1-LARRDIS (SAW) 2016 Price : 1200.00 © LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT, 2016 Published under Rule 382 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (Fifteenth Edition) and printed by Jainco Art India, 13/10, W.E.A., Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110 005. CHANDRA SHEKHAR: A PROFILE Chandra Shekhar was one of the eminent and popular political leaders of India. The interest of the poor, the peasants, the landless, the working classes and their development always remained core to his heart. He was influenced by certain socialist leaders and ideas of socialism too. Having developed political interests since student days, he came into active politics under the advice and influence of his socialist mentor Acharya Narendra Deva. He began his Parliamentary career from Rajya Sabha where he remained a member for three terms. Afterwards he got elected to Lok Sabha where he remained a member for eight terms. Having an abiding faith in the rules and procedure of Parliament and respect for the decorum and discipline in the House, he earned the honour of an Outstanding Parliamentarian. His amiable disposition, command over various subjects and practical approach to national and international issues was appreciated from the different quarters in Parliament. With a long political record to his credit, he became the Prime Minister of India in 1990. As Prime Minister and a towering leader of the country, he left his mark as a statesman in various spheres of the country, though he remained in the same office for a short period. Chandra Shekhar articulated his ideas on diverse fields in Parliament through various devices of Parliamentary practice and procedures as well as through his own writings. Early Life and Education Chandra Shekhar was born on 1 July 1927 in the village of Ibrahimpatti in Ballia district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. His father Sadanand Singh was a farmer. His mother was Smt. Draupadi Devi. His family inculcated in him a deep sense of hard work and commitment to study. He passed matriculation from Jeevan Ram High School in Azamgarh in 1945. After matriculation, he pursued his academic endeavour in Satish Chandra Degree College, Ballia and passed BA in 1949. While he was still studying, he married Dwija Devi on 10 June 1944. Later he joined the Allahabad University and completed Masters Degree in Political Science in 1951. Foray into Politics Chandra Shekhar was attracted to politics right from his student days and was known as a firebrand leader with revolutionary fervor. Starting from fearlessly advocating for autonomy of student Union, his opposition 1 2 CHANDRA SHEKHAR IN PARLIAMENT to increase in fees in the Allahabad University made him popular among the youth. He was well-aware of the problems of the peasants, the landless labourers, the marginalized and the downtrodden sections and above all complexities of the rural life and economy. By the time Chandra Shekhar was out of college i.e. 1949, he had gained much interest in politics. His mentor, Acharya Narendra Deva advised him to join active politics which he readily agreed. He had enrolled for Ph.D. under Prof. Mukut Behari Lal at Banaras Hindu University but stopped pursuing his academic ambition. He joined the socialist movement and was elected as the secretary of the District Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in Ballia in 1951. Later till 1962 he held various positions in the PSP in the State i.e. Uttar Pradesh and at the national level. Chandra Shekhar began his Parliamentary career after getting elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh on a PSP ticket in 1962. Since then, he was a Member of Parliament, except for the period from 1984 to 1989. He joined Indian National Congress in 1964. In 1967, he was appointed as the General Secretary of the Congress Party in Parliament. He started a weekly titled Young Indian in 1969 from New Delhi to communicate with the masses and to air his views on socio-political issues. Emergency and Arrest Developments during 1975 Emergency in the country resulted in Chandra Shekhar’s parting ways with the Congress leadership. During Emergency, under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1975 Chandra Shekhar and many other leaders were arrested. Initially he was lodged in Rohtak jail and then shifted to Chandigarh jail. He was later shifted to Patiala jail. During his incarceration, he penned his popular Jail Diary. On his arrest and imprisonment, he wrote: “This gave me peace of mind. It was not possible for me to agree with all that was happening around me. How could one claim that the country’s future rested on one single individual? So much of sycophancy and such slavishness are beyond me.” During his stay in the prison, he read a number of books ranging from literature to politics, religion, development etc. After release from the prison he was shifted to New Delhi on 30 December 1976 and was placed under house arrest. Subsequently in 1977 Chandra Shekhar joined the Janata Party and became the President of the party. The same year, he was elected to the 6th Lok Sabha. Thereafter, he was continuously re-elected as the Party President and retained the position until 1988. A COMMEMORATIVE VOLUME 3 His Bharat Yatra As President of the Janata Party, he undertook a marathon walk (Padyatra, later known as Bharat Yatra) from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu to Rajghat in New Delhi, covering a total distance of 4260 kilometers from January 6, 1983 to June 25, 1983. The objective of undertaking such an arduous task, i.e. the Bharat Yatra, was to highlight the problems of the rural areas and eliminate the prevalent social inequalities and disparities. This exercise made him popular amongst the masses. During this journey, Chandra Shekhar established around 15 Bharat Yatra centers in various parts of India including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. On the momentous Bharat Yatra, Chandra Shekhar observed: “For nearly six months till we reached Delhi on 25 June 1983, it was a continuous procession. It was the spontaneous response of the people which made the Yatra a unique success. For the first time, people realized that there were some who were ready to come to their houses to understand their problems. When we started, it was doubtful whether people would react positively to Bharat Yatra or would take it as a political drama. But all through the Yatra, the villagers who were illiterate, who were ignorant, who were helpless, lined up in large numbers to receive the volunteers who were walking. In almost all the villages, even the poor people managed to offer the best welcome that they could afford. There might have been difficulty of language, but the language of the heart, which was more powerful, helped to communicate the feelings. We ourselves understood that the people are willing to cooperate if we go to them. In this respect, it was Mahatma Gandhi who put his finger on the pulse of the people. It was an adventure in self, it was an adventure of self education”.1 During his long and arduous Bharat Yatra, Chandra Shekhar came face to face with the stark reality of rural India. The plight of children of rural India made a deep impact on him. Expressing his concern, Chandra Shekhar said: “Children everywhere in India are suffering due to malnutrition. They do not get education. They do not even get a chance of survival. Every child that is born has the right to survive. We must give him clean drinking water, necessary nutrition to develop a healthy physique. And in today’s modern world he should get the elementary education and primary health services. On these scores there cannot be any 1 Chandra Shekhar: The Man of Destiny: Hira Lal Chaubey (1991) pp. 133-134 4 CHANDRA SHEKHAR IN PARLIAMENT compromise. Out-moded traditions and out-dated ideas in religion and caste have been used to discriminate against the people. For centuries together, the Scheduled Caste, the Scheduled Tribe and Backward Class people have been feeling neglected. Violence is a strain on the fabric of democratic society. For this discrimination to go, we must change the whole social structure in order to serve their urges and aspirations. In spite of the attempts to bring our women-fold out of the purdah system, they are not getting their rightful place in the society. They still feel insecure. Our Constitution promised to eradicate illiteracy within 15 years after it came into force. But even today more than 60 per cent of our people are illiterate”.2 Throughout his Yatra, Chandra Shekhar recalled that it did not matter where the villager lived, in Uttar Pradesh or Kerala, Rajasthan or Assam, his problems were the same and were equally ignored. Chandra Shekhar realized that despite all the talks of regionalism, the fabric of unity was strong. People were the same everywhere. The Yatra ended in New Delhi on 25 June 1983. At the end of the Bharat Yatra, Chandra Shekhar, decided to concentrate on five points which were of immediate relevance to the men and women living in the villages. Satisfying these basic needs would mean making Swaraj relevant not in the abstract sense of mere political independence but as a means of transforming their day-to-day life and in bringing about unity of hearts. These five points were:— 1. Drinking water for every village; 2. Health facilities and steps to prevent malnutrition among children and expectant mothers; 3. Education for all; 4. Problems of Adivasis and Harijans; and 5. Communal harmony. Explaining the importance of Bharat Yatra Centres, Chandra Shekhar said:— “We have just made a beginning and this beginning may not be very romantic.