office until national elections could be held later that year.[4]Shekhar was known for abiding by the parliamentary conventions and was honoured with the inaugural Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1995.[3]Shekhar was a member of the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament Shashank Shekhar is a prominent lawyer practicing in London. Death;Chandra Shekhar suffered from multiple myeloma, a form of cancer of the plasma cell. He had been hospitalised for over three months by the date of his death, aged 80, in New Delhi on 8 July .

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Early life and education
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee on 25 December 1924 in a middle-class Brahmin family. His grandfather, Pandit Shyam Lal Vajpayee, had migrated to Gwalior from his ancestral village of Bateshwar, Uttar Pradesh and his father, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, was a poet and a schoolmaster in his hometown. Vajpayee did his schooling from the Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gorkhi, Bara, Gwalior. Vajpayee attended Gwalior's Victoria College (now Laxmi Bai College) and graduated with distinction in Hindi, English and Sanskrit. He completed his postgraduation with an M.A. in Political Science from DAV College, Kanpur, in first-class.[2] Later he became a full-time worker of the Hindu organisationRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). For a while Vajpayee studied law, but midstream he chose to become a journalist. This choice was largely influenced by the fact that as a student he had been an activist in India's struggle for freedom. He edited Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly), Panchjanya(a Hindi weekly) and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun. Like other full-time workers of the Sangh, Vajpayee never married and remained a bachelor his entire life.

Early political career

Vajpayee's first tryst with politics was seen in August 1942, when he and his elder brother Prem were arrested [3] for 23 days during the Quit Indiamovement. In 1951, he was deputed to work for the newly formed Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a right-wing political party associated with the RSS that espoused the Hindu cause. He soon became a follower and aide of party leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee. In 1954, Vajpayee was with Mookerjee when he went on a fast-untodeath in Kashmir to protest against perceived inferior treatment of non-Kashmiri Indian visitors to the state. Mookerjee died in prison during this strike. In 1957, Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house ofIndia's Parliament, where his oratorial skills so impressed Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that he predicted [4] that Vajpayee would someday become India's Prime Minister. By virtue of his oratorial and organizational skills, he became the face of the Jana Sangh. After the tragic death of Deendayal Upadhyaya, the mantle of the leadership of Jana Sangh fell on the shoulders of a young Vajpayee. He became the national president of the Jana Sangh in 1968 and, along with Nanaji Deshmukh, Balraj Madhok and Lal Krishna Advani, led the Jana Sangh to national prominence.

later career
In December 2005, Vajpayee announced his retirement from active politics, declaring that he would not contest in the next general election. In a famous statement at the BJP's silver Jubilee rally at Mumbai's historic Shivaji Park, Vajpayee announced that "Henceforth, Lal Krishna Advani and Pramod Mahajan will be the Ram-Laxman [26] (the two godly brothers much revered and worshipped by Hindus) of the BJP." Vajpayee was referred to as the Bhishma Pitamah of Indian Politics by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan [27] Singh during his speech in the Rajya Sabha.

Awards
1992, Padma Vibhushan
[32] [33]

1993, D. Lit. from Kanpur University 1994, Lokmanya Tilak Award

[33]

I. K. Gujral
Early and personal life Gujral was born on 4 December 1919 to Avtar Narain and Pushpa Gujral in Jhelum. He studied at D.A.V. College, Hailey College of Commerce andForman Christian College University, Lahore. He also participated in the Indian independence movement[3] and was jailed in 1942 during the Quit India Movement.[4] As a student he became a member of the Communist Party of India.[5] Gujral's hobbies included poetry[6] and he spoke Urdu and was, after his death, eulogised as a lover of the language by Maulana Azad National Urdu University, an institution where he held the position of chancellor.[7] His wife, Sheila Gujral, died following illness on 11 July 2011. She was an acclaimed poet. One of the couple's sons, Naresh, is a Shiromani Akali Dal MP in the Rajya Sabha,[8] and Vishal. The couple also have two granddaughters and a grandson Gujral's brother, Satish Gujral, is a painter.[3] His niece, Medha, is married to Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota.[9]

Early politics
Gujral became vice-president of the New Delhi Municipal Committee in 1958 and joined the INC in [11] 1964. He was close to Indira Gandhi and became a Rajya Sabha MP in April 1964. During the emergency of June 1975, Gujral was Minister of Information and Broadcasting, where he was in charge of the media during a time of censorship in India and had the charge of Doordarshan. He again was selected to the Rajya Sabha to serve until 1976. He also served as Water Resources Minister. Later, Gujral was appointed Ambassador of [3] India to the Soviet Union by Indira Gandhi and stayed on during the tenures of Morarji Desai and Charan [5] Singh. He was rumoured to have been shunted out of the ministry due to conflicts with the prime minister's [6][12] [11] son, Sanjay Gandhi, over media censorship, and was replaced by Vidya Charan Shukla, who had no qualms following party lines on the matter; he was then moved to the Planning Ministry
[10]

Prime Minister
Gujral's became prime minister as the consensus candidate between others that included Lalu Prasad [16] Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav; his government was supported by the INC from outside. In the early weeks of his tenure, the Central Bureau of Investigation asked for the permission to prosecute the state Chief [17] Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, in a corruption case related to the Fodder Scam, from the Governor of Bihar A. [18 R. Kidwai, a move that Kidwai sanctioned. Even legal scholars said that Yadav could not escape prosecution. another controversial decision of his government was its recommendation of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh in 1997. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Uttar Pradesh government, headed byKalyan Singh. sought a vote of confidence after violence and unruly scenes took place in the assembly. However President K.R. Narayanan refused to sign the recommendation and sent it back to the government for reconsideration. Pradesh.
[23] [3]

The Allahabad High Court also gave a decision against President's rule in Uttar
[24]

He also resisted signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and was leaked on 16

On 28 August 1997, the Jain Commission report was submitted to the government November.
[25] [26]

The commission had inquired into the conspiracy aspects of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and amongst others such as the Narasimha

reportedly criticised the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK),

Rao government, for tacitly supporting Tamil militants accused in Gandhi's assassination. The DMK was part of the ruling coalition at the center and had ministers in the Union Cabinet.

P. V. Narasimha Rao
Early life
P.V. Narasimha Rao had "humble social origins". He was born in 28 June 1921 at Lakkampally needed] village near Narsampet in Warangal District to a Telugu family. At the age of 3 years he was adopted and brought up to Vangara village in the present-day Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh (then part of Hyderabad [1][7] [7] State). His father P. Ranga Rao and mother Rukminiamma hailed from agrarian families.
[7] [citation

Narasimha Rao has three sons and five daughters. His eldest son P.V. Rangarao was an education minister in Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy cabinet and MLA from Hanamakonda Assembly Constituency, in Warangal District for two terms. His second son P.V. Rajeswara Rao was a Member of Parliament of the 11th Lok Sabha (15 May 1996 4 December 1997) from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency.[15][16]
[edit]

Political career
Narasimha Rao was an active freedom fighter during the Indian Independence movement and joined full-time politics after independence as a member of the Indian National Congress. Narasimha Rao served brief stints in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet (19621971) and as Chief minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh (1971 [11] 1973). His tenure as Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh is well remembered even today for his land reforms and strict implementation of land ceiling acts in Telangana region. President rule had to be imposed to counter the 'Jai Andhra' movement during his tenure. When the Indian National Congress split in 1969 Rao stayed on the side of then Prime Minister Indira [12] Gandhi and remained loyal to her during theEmergency period (197577). He rose to national prominence in 1972 for handling several diverse portfolios, most significantly Home, Defence and Foreign Affairs, in the [11] cabinets of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. In fact, it is speculated that he was in the running for the [17 post of India's President along with Zail Singh in 1982.
[1]

Death
He was cremated with full state honours in Hyderabad, after the then Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. [67] Y.S.Rajashekhar Reddy intervened. His body was kept in state at the Jubilee Hall inHyderabad. His funeral was attended by the incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda, the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L.K. Advani, the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the then [68] Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and many other dignitaries. [edit]Literary

Achievement

Rao had great interest in Indian literature among many languages. He was very fluent in many languages including Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, English, Tamil, French etc. Due to his college education in Fergusson College In Pune,he was very prolific reader & speaker of Marathi. He translated the great Telugu literary work Veyipadagalu of Kavi Samraat Viswanatha Satyanarayana into Hindi asSahasraphan. He also translated Hari Narayan Apte's Marathi novel 'Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto?'(But who thinks?) in to Telugu. He was also invited to be the chief guest of Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sanmelan where he gave speech in Marathi. In his later life, he wrote his autobiography 'The Insider' which depicts his experiences in politics.

Early life and career (1904-47) Shastri was born in Mughalsarai. His father,
Sharada Srivastava Prasad, was a school teacher, who later became a clerk in the Revenue Office [3] atAllahabad. Shastri's father died when he was only an year old. His mother, Ramdulari Devi, took him [4] and his two sisters to her father's house and settled down there. Mr. Shastri ji was educated at East Central Railway Inter college in Mughalsarai and Varanasi. He graduated with a first-class degree from the Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1926. He was given the title Shastri ("Scholar"). The title was a bachelor's degree awarded by the Vidya Peeth, but it stuck as part of his name. Shastri was influenced [4][5] by major Indian nationalist leaders including Gandhi and Tilak. Later he was greatly influenced by the socialism of Jawaharlal Nehru, whose left-wing faction in the Congress party he would eventually join.

Social activism
Shastri, who belonged to the Kayastha caste, dropped his surname Srivastava as it indicated his caste and he [3] was against the caste system, a major principle of the Gandhian movement. Shastri also enrolled himself as a life member of the Servants of the People Society and began to work for the upliftment of the Harijans under [7] [8] Gandhi's direction at Muzaffarpur. Later he became the President of the Society.

Political career (1947-64) State minister

Following India's independence, Shastri was

appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership on 15 Aug 1947 following Rafi Ahmed Kidwai's departure to become minister at centre. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that police use jets [14] of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds. His tenure as police minister ( As Home Minister was called prior to 1950) saw successful curbing of communal riots in 1947, mass migration and resettlement of refugees and break-in and putting of idols in disputed Babri Masjid - Ram Janmabhoomi complex on 22 Dec 1949

Prime minister of India (1964-66)

Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on 27 May 1964 and left a void. Then Congress Party President K. Kamaraj was instrumental in making Shastri Prime Minister on 9 June. Shastri, though mild-mannered and softspoken, was a Nehruvian socialist and thus held appeal to those wishing to prevent the ascent of conservative [17] right-winger Morarji Desai. In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated: "There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the cross-roads of history and must choose which way to go. But for us there need be no difficulty or hesitation, no looking to right or left. Our way is straight and clearthe building up of a socialist democracy at home with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with all nations."
[16]

jai Jawan Jai Kisan For the outstanding slogan given by him during Indo-Pak war of 1965 Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting (India) commemorated Shastriji even after 47 years of his death on his 48th martyr's day: Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was one of those great Indians who has left an indelible impression on our collective life. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri's contribution to our public life were unique in that they were made in the closest proximity to the life of the common man in India. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri was looked upon by Indians as one of their own, one who shared their ideals, hopes and aspirations. His achievements were looked upon not as the isolated achievements of an individual but of our society collectively. Under his leadership India faced and repulsed the Pakistani invasion of 1965. It is not only a matter of pride for the Indian Army but also for every citizen of the country. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri's slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan reverberates even today through the length and breadth of the country. Underlying this is the inner-most sentiments 'Jai Hindustan'. The war of 1965 was fought and won for our self-respect and our national prestige. For using our Defence Forces with such admirable skill, the nation remains beholden to Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. He will be remembered for all times to come for his large heartedness and public service