Lal Bahadur Shastri

Name: Lal Bahadur Shastri

Date of Birth: October 2, 1904 - January 11, 1966

Place of Birth: Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh

Description:-

Lal Bahadur was born in the year 1904 in Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh as Lal Bahadur Srivastava When Lal Bahadur was three months old, he slipped out of his mother's arms into a cowherd's basket at the ghats of the Ganges. The cowherd, who had no children, took the child as a gift from God and took him home. Lal Bahadur's parents lodged a complaint with the police, who traced the child, and returned him to his parents[2].

Lal Bahadur's father died when he was only a year and a half old. His mother Ramdulari Devi took him and his two sisters to her father's house and settled down there[3]. Lal Bahadur stayed at his grandfather Hazari Lal's house till he was ten. Since there was no high school in their town, he was sent to Varanasi where he stayed with his maternal uncle and joined the Harischandra High School. While in Varanasi, Shastri once went with his friends to see a fair on the other bank of the Ganges. On the way back he had no money for the boat fare. Instead of borrowing from his friends, he jumped into the river and swam to the other bank[4].

Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on May 27, 1964 and left a vacuum. The major figures of the Congress Party were unable to find enough support which allowed the lesser regarded Shastri to be elected as the compromise candidate, becoming Prime Minister on June 9. Shastri, though mild-mannered and soft-spoken, was a Nehruvian socialist and thus held appeal to those wishing to prevent the ascent of conservative right-winger Morarji Desai.

In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on June 11, 1964, Shastri stated Shastri worked by his natural characteristics to obtain compromises between opposing viewpoints, but in his short tenure was ineffectual in dealing with the economic crisis and food shortage in the nation. However, he commanded a great deal of respect in the Indian populace, and he used it to advantage in pushing the Green Revolution in India; which directly led to India becoming a food-surplus nation, although he did not live to see it. During the 22-day war with Pakistan, Lal Bahadur Shastri created the slogan of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" ("Hail the solider, Hail the farmer"), underlining the need to boost India's food production. Apart from emphasizing the Green Revolution, he was instrumental in promoting the White Revolution[16]. Greatly impressed by a visit to the Kaira district in October 1964,