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Here is the story of the politician who said it all to the face. He was someone who never used the “laal batti gaari” during his time in power. Here is the story of the eighth prime minister of this country.
Happened on 10th November 1990
Sri Chandrashekhar hailed from a family of humble farmers in Uttar Pradesh. His modest background and paltry financial backing did not bar him from gaining a BA degree in Satish Chandra P.G. College and his MA from Allahabad University.
During his student years, he was a firebrand socialist politician. He was attracted to politics from his early days and was known for his ideals and revolutionary fervour. He started off his political career by working in close proximity with Ram Manohar Lohia.
Through his focus on a transparent government and sharp oratory skills, Chandrashekhar quickly climbed the political ladder. He went from joining the Praja Socialist Party, being elected as the general secretary of that party to finally joining Indian National Congress in 1965. By 1967 he was the general secretary of the party. His aggressive attitude and unparalleled energy got him to the topmost echelons of the Indian political wheel.
He was famously heralded as the “Young Turk” for his conviction, integrity and determination to propel the needs of the weaker sections of the society. He used to zealously fight against the vested interest that controlled shoddy policymaking.
The Emergency years were one of the darkest chapters in Indian history where the ruling party (Congress) jailed up all their oppositions as well as dissenting members within their party fold. Chandrashekhar was one such dissenting member who was thrashed in the Patiala Jail under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Securities Act.
After the Emergency ended in 1977, it was a frail and ailing J.P. Naryan that expressed his opinion that Chandrashekhar should be the prime minister but the sway of power at that point was too strong for anybody to pay attention to J.P. Narayan’s words.
In 1988 Shekhar’s Janata Party merged with several other opposition parties to form the Janata Dal Party under the leadership of V.P. Singh, who would later become the prime minister. However, Shekhar disagreed with Singh on many counts which lead him to lead an internal rebellion against Singh whereby he walked off with a chunk of ministers.
After this, he quickly formed that Janata Dal- Socialist Faction. Finally, it was with the help of Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress (I) Party that he replaced V.P. Singh as India’s prime minister on November 19, 1990. However, Chandrashekhar was the prime minister of this country for just seven months.
Chandrashekhar came into power at a time when India was almost financially bankrupt and in the doldrums. He reversed this situation within his seven months of being in power. Under the advice of Manmohan Singh, he put up India’s gold reserved under banks and asked for loans from the IMF.
Since America had the most clout in the IMF, it asked permission to refuel its fighter jets in India for the Gulf War. Chandrashekhar agreed to this and got India indirectly involved in the Gulf War. Chandrashekhar was criticised a lot for this stance although it was the need of the hour then. Soon, Congress took heed of this issue and withdrew support from Chandrashekhar’s government thus collapsing it. After this, P.V. Narasimha Rao formed the government.
Even after this, Congress asked Chandrashekhar to join the party but owing to his fierce nature and fireball attitude, he declined to be a puppet under someone’s control.
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