Lal Bahadur Shastri Birthday: Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Leader’s 117th Birth Anniversary

The second Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on 2nd October 1904, in Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh, to Sharada Prasad and Ramdulari Devi. Though his date of birth has been a top of controversy since all his official documents state his birth date to be July 8. But his family members have confirmed it to be 2nd October.

Personal & Profession Details

He did his primary schooling at PDDU Nagar, Chnadauli and after this, he completed his senior school at Harishchandra Inter College and Railway Inter College. He completed his graduation at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi in 1925.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was amongst the leading propagators towards India’s freedom for struggle. He was a statesman and an avid freedom fighter who fought especially for the poor of the country. He joined the freedom struggle in the year 1920 and participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921.

Shastri was also responsible for the White Revolution, a campaign that supported the production of milk. In 1965, he also promoted the Green Revolution in India. He was also the President of the Servants Of The People’s Society under the leadership of Lala Lajpat Rai and also held a position in the Indian National Congress.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was particularly very influenced by the thoughts of Gandhi, Annie Besant, and Swami Vivekanand. He also joined Gandhiji in his 1930 Dandi March and participated in the 1942 Quit India Movement.

Stating the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, Shastri led the country in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. On 10th January 1966, the war ended with the Tashkent Agreement. He died the following day on 11th January 1966, which led to a huge dispute from his family who did not believe he died of natural occurrence but later on it was confirmed that he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, posthumously.

Some Interesting Facts About Lal Bahadur Shastri

1. Lal Bahadur Shastri was born Lal Bahadur Shrivastava. He discarded his surname though he was against the prevailing caste system. He was conferred with the title of Shastri after he completed his graduation in 1925.‘Shastri’ means a ‘scholar’ or a person who is well versed in the holy scriptures.
2. He became the Minister of Police and Transport on August 15, 1947, and was appointed the first woman bus conductor.
3. He had bought a Fiat car on his family’s demands for Rs 12000. He just had Rs 7000 so he took a loan of Rs 5000 from Punjab National Bank. The Fiat car is still kept safe at the Shastri Memorial, New Delhi.
4. He was the first person who was awarded India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, posthumously.
5. He had a Chevrolet Impala car for office use but when his son once used his car for a drive, he asked the driver the distance that he had traveled and deposited that much money in the government account.
6. He was very often caught in jail being a freedom fighter so once he was on parole for 15 days when his daughter got sick. Even when he lost his daughter, he went back to jail after completing her last rites. 
7. While he was in jail, his wife used to get a pension of Rs 50, and when once she could save Rs 10 out of that pension, he got annoyed and asked the People’s Society to lessen his pension and give the remaining to the needy.
8. He got his son’s undue promotion reversed once.

We wish our second Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri a very happy birthday on his 117th birth anniversary!