Lal Bahadur Shastri | |
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.jpg) Official portrait, 1966 | |
| 2nd Prime Minister of India | |
| In office 9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966 | |
| President | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Vice President | Zakir Husain |
| Preceded by | Jawaharlal Nehru[a] |
| Succeeded by | Indira Gandhi[b] |
| 3rd Union Minister of External Affairs | |
| In office 9 June 1964 – 18 July 1964 | |
| Prime Minister | himself |
| Preceded by | Gulzarilal Nanda |
| Succeeded by | Sardar Swaran Singh |
| 6th Union Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office 4 April 1961 – 29 August 1963 | |
| Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Preceded by | Govind Ballabh Pant |
| Succeeded by | Gulzarilal Nanda |
| 3rd Union Minister of Railways | |
| In office 13 May 1952 – 7 December 1956 | |
| Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Preceded by | N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar |
| Succeeded by | Jagjivan Ram |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lal Bahadur Srivastava 2 October 1904 Mughalsarai, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (present-day Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India) |
| Died | 11 January 1966 (aged 61) Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Uzbekistan) |
Monuments | |
| Cause of death | Heart Attack |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6; including Anil Shastri, Hari Krishna Shastri and Sunil Shastri |
| Alma mater | Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi |
| Profession | Politician |
| Awards | Bharat Ratna (1966; posthumous) |
| Nickname | Nanhe |
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(1964-1966) Events
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Lal Bahadur Shastri (pronounced [lɑːl bəˈhɑːd̪ʊɾ ˈʃɑːst̪ɾi] ; born Lal Bahadur Srivastava; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966. He previously served as Home Minister from 1961 to 1963.
Shastri was born to Sharad Prasad Srivastava and Ramdulari Devi in Mughalsarai (present-day Uttar Pradesh) on 2 October 1904. He studied in East Central Railway Inter college and Harish Chandra High School, which he left to join the non-cooperation movement. He worked for the betterment of the Harijans at Muzaffarpur and dropped his caste-derived surname of "Srivastava". Shastri's thoughts were influenced by reading about Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Annie Besant. Deeply impressed and influenced by Gandhi, he joined the Indian Independence movement in the 1920s. He served as the president of Servants of the People Society (Lok Sevak Mandal), founded by Lala Lajpat Rai and held prominent positions in the Indian National Congress. Following independence in 1947, he joined the Indian government and became one of Prime Minister Nehru's key cabinet colleagues, first as Railways Minister (1951–56), and then in numerous other prominent positions, including the Home Minister.
As prime minister, Shastri promoted the White Revolution – a national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk – by supporting the Amul milk co-operative of Anand, Gujarat and creating the National Dairy Development Board. Underlining the need to boost India's food production, Shastri also promoted the Green Revolution in India in 1965. This led to an increase in food grain production, especially in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. He led the country during the Second India–Pakistan War. His slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" ("Hail to the soldier; Hail to the farmer") became very popular during the war. The war formally ended with the Tashkent Declaration on 10 January 1966; Shastri died the next day.
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