Who was Lal Bahadur Shastri?
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born in 1904 in Mughalsarai, near Varanasi. He joined the freedom movement in 1930 and studied at Kashi Vidyapeeth, which awarded him the Shastri degree that became part of his name. He served in the Union Cabinet from 1951 to 1956, resigning after a railway accident, and again from 1957 to 1964. After Nehru's death he became prime minister in 1964 as a consensus candidate during Congress infighting. He led India through food shortages and the 1965 war with Pakistan, and died in Tashkent in January 1966, hours after signing a peace agreement.
Political views
- As prime minister he supported Nehru's socialist economic policies and central planning.Source: iasgyan.in
- His push for food-grain self-sufficiency laid the groundwork for the Green Revolution, and he asked citizens to skip one meal voluntarily so food could reach those in shortage.Source: iasgyan.in
- He backed the White Revolution, supporting the Amul cooperative in Anand, Gujarat, and the setting up of a national dairy body.Source: iasgyan.in
- He gave India the slogan Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, honoring the soldier and the farmer.Source: drishtiias.com
- After Pakistani raids in Kashmir he pledged to answer force with force, and Indian troops reached the outskirts of Lahore.Source: southasia.ucla.edu
- He agreed to withdraw Indian forces and signed a treaty at Tashkent in which India and Pakistan agreed not to interfere in each other's affairs, avoid force and settle disputes peacefully.Source: southasia.ucla.edu
- He dropped his caste surname because he opposed the caste system, and he followed a Gandhian life of simplicity.Source: iasgyan.in
Legacy
Admirers remember Shastri for personal modesty, for the Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan call that joined soldiers and farmers, and for steering India through drought, a food crisis and war within two years. He received the Bharat Ratna after his death, the first person to do so. His record stayed largely within Nehru's planned-economy framework, and his 19 months in office left little time to test it. UCLA's South Asia pages call him a largely forgotten figure. His agreement to withdraw from positions near Lahore at Tashkent remains the most cited choice of his term.