Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of independent India.
He was the General Secretary of the Congress Party when
the first general elections were held after India became Republic.
Congress Party returned to power with a huge majority.
In 1952, Jawahar
Lal Nehru appointed Lal Bahadur Shastri as the Railways and Transport
Minister in the Central Cabinet. Lal Bahadur Shastri's contribution in
providing more facilities to travelers in third class compartments
cannot be forgotten. He reduced the vast disparity between the first
class and third class in the Railways. Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from
Railways in 1956, owning moral responsibility for a railway accident that killed 150 people.
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After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri was
unanimously elected as the Prime Minister of India. It was a difficult
time and the country was facing huge challenges. There was food shortage
in the country and on the security front Pakistan was creating problems.
In 1965, Pakistan tried to take advantage of India's vulnerability and
attacked India. Mild-mannered Lal Bahadur Shastri rose to the occasion
and led the country ably. To enthuse soldiers and farmers he coined the
slogan of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan". Pakistan lost the war and
Shastriji's leadership was praised all over the world.
In January 1966, to broker peace between India and Pakistan, Russia
mediated a meeting between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan in
Tashkent, Russia. India and Pakistan signed the joint declaration under
Russian mediation. Under the treaty India agreed to return to Pakistan
all the territories occupied by it during the war. The joint declaration
was signed on January 10, 1966 and Lal Bahadur Shastri died of heart
attack on the same night.
