Prime Ministers of India

I K Gujral

Early life and offices of Dr. Gujral

Dr Inder Kumar Gujral was born to Avatar Narain and Pushpa Gujral in Jhelum on 4th December 1919. He had his early education at Lahore and was an active member of the Indian Independence movement. He has even gone to jail in 1942 during the Quit India Movement and also was a member of the communist party of India. He was actively involved in Politics from the beginning and was president of New Delhi Municipal Committee during 1958 and a member of Indian National Congress. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1964 and held various offices in the ministry of Madame Indira Gandhi. He also held the post of Ambassador of India to Soviet Union and was rumoured to be in logger heads with Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi and thus moved to Planning Ministry. He was famous for the Gujral Doctrine, advocating better relations with neighbouring countries.

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In 1980, Gujral came out of Indian National Congress (INC) and joined Janata Dal becoming the External Affairs minister in V P Singh’s cabinet. He was hailed for handling the kidnapping case of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. He was supported by Lalu Prasad Yadav in getting elected to Rajya Sabha and also had held offices in many other ministries. The United Front Government was given outside support by INC and with the support of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mr. Gujral became the Prime Minister of India.

Controversies did not leave Mr. Gujral as he was charged with supporting Lalu Prasad Yadav who was implicated in a Fodder Scam in which Lalu was to be punished as per CBI findings. The same time Gujral intervened and controversially transferred the CBI director much against the wishes of the opposition and several other parties.

He was also involved in controversy relating to the President Rule implemented in UP in 1977 against Kalyan Singh, the then UP Chief Minister. Also in the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination, the DMK Government’s role was probed as per request tabled by Congress party, which was refused by the Gujral Government.

The snap election of 1998 saw Gujral getting elected from Jalandhar Punjab with the support of local Akali Dal due to his friendly relations with Akali Dal. Gujral Doctrine is well known for his advocating better relation with neighbouring countries and developments with mutual friendly relations.

Lung infection got him admitted at Gurgaon hospital in 2012 and was put on dialysis for over one year. He had severe chest infection and became unconscious and died on 27th November 2012. Many leaders and personalities hailed his working style and contributions to the nation’s progress.

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