POLITICAL SCIENCE PROJECT Presidents and Prime Ministers of India since 1947 till date :- BY : KOMAL KANWAL CLASS : XI SECTION : “D” PRIME MINISTERS 1. PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU ( from 15th August 1947 to 27th May 1964) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of Independent India, who held charge for more than 17 years continuously. Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad on 14th November 1889. He was one of the founder- members of the Indian National Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru implemented his socialist vision by introducing a modified “Indian” version of planning and control over the economy. Creating the Planning commission of India, Nehru drew up the first Five-Year Plan in 1951, which charted the government’s investments in industries and agriculture. Nehru launched programmes to build irrigation canals, dams and spread the use of fertilizers to increase the agricultural production. Nehru’s government succeeded in extending water and electricity supply, health care, roads and infrastructure to a large degree of India’s vast population. 2. GULZARI LAL NANDA(from 27th May,1964 to 9th June, 1964) Gulzari Lal Nanda was a “gandhian” to the core and was a temporary Prime Minister on two occasions after the sudden death of Pt. Nehru, for 14 days, and again after the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri(from 11th January to 24th January, 1966) again for a period of 14 days. On both occasions he acted for slightly less than a month, his term ending upon the election of a new leader of the Indian National Congress. Born in Sialkot, July 4, 1898 and died on January 15, 1998, as a centenarian. He was a leading member in the labour movement. He had also conferred the Bharat Ratna award in the year 1997. 3. LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI (from 9th June, 1964 to 11th January, 1966) Born in Moghalsarai, October 2, 1904, died in Tashkent(USSR) on January 11, 1966, while negotiating peace talks with Pakistan. He had conferred Bharat Ratna in 1966. As a minister for transport and police, he was the first to women conductors and ordered that police use jets of water instead of lathis to avoid unruly crowds. Shastri worked by his natural traits to obtain agreements, but in his short tenure was ineffective in dealing with the economic crisis and the food shortage in the country. He was respected a lot and used this advantage in pushing the Green Revolution in India which directly led to India becoming a food surplus nation. During the 22-days war with Pakistan, Lal Bahadur Shastri created the slogan of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”, underlining the need to boost India’s food production. 4. INDIRA GANDHI (24th January, 1966 to 24th march, 1977 & again from 14th January,1984 to 31st October, 1984) Indira Gandhi was the first Woman Prime Minister of India. She held office for a total of 5,831 days. Abolition of Privy Purse, nationalization of banks, birth of Bangladesh are some of her achievements. Indira Gandhi was Minister for Information and Broadcasting in Shastri’s tenure. She was the person to declare emergency in the country; by 1973 Delhi and north India were rocked by demonstrations angry at high price rise, the poor state of economy, uncontrolled corruption, and poor standards of living. In June 1975, the High Court of Allahabad found her guilty of using illegal practices and ordered her to vacate her seat. She died on Oct. 31, 1984. Her own Sikh bodyguard murdered her as she had ordered attack on the Golden Temple. 5. MORARJI DESAI (from 24th March, 1977 to 28th July, 1979) The first non-congress Prime Minister since independence, Morarji Desai headed the Janata Party Government for 587 days. He was one of those rare Gandhians. Born on 29th February, 1896 in Bahadesli, Gujarat; a centenarian, he passed away on 10th April, 1995. He had also conferred Bharat Ratna in 1991. During his time, Desai greatly improved relations with Pakistan and Zia-ul-Haq. Diplomatic relations with china were also re- established with China. His greatest contribution was that his government renewed people’s faith in democracy. His government undid many amendments made to the constitution during emergency and made it difficult for any future government to impose National Emergency. 6. CHARAN SINGH (from 28th July, 1979 to 14th January, 1980) A “kisan” Prime Minister from Uttar Pradesh, he never faced Parliament, although he was in office for 171 days. Within days of assuming office, one of the supporting parties withdrew support, after which he continued as a caretaker PM, till fresh elections were held. Charan Singh was of the opinion that cooperative farms would not succeed in India. Charan’s political career suffered due to his open criticism of Nehru’s economic policies. He also mentioned that the Indian labour laws had to be refined if India were to become competitive in world.he also opened high level diplomatic relations with Israel. 7. RAJIV GANDHI (from 31st October, 1984 to 1st December, 1989) Rajiv Gandhi worked as a professional pilot for Indian Airlines before coming into politics. The youngest PM so far, he assumed office at the age of 41. In the 1985 elections, he led his party to a big win. He was born in Bombay on August 20, 1944; died in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991, at the hands of a human bomb. He began demolishing the License raj, government quotes, tax and permitted regulations on economic activity, modernized the telecommunications industry, education system, expanded science and technology and improved relations with United States. The Bofors scandal broke his honest image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 elections. 8. V.P SINGH (from 2nd December, 1989 to 10th November, 1990) V.P Singh of Janata Dal became the Prime Minister in 1989. He was born in Allahabad on June 25, 1931. Singh wished to move nationally on social justice related issues, which would in turn combine the caste coalition that supported the Janata Dal in North India, and accordingly decided to implement the recommendations of Mandal Commission which suggested that a fixed quota for all jobs in the public sector be reserved for the disadvantaged Other Backward Classes. This decision led to widespread protests among the youth in urban areas. 9. CHANDRA SHEKHAR (from 10th November, 1990 to 21st June, 1991) The “Young Turk” (reformist) became Prime Minister and continued for 224 days. Born in village Ibrahimpatti in Ballia District, UP on July 1st, 1927. Holding the office for only seven months, Shekhar resigned on March 6, 1991 after the Congress party withdrew support to him. Chandra Shekhar was known for abiding by the Parliamentary rules and was honoured with the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1995. Today, Shekhar is a member of India’s Lower House of Parliament. He now leads Samajwadi Party. 10. P.V NARSIMHA RAO (from 21st June, 1991 to 10th May,1996) The first ever from south to hold this office, he ruled for 5 years despite a hung Parliament initially. Rao decided that India, which in 1991 was on the verge of bankruptcy would benefit from Economic Liberation Programme. Rao is also called “Father of Indian Economic Reforms”. The state of Jammu and Kashmir faced increased terrorist activities during Rao’s tenure 11. A.B VAJPAYEE (from 16th May to 1st June, 1996 & again from 19th March, 1998 to 13th May, 2004) The first “bachelor” Prime Minister of India, he was at the office only for 16 days, creating a record for shortest spell in office. He assumed charge for the second time. He took the Oath on October 13, 1999 after General Elections. He was a passionate champion of women’s empowerment and social equality. Vajpayee believes in a forward –looking, forward moving India, a strong and wealthy nation confident of its rightful place in the good will of nations. He stands for an India secured in 5000 years of development history, ever modernizing, renewing and ever-energizing itself to meet the challenges of the next 1000 years. India’s second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, was conferred upon him. 12. H.D DEVE GODWA (from 1st June, 1996 to 21st April, 1997) H.D Deve was in office for only 11 months. When the Congress party was defeated in the 1996 General Elections, Deve Godwa became Prime Minister of a United Front coalition government after Indian nationalists failed to form a government. He is widely respected and regarded for his struggle towards the cause of farming community and is known as “son of soil”. 13. I.K GUJRAL (from 21st April, 1997 to 28th November, 1997) Indra Kumar Gujral was born on December 4, 1919, in Jhelum. Prime Minister Gujral continued in the office for over 11 months, including 3 months as caretaker PM. During this time he attempted to improve relations with Pakistan, reform the ageing institutions of government and promote pro- growth economic policies to bring the country out of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which had left it stagnant. But the lawless, corrupt and unstable coalition politics were too big a problem. One of the most controversial decisions of his government was declaration of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh. 14. DR. MANMOHAN SINGH (from 22nd May, 2004 to 25th May, 2014) Dr. Manmohan Singh was born on 26th September, 1932, in Gah into a Kohli family. A globally renowned economist and former Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh assumed charge on 22nd May, 2004. Sonia Gandhi was elected leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party and was expected to become the PM. In an unexpected move, she declined to accept the post and instead nominated Singh.