Inder Kumar Gujral

Inder Kumar Gujral (born 4 December 1919) was the twelfth Prime Minister of the Republic of India.

Related Topics:
4 December - 1919 - Prime Minister - India

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Born in the town of Jhelum, which is now in the northeastern area of Pakistan, he actively took part in India's freedom struggle, and was jailed in 1942 during 'Quit India Movement'.

Related Topics:
Pakistan - 1942 - Quit India Movement

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Before becoming the Prime Minister of India in April 1997, he served the country as Union Minister of State holding different portfolios in the Ministries of Communications and Parliamentary Affairs, Information & Broadcasting, Works & Housing, Planning and Ministry of External Affairs.

Related Topics:
Prime Minister of India - April - 1997

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As the envoy to Moscow, he persuaded Indira Gandhi, who lost an election in 1977 but returned to power in 1980, to express opposition to the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. That was a break from India's earlier record of supporting Soviet military ventures in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and it led Mrs. Gandhi to privately inform Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev that the Kremlin had blundered in Afghanistan.

Related Topics:
Moscow - Indira Gandhi - 1977 - 1980 - Soviet Union - 1979 - Afghanistan - Hungary - Czechoslovakia - Leonid I. Brezhnev - Kremlin

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But leaving the Congress Party in the mid-1980s, Gujral joined the Janata Dal. The Dal was a third-party with mainly socialist leanings and regional bases, but in the Parliament elected in 1996, it was the largest party of the bloc of regional parties which formed the United Front coalition to lead the Government. H. D. Deve Gowda was the JD chief and became the Prime Minister, and Gujral became the Minister for External Affairs. But when the Congress Party objected and threatened to withdraw its vote of support to the UF, the UF elected I.K. Gujral to lead the Government.

Related Topics:
Congress Party - Janata Dal - United Front - H. D. Deve Gowda

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In a tenure lasting just 10 months, PM Gujral attempted to improve relations with Pakistan, reform the aging institutions of government and promote pro-growth economic policies to bring the country out of the 1997 Asian economic crisis, which had left it stagnant. But the fractious, corrupt and unstable coalition politics were too big a hurdle, and when the Congress Party again decided to withdraw support to the UF, the President of the Republic dissolved the Parliament, calling fresh elections.

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The Gujral Government was sadly in the mire of a very fractious, chaotic stage in the evolution of democracy in India, and failed to achieve any particular goal towards national progress and public welfare. However, I.K. Gujral had the distinct privilege and honor of leading the country in its 50th year of independence, a year of pride and major celebrations of the country's diversity, vibrant cultural fabric, achievements of the past five decades, and of course, honoring the national freedom struggle and its veterans.

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He speaks fluent Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, and spends part of his leisure time writing Urdu couplets, a poetic form that traces back to India's Mogul emperors. His wife, Sheila, with whom he has two sons, is a poet and author, and his brother Satish Gujral is a prominent painter and architect.

Related Topics:
Urdu - Couplet - Mogul - Emperor

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In 2004, his son Naresh Gujral contested with an Shiromani Akali Dal seat from Jalandhar, Punjab constituency in the Indian General Elections, but lost.

Related Topics:
2004 - Shiromani Akali Dal - Jalandhar - Punjab

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