Gulzarilal Nanda is best known for being the acting Prime Minister of India twice. He was an economist and politician, but above all, a man of principles. We take a look at ten interesting facts from his life on his 23rd death anniversary.
1 Prime Minister for 26 daysNanda became the acting Prime Minister of India in 1964, after Jawaharlal Nehru’s demise and again, two years later, after Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death. He remained the PM for thirteen days on each term.
2 Freedom struggleNanda left his teaching job to participate in the non-cooperation movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921. He also took part in the Satyagraha movement multiple times and got imprisoned twice.
3 Involvement with Labour issuesNanda was passionate about workers’ rights and had studied labour issues at the university level. He became the Labour Minister of Mumbai from 1946 to 1950.
4 Indian National Trade Union CongressNanda helped in the creation of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in May 1947. His concern for workers’ rights led him to help create the union.
5 Removal as Home MinisterOn November 7, 1966, thousands tried to enter the Indian Parliament to force lawmakers to criminalise cow slaughter. Eight people died while hundreds got injured. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi removed Nanda as the home minister.
6 Opposed The EmergencyNanda opposed Indira Gandhi on The Emergency (1975-1977). He felt that the sacrifices to bring democracy to India became meaningless.(https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/comment/when-nanda-refused-to-back-emergency-260609)
7 Views on Article 370Long before the current government scrapped Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Nanda had dismissed it as “nothing more than a shell emptied of its contents.”(https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/columns/s-gurumurthy/2019/aug/07/modi-did-what-nehru-wanted-to-but-couldnt-on-article-370-2015302.html)
8 Bharat Ratna & Padma VibhushanNanda received the highest and the second-highest civilian honours, Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan, in 1997.
9 Humble lifestyleNanda reportedly had no personal property, did not hoard money, had no proper income and lived in a rented apartment. He even had to be forced to accept an INR 500 monthly government pension.
10 Planned to curb corruptionNanda blamed conspicuous consumption and wastefulness as the reason behind corruption. He had elaborate plans for eliminating corruption from the country.
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