Delhi News Desk!! Apart from the thirteen Prime Ministers of India, he is the only person so far to have served as acting Prime Minister twice. It was relevant that the personality and duties of Gulzarilal Nanda as the acting Prime Minister were also presented here. In fact, there is a provision in the constitutional tradition of India that if a Prime Minister dies during his tenure and it is not possible to elect a new Prime Minister immediately, then a caretaker or interim Prime Minister can be appointed until the new Prime Minister is elected. The Prime Minister is not appointed legally. According to the constitutional system, the post of Prime Minister cannot be kept vacant. Gulzarilal Nanda, dedicated to the Congress Party, was made the acting Prime Minister for the first time in 1964 after the death of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He became the acting Prime Minister for the second time in 1966 after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. His tenure both times was limited to the same period until the Congress Party selected its new leader.
birth and family
Gulzarilal Nanda, known as Nandaji, was born on July 4, 1898 in Sialkot, now part of West Pakistan. His father’s name was ‘Bulaki Ram Nanda’ and mother’s name was ‘Mrs. Ishwar Devi Nanda’. Nanda’s primary education was completed in Sialkot itself. After this he studied at ‘Forman Christian College’, Lahore and Allahabad University. Gulzarilal Nanda obtained a master’s degree in the Faculty of Arts and a bachelor’s degree in law. His marriage was solemnized with ‘Lakshmi Devi’ in 1916 at the age of 18. His family included two sons and a daughter.
professional life
Gulzarilal Nanda was a patriotic person. For this reason, he contributed significantly to India’s freedom struggle. Nandaji’s life was dedicated to the nation from the beginning. In 1921 he participated in the non-cooperation movement. Nandaji was rich in versatile talent. He served as a lecturer in economics at the ‘National College’, Mumbai. He was also the Secretary of the ‘Labour Association’ in the ‘Textiles Industry’ of Ahmedabad and spent a long time in this post from 1922 to 1946. He was always aware of the problems of the workers and kept trying to solve them. He also had to go to jail during the Satyagraha movement in 1932 and during the Quit India movement in 1942-1944.
political life
Nanda ji was an MLA in the Mumbai Assembly from 1937 to 1939 and from 1947 to 1950. During this period, he looked after the charge of Labor and Housing Ministry in Mumbai Government. ‘Indian National Trade Union Congress’ was established in 1947 and the credit for this goes to Nanda ji. After highlighting the talent of Gulzarilal Nanda during his stay in the Mumbai government, the Congress high command called him to Delhi. He held the post of Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India in 1950–1951, 1952–1953 and 1960–1963. In such a situation, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru got a lot of support in the five year plans of India. During this period he provided cooperation to the Central Government in the following manner-
Gulzarilal Nanda was a Cabinet Minister in the Union Cabinet and handled the charge of independent ministries. Nandaji faithfully handled the charge of the Planning Ministry from September 1951 to May 1952. Nandaji oversaw the work of the Planning Commission and river valley projects from May 1952 to June 1955. Nandaji looked after the ministerial functions of Planning, Irrigation and Energy from April 1957 to 1967. Nandaji successfully looked after the work of the Ministry of Labor and Employment from March 1963 to January 1964.
acting prime minister
Being the senior most colleague in the cabinet, Nandaji held the responsibility of acting Prime Minister twice. His first term was from May 27, 1964 to June 9, 1964, when Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru died. The second term lasted from January 11, 1966 to January 24, 1966, when Lal Bahadur Shastri died in Tashkent. Nandaji was elected member of the Lok Sabha in the first five general elections. Gulzarilal Nanda worked with dedication in every department and was appreciated by the public. He was associated with Gandhian ideology and had deep faith in democratic values.
Nandaji envisioned a secular and socialist society. He remained available to help the poor throughout his life. Gulzarilal Nanda continued to provide his services to ‘Bharat Sevak Samaj’ despite his old age. He himself had created this organization and continued to maintain it throughout his life. Nandaji did politics based on moral values. After reaching the last stage of his life, he described the changes in politics as fatal for the country. He was worried about the activeness of criminal elements in politics. In this regard, he had said that criminal level politics would prove to be as deadly as cancer.
writing work
Nandaji played the role of a writer and composed many books. Whose names are as follows – Some Aspects of Khadi, Approach to the Second Five Year Plan, Guru Teg Bahadur, Saint and Savior, History of Adjustment in the Ahmedabad Textiles, For a Moral Revolution and Some Basic Considerations.
award
Gulzarilal Nanda was awarded the country’s highest honor Bharat Ratna (1997) and the second highest civilian honor ‘Padma Vibhushan’.
demise
Nanda lived a long life and died on January 15, 1998 at the age of 100. He will always be remembered as a Gandhian politician with a clean image.
