Gulzarilal Nanda

Gulzarilal Nanda
Portrait of Nanda on a 1999 stamp of India
Interim Prime Minister of India
In office 11 January 1966 – 24 January 1966
President	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Preceded by	Lal Bahadur Shastri
Succeeded by	Indira Gandhi
In office 27 May 1964 – 9 June 1964
President	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Preceded by	Jawaharlal Nehru
Succeeded by	Lal Bahadur Shastri
Minister of Home Affairs
In office 29 August 1963 – 14 November 1966
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Lal Bahadur Shastri
Succeeded by	Yashwantrao Chavan
Minister of External Affairs
In office 27 May 1964 – 7 June 1964
Prime Minister	Himself (Interim)
Preceded by	Jawaharlal Nehru
Succeeded by	Lal Bahadur Shastri
Personal details
Born	(1898-07-04)4 July 1898 Sialkot, Punjab Province, British India
Died	15 January 1998(1998-01-15) (aged 99) Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Lakshmi
Children	2 sons and 1 daughter
Alma mater	Allahabad University

Gulzarilal Nanda BR (4 July 1898 – 15 January 1998) was an Indian politician and economist who specialized in labour issues. He was the Interim Prime Minister of India for two 13-day stints following the deaths of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966 respectively. Both his terms ended after the ruling Indian National Congress's parliamentary party elected a new prime minister. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1997.

Early life

Birth

Nanda was born on 4 July 1898 in Sialkot in the Punjab, British India in a Punjabi Hindu Nai family. Sialkot later became a part of the Punjab Province of Pakistan in 1947, after the partition of India. Nanda received his education in Lahore, Amritsar, Agra, and Prayagraj.

Research worker

Nanda worked as a research scholar on labour problems at Allahabad University (1920–1921), and became a professor of economics at National College in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1921. The same year, he joined the Indian Non-Cooperation Movement against the British Raj. In 1922, he became secretary of the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association where he worked until 1946. He was imprisoned for Satyagraha in 1932, and again from 1942 to 1944.. He was honored with "Proud Past Alumni" in the list of 42 members, from "Allahabad University Alumni Association", NCR, Ghaziabad (Greater Noida) Chapter 2007–2008 registered under society act 1860 with registration no. 407/2000.

He married Lakshmi, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

Lok Sabha member

Nanda was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1957 elections, and was appointed Union Minister for Labour, Employment and Planning, and later, as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. He visited the Federal Republic of Germany, Yugoslavia, and Austria in 1959.

Nanda was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1962 elections from the Sabarkantha constituency in Gujarat. He initiated the Congress Forum for Socialist Action in 1962. He was Union Minister for Labour and Employment in 1962–1963, and Minister for Home Affairs in 1963–1966.

Nanda was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1967 and 1971 elections from the Kaithal (Lok Sabha Constituency) in Haryana.

Interim Prime Minister

Nanda was the Interim Prime Minister of India twice for thirteen days each: the first time after the death of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, and the second time after the death of second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966. He was the Home Minister of India during both these periods, and this is the reason why he was chosen as Prime Minister. The Indian Constitution has no provision of Acting Prime Minister as is widely circulated but incorrectly. Both his terms were uneventful, yet they came at sensitive times because of the potential danger to the country following Nehru's death soon after a war with China in 1962 and Shastri's death after a war with Pakistan in 1965. Nanda died on 15 January 1998 at the age of 99; from 25 November 1997 when former Malawian President Hastings Banda died, until his own death Nanda was the oldest living former State Leader. At his death, Nanda was the last surviving member of the second and third Nehru cabinets and the last living state leader to have been born in the 19th century.

Gandhian Life

He lived a very simple life, with no personal property. He did not accept his INR 500 pension. He was once thrown out of his rented apartment in a residential colony by his landlord because he failed to pay his rent, but was allowed to stay for some more time on request of the neighbours. This event was recorded by a journalist, and eventually published by a newspaper, after which he had to be forced to accept an INR 500 monthly government pension by his eminent former colleagues and friends, from which he ultimately paid his rent. He was almost a centenarian by then.

He was also concerned about rising corruption in the country and suggested to decrease wasteful consumption by officials and people in general. He had also opposed Indira Gandhi's Emergency, as he felt that the sacrifices to bring democracy to India became meaningless due to the tyranny.

In popular culture

A Dedicated Worker – Shri Gulzarilal Nanda is a 1999 short documentary film directed by A. K. Goorha and produced by the Films Division of India which covers Nanda's work towards labourers and others as the PM and otherwise.

Further reading

• Kalhan, Promilla (1997). Gulzarilal Nanda: A Life in the Service of the People. Allied Publishers. ISBN 9788170236931.