Prime Ministers of India

Gulzarilal Nanda

Gulzarilal Nanda served twice as the Indian PM and was the second PM that India had. Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan), Nanda owned a bus service and was a big believer in Gandhi’s principles. Mostly remembered as the Indian Labor Minister and as the PM, Gulzarilal Nanda was widely renowned for being a humble individual. He died in 1998 at the age of 99.

Early Life and Academics

Born in Punjab in 1898, Gulzarilal was known popularly as the owner of Bus service run by the Nanda family. Gulzarilal was a research student and scholar at the Allahabad University.

He later also became a professor at the National College, Bombay (now Mumbai). He took keen interest in teaching others about economics. Nanda received his education at Lahore and at Agra as well.

Family and Personal Life

Gulzarilal was a very private person who came from a business family. As a student, he nursed the love for economics and wanted to do further research related to labor problems.

Career

In 1921, he started to follow Mahatma Gandhi religiously. In the same year, he became part of the non-cooperation mass movement. In 1922, Nanda was made the Secy. of the Textile Labor Movement in Ahmedabad. He actively worked with this till 1946.

He also served a year in jail for being involved in the Satyagraha movement. It was in 1947, Nanda travelled to Geneva as an Indian Government delegate. In 1950, Nanda was made the Vice-Chairman to India's Planning Commission. Meanwhile, he was also serving as the Labor Minister in Bombay's constituency. Nanda got elected to Lok Sabha on 3 occasions. In 1952, Nanda fit well into the role of the Planning, Power and Irrigation minister.

By 1957, Gulzarilal was appointed as Labor, Planning and Empowerment Union minister. After Pt. Nehru died, it was he who acted as the PM shortly after. He was India's PM for less than a month since the then ruling Congress decided to choose another head. After Lal B. Shastri died in 1956, Nanda acted as the PM again. This time too, he was in office for a short duration till the time another PM was elected. Even as an interim PM, he discharged his duties fully and was known as a no-nonsense person.

Honors, Awards and International Recognition

Gulzarilal Nanda was awarded the highest award any Indian civilian could get - the Bharat Ratna award.

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