Gulzari Lal Nanda was appointed the caretaker Prime Minister after
                the death of Nehru and once more after the death of Lal Bahadur
                Shastri. Nanda, a lawyer like Nehru, was drawn into the freedom
                struggle after a meeting with Gandhi. He was instrumental in forming
                the Majoor Mahajan, one of the oldest labour organisations in the
                country and was jailed several times during the fight for
                independence. He was appointed vice-chairman of the Planning
                Commission by Nehru and played a vital role in the first Five Year
                Plan and headed various ministries, including the home ministry. As
                home minister, he set up a cell to lodge complaints against corrupt
                politicians and officials and came under a lot of pressure to close it,
                and was forced to resign after a riot in Delhi, which was later
                discovered to be engineered. Nanda quit active politics in 1975 in
                protest against the declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi.

                Nanda died on January 15, 1998, at the age of 100.

                Back to Home                           Geocities.com                                  Email