Lal Bahadur Shastri (born 2 October 1904 - 11 January 1966) was an Indian prime minister who served as the second Prime Minister of India. He promoted the White Revolution - a national milk production and distribution campaign - by supporting the Amul dairy federation of Anand, Gujarat and the formation of the National Dairy Development Board.
Shastri was born to Sharada Prasad Srivastava
and Ramdulari Devi in Mughalsarai on October
2, 1904, sharing his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi. He attended East Central
Railway Inter and Harish Chandra High School, where he left to join a
non-aligned organization. He worked to improve the Harijans in Muzaffarpur and
left his surname from caste "Srivastava". Shastri's thoughts were
influenced by reading about Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi and Annie Besant.
He led the country during the Indo-Pakistan
War of 1965. His slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" ("Honor the
soldier; Praise the farmer") was very popular during the war. The war
officially ended with the Tashkent Treaty on 10 January 1966; died the next
day, still in Tashkent, and the cause of his death is controversial; A heart
attack was reported, but his family was not satisfied with the cause. He was
then awarded the Barat Ratna.
The
Independent Work of Lal Bahadur Shastri
In 1928 Shastri became an active and senior
member of the Indian National Congress through the telephone of Mahatma Gandhi.
He was imprisoned for two and a half years. Later, he served as the Planning
Secretary of the U.P. in 1937. In 1940, he spent one year in prison, providing
individual support by Satyagraha to the liberation movement.
On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi issued the
Quit India speech at the Gowalia Tank in Bombay, urging the British to leave
India. Shastri, who had just been released from prison a year later, went to
Allahabad. For a week he sent independent activists from the home of Jawaharlal
Nehru, Anand Bhavan. He served as the elected representative of the United
States in 1937 and 1946.
Political Activity
(1947-1964)
Minister of State
After India's independence, Shastri was appointed
as Parliamentary Secretary in his home country, Uttar Pradesh. He became
Minister of Police and Transport under the then Prime Minister of the Govind
Ballabh Pant on August 15, 1947, following the departure of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai as
Minister of the Institute.
Cabinet Minister
In 1951, Shastri was appointed General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister. He was directly responsible for the selection of candidates and the supervision of the information and voting activities.
His Cabinet consisted of
prominent Indian businessmen including Ratilal Premchand Mehta. He played a key
role in the success of the Congress Party's landslide victory in 1952, 1957
and 1962 General Elections. In 1952, he successfully contested UP Vidhansabha
from the Soraon North cum Phulpur West seat and won with more than 69% of the
vote.
The Prime Minister
(1964-1966)
Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on May 27,
1964. Thereafter, Congress Party president Karaaraj took part in the inauguration
of the Prime Minister of the Republic on June 9. Shastri, although calm and
soft-spoken, was a Nehruvian socialist and therefore appealed to those who
wished to prevent the rise of the right-wing dissident Morarji Desai.
Jai
Jawan Jai Kisan
Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was
one of those great Indians who left an indelible imprint on our lives. The
contribution of Lal Bahadur Shastri to our public life was unique in that it
was made very close to the life of the average person in India.
It is not just
a matter of being proud of the Indian army but of every citizen of the country.
His motto is Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan !! it is repeated today with the length and the breadth of the land
21.I had always been feeling uncomfortable in my mind about giving advice to others and not acting upon it myself
